Good morning,
Happy 4th of July! I hope and trust you are having a relaxing holiday weekend so far.
Friday evening, Governor Cuomo posted his forty-eighth Executive Order related to the COVID-19 state of emergency. Executive Order 202.47, issued on July 3, 2020, modifies or suspends certain New York statutes, laws, codes, rules and regulations, sets forth certain directives, and extends certain previously issued Executive Orders, all of which are designed to combat the COVID-19 crisis. Executive Order 202.47 is effective from July 3, 2020 through August 2, 2020 and can be found here.
NEW DIRECTIVES
It wouldn’t be COVID-19 July 4th without an Executive Order covering fireworks.
- Executive Order 202.47 directs that the use of fireworks or dangerous fireworks, during the state disaster emergency declared by Executive Order 202, shall also be punishable as a violation of section 12(b)(2) of the public health law. Executive Order 202.47 directs and authorizes the Health Commissioner to issue emergency regulations, if such use meets the facts and circumstances established in subdivision 2 of section 270 of the penal law. Furthermore, use of fireworks by a licensee of any state entity inconsistent with any applicable guidance issued by the Health Department shall be a basis for suspension or revocation of such license.
Teleconference and Proxy Voting at Party Conventions
- Under Executive Order 202.47, notwithstanding any provision of law or a party’s rules to the contrary, any party caucus, party meeting or party convention held in 2020 pursuant to the Election Law may be held by telephonic or video conferencing means in whole or in part at the discretion of the chairperson calling such meeting; provided, however, that any required notice shall include instructions to participants as to how to access such video teleconference.
- In addition, Executive Order 202.47 permits proxy voting at any party caucus, party meeting or party convention held in 2020 pursuant to the Election Law notwithstanding any provisions of law or a party’s rules to the contrary. Any person eligible to attend and vote at such a meeting may hold up to ten proxies. A proxy statement may be in the form prescribed by the party’s rule or as accepted in the past by the party entity or may be substantially as follows: “I, a member or eligible voter of [state party caucus, party meeting or party convention, do hereby give my proxy authorization to [state name of proxy holder] who shall be authorized to vote in my stead at the meeting to be held on [date] and any adjourned date thereof.” Any proxy granted hereunder shall be revocable in a writing provided to the secretary or chair of the party entity or by the attendance of the proxy grantor at the meeting stated.
SUSPENDED OR MODIFIED LAWS, REGULATIONS AND CODES
As with most prior executive orders, Executive Order 202.47 also suspends or modifies certain laws, codes, rules and regulations to aid in New York’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 crisis through August 2, 2020. Executive Order 202.47, by modifying or suspending the applicable laws, codes, rules and regulations, to the extent necessary:
- Permits a peace officer, as defined in Section 2.10 of the Criminal Procedure Law, to enforce provisions of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law and the Public Health Law, or judgments or orders obtained for violation thereof, or to enforce the provisions of Executive Order 202 and any amendment or addition to such order. Note that this action comes after investigators have been observing activities at bars and restaurants and reporting their findings to the State Liquor authority. By this modification to provisions in the New York State Criminal Procedure Law and Alcoholic Beverage Control law, peace officers can now take action against bars and restaurants not complying with Governor Cuomo’s social distancing directives;
- Provides that, in the event that the original budget proposed by a school district was not approved by the voters at an election held on June 9, 2020, pursuant to Executive Order 202.26, any revote on resubmission to the voters of the original or revised budget shall occur on July 28, 2020 and shall be conducted in accordance with guidelines issued by the Health Department pursuant to the authority granted by Executive Order 202.47. A school district proposing such revote shall operate upon a contingency budget pursuant to subdivision 5 of section 2022 of the Education Law section from July 1 to July 28;
- Provides that, in lieu of the requirement that a school district publish two notices of a budget revote, each district shall send postcard notice to all residents of the district which details the date and location of the budget revote, date of the budget hearing, the definition of qualified voter, and instructions for applying for an absentee ballot. Such postcard notice shall be mailed no later than 21 days preceding such vote. If a school district possesses a resident’s valid email address, the postcard notice may be sent via email to that resident instead of by mail;
- Authorizes a school district possessing a qualified voter’s valid email address to send a school budget notice via email to that voter instead of by mail;
- Allows property tax report cards to be submitted to the State Education Department no later than 14 days prior to the date of the school budget revote, and the State Education Department shall make its compilation available electronically at the latest on July 21, 2020, seven days prior to the revote date; and
- Provides that, due to the prevalence and community spread of COVID-19, the potential for contraction of the COVID-19 virus shall be deemed a temporary illness for the purpose of eligibility to vote as an absentee voter in a school budget revote held July 28, 2020.
CONTINUATION OF PREVIOUSLY ISSUED EXECUTIVE ORDERS AND DIRECTIVES
In addition to the directives and the suspensions and modifications of law discussed above, Executive Order 202.47 also continues the suspensions and modifications of law, and any directives, not superseded by a subsequent directive, made by Executive Order 202.37. Executive Order 202.47 also extends until August 2, 2020, the directives and suspensions contained in Executive Order 202.36 as follows:
- The suspension of Education Law section 6530, or any section of the Public Health Law, to the extent necessary to allow a questionnaire administered through an asynchronous electronic interface or electronic mail that is approved by a physician licensed in the State of New York to be sufficient to establish a practitioner-patient relationship for purposes of ordering a clinical laboratory test;
- The directive requiring all barbershops, hair salons, tattoo or piercing parlors and related personal care services to be closed to members of the public is hereby modified to allow for the opening of barbershops and hair salons, and to require opening or operations in compliance with Health Department guidance, and is only permitted in such regions authorized for Phase Two industries reopening; and
- The directive allowing any licensee or franchisee of a racetrack to operate such racetrack is modified and extended until August 2, 2020, to allow any operator of an auto racetrack to operate beginning June 3, 2020, and to require opening or operations in compliance with Health Department guidance. Such auto racetrack allows only essential personnel or participants to be on site, and does not permit any visitor or spectator into the facility or on premise.
Executive Order 202.47 also modifies Executive Order 202.35, which amended prior Executive Orders with respect to New York on Pause, as follows:
- Any region authorized for Phase One reopening may allow outdoor, low-risk recreational activities and businesses providing such activities as determined by the Empire State Development Corporation, are permitted to operate if operated in accordance with Health Department guidance.