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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.

As communities throughout the country make decisions about schools reopening and online learning, parents are struggling to maintain work while tending to their children. When evaluating the economic crisis brought on by COVID-19, the nation’s already simmering childcare crisis is emerging as the primary obstacle to long term economic recovery. This crisis brings a myriad of consequences, primarily severe economic implications for women and children. 

Hurricane seasons alway pose a risk to vulnerable populations - those living in poverty, with health problems, and without access to transportation. But with the recent pandemic, these populations may be at an even bigger risk. 

COVID-19 outbreaks and stay-at-home orders have pushed many small and local businesses to explore e-commerce as a way to sell their products. Earlier this week we explored different e-commerce platforms, ranging from low-barrier to website construction, but many small businesses are looking to leverage new or existing partnerships to sell online. Here are some of the partnership models that we have seen emerge or expand during the first half of the year.