Blog

The 2020 hurricane season is predicted to be one of the worst on record. In any typical year, this would present many challenges, but during the COVID-19 pandemic and the face of "Dual Disaster", preparation for this hurricane season is particularly important. On Thursday, August 27, join IEDC for a webinar to get up to speed on this topic. 

The impacts of California's historically large wildfires are complicated by the coronavirus and climate change, resulting in a layered disaster of epic proportions. Combined with COVID-19, the effects are far-reaching, impacting tourism, schools, sheltering, and even the firefighting workforce. 

McKinsey, one of the nation's top consulting firms, recently released a 9 page article called Reimagining the Postpandemic Economic Future. This is a comprehensive look at what cities, states, and the nation needs to do in order to come back from the coronavirus pandemic even stronger, by "deliberately addressing the vulnerabilities the crisis has exposed." 

State and municipal budgets are suffering as a result of decreased tax revenues, and increased expenditures related to public health and employee healthcare and unemployment costs. Due to unemployment, income tax revenue is down, while sales tax and gasoline taxes have also decreased. State governments are paying increasing funds to cover residents’ unemployment, as well as covering Medicaid payments and services for low-income residents. The St. Louis Federal Reserve reports that, since February, 1.2 million local government jobs have been lost. And, according to one estimate, states could face a gap of at least $555 billion.