March 31 COVID-19 Daily Update: New Statewide Executive Order

New Executive Order:

Today Governor Greg Abbott announced a new Executive Order. The Executive Order implements Essential Services and Activities Protocols for the entire state of Texas. These protocols direct all Texans to minimize all non-essential contact. His order renews and amends his previous Executive Orders. These enforce the Federal social distancing guidelines issued by the CDC. The Order also calls for the closing of schools until May 4, 2020. Governor Abbott made it a point to say this is not a shelter-in-place order. The Executive Order further states that "essential services" will be based on the Department of Homeland Security's guidelines on Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce. Examples of these essential services include healthcare, grocery stores, banking, utilities, child care for essential service employees, and government services. This Executive Order will be in effect, unless otherwise changed by the Governor, until April 30, 2020. The full order can be found here: March 31, 2020, Executive Order This is the executive order as we currently understand it. More information will be available in the hours and days to come.

Conversation with the Chamber:

Today we published our latest video in our Conversation with the Chamber, COVID-19 Series. We spoke with Sean Duncan, a tax advisor and business consultant about the impact of the CARES Act. To see this video, follow the link here.