March 26, 2020

Since Governor Newsom declared a State of Emergency on March 4, 2020, he has signed 11 Executive Orders addressing various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of many conversations between the Governor’s office and CSAC, many of these orders have addressed issues that affect counties greatly. The most recent order was issued yesterday, March 24, to address reducing the spread of COVID-19 in corrections facilities. Click here to view all of the COVID-19 related Executive Orders.

Executive Order Timeline:

March 4: Emergency Declaration

Mar 12: Executive Order N-25-20: General Provisions & Government

This order relaxes protocols for unemployment insurance, delays the state income tax deadline, discourages large gatherings, and waives portions of the Brown Act.

March 13: Executive Order N-26-20: Schools

This order sets forth requirements that school must meet, even if they close because of COVID-19.

March 16: Executive Order N-27-20: State Licensed Facilities

This order establishes guidance for state licensed facilities that house populations most vulnerable to COVID-19.

March 16: Executive Order N-28-20: Renters and Homeowners

This order authorizes local governments to take measures to halt evictions and protect against utility shutoffs, and sets forth guidance for any jurisdiction looking to do so.

March 18: Executive Order N-29-20: Safety Net Services & Brown Act

This order relaxes requirements for state social safety net programs. It also builds upon N-25-20 and makes further suspensions of Bagley-Keene Act and Brown.

March 18: Executive Order N-30-20: School Testing

This order is focused entirely on school testing. It waives, for the 2019-2020 school year, the requirement that all students be administered academic assessments each year.

March 18: Executive Order N-32-20: Local Flexibility for Homelessness

This order aims to grant local flexibility on spending and building shelters to combat homelessness during the COVD-19 outbreak.

March 19: Executive Order N-33-20: Stay at Home Order

This order institutes a statewide stay at home order, and includes a link defining critical infrastructure and essential workers.

March 20: Executive Order N-34-20: Elections

This order focuses on elections procedures during the COVID-19 outbreak, including allowing vote-by-mail for certain upcoming special elections, and extends timeframes for the March 4, 2020 statewide primary.

March 21: Executive Order N-35-20: Work Hours, Brown Act, Etc.

This order covers a wide array of issues. Broadly it applies work hours exemptions (laid out in N-25-20) to local governments, suspends local ordinances that interfere with essential activities, further clarifies and expand Brown Act exemptions, and extends deadlines and relaxes requirements for a number of statues.

March 24: Executive Order N-36-20: Corrections

This order focuses on preventing the spread of COVID-19 among the prison staff and inmate population by suspending intake for adult and juvenile detention facilities, and allowing videoconference to be used in-lieu of in-person parole hearings.