COVID-19 Update | Friday, March 27 (PM)

March 27, 2020

Administration

• The President has signed H.R. 748, the CARES Act, late this afternoon. The bill is now law, meaning many provisions take effect.
  • We will follow up with a document early next week outlining the most important effective dates to note.
• The President has invoked the Defense Production Act to require General Motors to produce more ventilators amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Army Corps of Engineers is converting Chicago’s McCormick Place, North America’s largest convention center, into a makeshift hospital for coronavirus patients, which was announced by the Corps’ commanding general today.

Congress

• As our previous update indicated, the House of Representatives passed the third Coronavirus relief bill this morning by voice vote. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has been widely criticized for requesting a recorded vote following this afternoon’s proceedings.
• A fourth Coronavirus relief and recovery bill has come into focus, with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi indicating that she intends to get to work immediately. Our intel suggests that her previously released bill for the third package will serve as a benchmark for the fourth bill.

Other News

• Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker indicated a split from the Administration’s Easter target date for an economy restart. Governor Baker indicated reports from public health experts made a return to normalcy unfeasible by that time.