One, thank you for your patience and welcome to this morning's webinar or this afternoon's webinar, depending on what part of the country you're in, on Are Equipment Dealers Essential? My name is Daniel Fisher. I'm AED's Vice President of Government Affairs. Our speakers today are Michael Erdo from Copan Erdo and myself. Before I turn it over to Brian Maguire, AED's President and CEO, I'd like to let those of you who are live with us know that you may submit questions during the webinar via the chat box in the lower left side of your screen. However, we are asking due to the number of individuals that are participating in today's webinar that you do hold your questions until the end because very likely we might answer them as we answer your question as we go along. This webinar will also be recorded so that you may watch or re-watch on demand at your convenience. With that, I'll turn it over to AED's President and CEO, Brian Maguire. Well, good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. AED wants to welcome our friends from MAHIDA for joining us today as we cover what is a very timely topic as are distributors essential. We're going to run you through the various state orders and Michael Erdo will take you through some general principles and then hit some specific state issues as they come up. Now, understand we are aware that several states have since we put this webinar together have issued orders. We will not be able to cover those today, but we will cover as much as we can and also want you to know that if you have specific questions, as Daniel said, hold them until the end and bring them in on the chat box. Also, I would encourage both AED and MAHIDA members to stay close to your emails as both associations will continue to provide updates on things related to the country's virus response. And with that, Mr. Erdo, the floor is yours. Thank you, Mr. President. Good morning or afternoon, depending on where you are in the country. It is certainly good to be with you this morning, although we better be talking about a different topic than determining whether or not all of you are essential in light of the orders that are coming out from the various governments. This morning and today, our intention is to take an hour to kind of give you an overview, to give you some guidance on the executive orders that have been issued to date, to discuss the purpose and intent of those orders, and to provide you with the information with respect to the general provisions and the variations. We are going to talk about some state-specific information. And if all of you who are from a state other than California, Louisiana, Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, or New Jersey, that doesn't mean you ought to hang up and not listen in. The reality is we have some intelligence that indicates that the media is reporting that Massachusetts may be coming out with a shelter-in-place or a stay-at-home order. We also know that there's been some information that Michigan, Governor Whitmer there, is likely going to be entering a shelter-in-place order. Now, you are going to hear this morning, today, the various differences between the states, but the focus will be on the commonality. And there are many common features to each of them. The end of this call, Daniel Fisher and I are going to give you some practical tips in light of what we recommend, given what we know. So we are going to begin, I need to begin like any good lawyer would begin. As Brian McGuire indicated, this is timely. I don't know of any topic more timely. COVID-19 is certainly presenting us with a lot of timely issues, and that is very true from a legal perspective. I will not read this disclaimer to you. You can read it yourself, but you should know that what we talk about here today does not take the place of your own individual consultation with your lawyers and with your local legal counsel. The lawyers who are present in your particular geographic regions will have familiarity with state regulations and certainly with any local regulations and local ordinances. You will hear today that there are variations state by state. So in terms of local regulations, some states are allowing local jurisdictions to be more restrictive than others, and some states are not allowing that without the permission of the state. So you will hear that. So if you are from a particular place, for example, in Illinois, right now we have a stay in shelter or a shelter in place order that Governor JB Pritzker issued, but Oak Park, a city just on the skirts of the city of Chicago, has issued its own stay at home or shelter in place ordinance, which is a little more restrictive than the states. So you need to be careful in determining what may apply to you, which is why there is no place, there is no substitute for your own lawyer's legal advice on these issues. So we're going to talk about sheltering in place, and for those of you who have been watching the incessant news media, you will note that Governor Andrew Cuomo from the state of New York kind of yelled at a reporter about the use of the term shelter in place. He said it makes people think about or makes you imagine an attack from a gunman or somebody from the outside, and so the notion here is we're not sheltering in place, but we're staying at home, a stay at home order. The Bay Area in California was the first to issue shelter in place orders, which is why the common parlance was that. But the notion here is that we are staying at home, and we're going to spend some time talking about the CISA guidance on essential critical infrastructure workforce, and CISA is the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency that is an agency of the Department of Homeland Security in the federal government, and they've issued some essential guidance or some guidance on essential critical infrastructure. You should look to, you will look, you will talk about that, you should look to that and follow those recommendations as they are continuing to evolve. And then what we have before you, and just as of yesterday, the late yesterday, Ohio issued its order, but you can go down, and this is in chronological order from the dates, so it's not in chronological order, but it's in terms of the effective dates, the various places, New York, California, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Louisiana, and Ohio. And while there are different purposes and intents that are used in the language of these executive orders, the concepts and principles are the same, the purposes and intents, the policies, and that is for three reasons. First, that these orders are entered, these shelter in place orders or these stay-at-home orders, is to slow the spread of COVID-19 to the greatest extent possible. That's the first stated purpose. The second is to ensure that the maximum number of people self-isolate in their places of residence to the maximum extent feasible, so to slow the spread and to keep people in their own houses, their own residences. And then the third is to enable essential services and ensure continued operations of critical infrastructure services and functions. So the notion here is if we slow the spread, we will help the essential functions of government, of business, of health care, and we will, and by making sure that people self-quarantine, if they isolate themselves, if they shelter in place, if they stay at home, they will also lead to ensuring that the essential functions of business and government are able to carry it out and the spread of the virus will be limited. So there are some general provisions of all of these orders. The first is the shelter in place and stay-at-home requirements, which is to require people to stay at home except if they need to perform essential activities. This is for the average everyday citizen of those places, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Louisiana. The essential activities are health and safety, necessary supplies and services, and outdoor activities, if you do them isolated, and to care for others. The restrictions on operations of businesses is to restrict operation of businesses except for certain essential businesses, which is what we're going to talk about for the rest of the day, and operations consisting of employees or contractors performing activities at their own homes or places of residence, meaning work from home or telecommuting. So it's restricting the operation of businesses except for essential businesses and allowing people to work from home or telecommuting. And then the third principle here is social distancing. So even if you are an essential business, even if you are allowed to work and to go to and from your jobs, if you're the clerk at the Kroger grocery store or you're the front-end person at the CVS pharmacy or Walgreens, the social distancing provisions of these stay-at-home orders are in place, meaning that all of those people that are performing essential functions still need to comply to the extent feasible with the social distancing requirements that we've all heard about over and over again, keeping six feet away if you come in contact with a person, you know, washing your hands, all of the respiratory etiquette that exists, and maintaining your rightful place in society. So there are essentially two versions of these restrictions that are in place that we're talking about from the state that issued as of, you know, midnight last night or midnight this morning. California, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania are all requiring a reduction of in-person workforce by 100%. So they're saying if you are non-essential, and we're going to spend again the rest of the time talking about what essential is, then you should stay home. You should stay, you should work from home or shelter in place. Work from home if your employer allows you to do that. It's a job you can perform from home, and if not, please to still stay home. So for the most part, what we're talking about is people who have work from home restrictions or requirements under these executive orders. We're talking generally about gymnasiums, gyms, spas, barber shops, tattoo parlors, anything, gaming places, things along those lines. Louisiana, Ohio, Illinois, and New Jersey have a separate set of requirements where they're not saying 100% of the workforce needs to stay in place. Instead, what it's saying is the reduction of in-person workforce except for minimal essential operations, and there's a definition of that that is lengthy, but it includes payroll, maintaining inventory, preserving physical plant and equipment, ensuring security. So that is saying if you are non-essential, you should stay home. If you are essential, you should stay home unless you need to comply with minimum essential operations like payroll and maintaining the plant. Now, there are again three general variations in what is defined by these executive orders as essential businesses. California and Louisiana have deferred essentially to the federal government, to the CESA guidance on what essential critical infrastructure is. We'll talk about what those are. Connecticut, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have adopted CESA on the critical infrastructure workforce definitions and terms, but they've had additional elaboration, which I will talk about. And then New York, Illinois, and New Jersey have not made reference to CESA, but instead have adopted their own independent definitions of what essential businesses are. In addition to the variations come variations in enforcement. We'll talk about these variations, but California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and New Jersey have all said that there are potential crimes and civil penalties that will come from violations of the executive order. New York has not talked about criminal penalties, but they've talked about civil penalties. And Louisiana, Ohio, and Connecticut have not enumerated any particular enforcement provisions, but all are suggesting that they will be enforceable, instead saying that the method or the message of the shelter in place or stay at home orders is to convince people that it's the right thing to do, and to cajole them into behaving. Again, Governor Cuomo said he was beyond cajoling and is now making orders, but you will see that there are variations in enforcement. Finally, the other variation that comes in the various states is the variations in local authority, meaning California, Ohio, and Illinois have said local governments may issue more restrictive orders. So, as I said at the outset, if you are in one of these locations, one of these states, you're at the place where you are operating, doing business, engaging in leasing, making repairs to equipment, those restrictions may be more stringent than the state restrictions, so you should know them. New York and Connecticut have said that the local governments may issue more restrictive orders, but only with the consent of the state. So, they will not allow people, not allow governmental entities in the local jurisdictions to simply issue more stringent orders. They have to get permission from the state to do so. And New Jersey has specifically said they cannot, so local governments may not issue more restrictive orders. And Louisiana and Pennsylvania are silent on these issues. So they have not issued any guidance as to whether the local jurisdictions could be more restrictive. So, are equipment distributors essential? And we recognize that we are joined by other material handler distributors and we will certainly, as this webinar progresses, include all of the essential businesses that are defined and certainly make reference where we can to material handlers like forklifts and forklift operator companies. So the question is, are they essential? And we begin then by talking about California and Louisiana. And we group these two states together because they have looked to the CESA guidance. Again, CESA is the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security that is in place in the national level, the federal level. And the essential critical infrastructure workers are noted in this little graphic that's presented on the screen, but they are listed as follows. So here is what the federal government has indicated are essential critical infrastructure workers. Healthcare and public health, law enforcement, public safety, first responders, food and agriculture, energy, and they list what those energy businesses are, water and wastewater, transportation and logistics, public works, communications and information technology, other community-based government operations and essential functions, critical manufacturing, hazardous materials, financial services, chemical, and the defense industrial base, all listed as essential critical infrastructure workers. And the idea here is that these are the industries. These are the areas where businesses need to continue to operate in order to ensure that we can attack this virus and we can continue to move forward with the governmental operations, essential infrastructure. So food and agriculture is specifically enumerated and it specifically says that employees engaged in the manufacture and maintenance of equipment and other infrastructure necessary to agricultural production and distribution. So specifically mentioned. Public works also specifically mentioned. These are workers who support the operation, inspection, and maintenance of essential public works facilities and operations, including bridges, water and sewer main breaks, fleet maintenance personnel, construction of critical or strategic infrastructure, emergency location services for varied utilities, maintenance of digital systems, infrastructure supporting public work operations, and other emergent issues, and support to ensure the effective removal, storage, and disposal of residential and commercial solid waste and hazardous waste, all determined to be part of what the public works infrastructure requirements are in the nation. According to CISA, these guidelines are intended to be construed broadly. So as a lawyer, and for those lawyers who may be on this call, you recognize that when a statute is interpreted broadly or when a regulation is interpreted broadly, unless there's a specific exclusion, it's generally included. So now, having said that, there is no specific exclusion about the way the service that you all, on this call, the businesses that you all engage in, whether or not they're essential to health and public health care and public health, energy, communications and information technology, the defense industrial base, or they're specifically mentioned for public works, for example, in food and agriculture. But when we look at the definition or the instruction rather to construe these terms broadly, we would simply say that generally they're meant to be included. So if you are a company that is responsible for providing equipment or some type of material handler for health care or public health, then certainly we see that as broadly meaning you are essential in the definitions that rely upon CISA as its operating basis or its definition basis. CISA has also said that they will continually solicit and accept feedback on the guidance. Remember, it is all guidance unless specifically adopted. So we said California and Louisiana had specifically adopted CISA, but it has no peak. It has no legal force except in those states, but it's certainly guidelines for other states to look at. And we know that other places have said we adopt CISA and these other groups or collections of businesses and enterprises that we believe are included. You can certainly send feedback to this website that is noted here. And Daniel Fisher, towards the end of this webinar, will talk about specifics with respect to your communication and the communication that AED has made on behalf of members with respect to certain industries and making certain that there's no question, there's no ambiguity in the definition of who is essential in terms of operations in the United States. California has said that it will, through its state public health officer, designate other critical infrastructure workers in addition to what CISA operates, and they did so on March 20th, but it doesn't substantially differ from what CISA has already said. There are penalties for noncompliance in California. Pursuant to that section of the code, misdemeanor convictions, imprisonment for six months, fines up to $1,000. So we see that there is some actual teeth that is meant to be used in that particular act. Louisiana has also included enforcement or has said they do not have any specifics with respect to enforcement provisions or penalties. But Governor Edwards said that he's hoping that residents will comply, or he will encourage mandating stops by the end of the year. Let's talk about Connecticut. So Connecticut has a list of additional entities or businesses. They've adopted CISA guidelines but have designated other essential businesses, and you'll see them listed here. Health care, infrastructure, maintenance, transportation, and transportation. Retail, food and agriculture, services, providers of basic necessities or the economically disadvantaged, construction, specifically enumerated. Services necessary to maintain the safety, sanitation, and essential operations of residents and other businesses. And then another broad category here is health care. So health care is a very broad category. And then another broad category here in Connecticut, vendors that provide essential products and services to ensure the continuing operation of government agencies and provide for the health, safety, and welfare of the public. So it includes the vendors who are responsible. So it's a broad definition. The same guidelines under CISA are here in Connecticut. Food and agriculture, public works, and we have clarity now in this state's executive order as it applies to health care, public health, energy, communications and information technology, and the defense industrial base as to those people who are servicing those industries being included as essential businesses. Construction is specifically enumerated. So both general, both commercial and residential construction. And other related construction firms and professionals for essential infrastructure or emergency repair and safety purposes. So planning, engineering, designs, bridge inspections, other construction support activities. Infrastructure is specifically enumerated. Dam maintenance, water and wastewater, telecommunications, transportation infrastructure, roads, bridges, and utilities, including power generation, fuel supply, and transmission. All listed as essential businesses under the Connecticut order. Other businesses who are not specifically enumerated and have questions may ask to be deemed essential under the Department of Economic and Community Development, and those are submitted to that portal. And in the best interest of the state, Connecticut determines that that workforce is important and is not listed or specifically enumerated, it will amend its list. Connecticut does not specifically include any enforcement provisions or any penalties for noncompliance. It is silent on that. Let's talk about Ohio. Ohio has an outline of essential businesses and operations that are specific to its state. Again, you will recognize many of the same essential businesses on this list. They incorporate the CESA list, which is noted here on that number four on the list, and I'm getting a notification right now as I talk to you that Indiana has issued a stay at home order. So again, as I said at the outset, if you are in a state that we are not talking about, you will be in a state that will likely be under an executive order and many of the similar provisions apply. So stores that sell groceries and medicine are specifically listed. Food, beverage, marijuana production and agriculture, organizations that provide charitable and social services, media, First Amendment, gas stations, financial and insurance institutions, hardware and supply stores, and critical trades specifically enumerated in Ohio. More. All of these groups, so mail, post, shipping, logistics, delivery, pickup, education, laundry services, restaurants, supplies to work from home, supplies for essential business operations, transportation, professional services, manufacturer distribution, supply chains for critical products and industries, critical labor union functions specifically enumerated in Ohio, hotels and motels, funeral services, all listed. So the key provisions, the essential infrastructure definition is here in Ohio and what I think is important is it is broad. So it's there for those of you who are in Ohio to look at, but an important terminology at the beginning of this definition, it says it includes but it is not limited to. So if you believe that you are in essential infrastructure operations, and you're not listed here, it doesn't mean you're not included. It just means they didn't specifically enumerate it. And that goes to the second bullet on this slide, which essentially says, or which says essential infrastructure shall be construed broadly to avoid any impacts to essential infrastructure broadly defined. So again, in case anybody was unclear about it, the essential infrastructure is not limited to, So again, in case anybody was unclear about it, the essential infrastructure is to be construed broadly. The goal in Ohio is to keep people who can stay home at home, but to keep the state running and to make sure that the citizens of Ohio are protected in the sense that their essential infrastructure, the infrastructure of the state, that all of you service are going to be carried out and provided for. So manufacture, distribution, and supply chain for critical products and industries. Again, this is making sure that the supply chain, there was a question yesterday asked of the Illinois governor in a press conference. Why is it, somebody said, I'm asking a question on behalf of a factory worker who wants to know why he has to show up for work. And the governor said, well, little do people know the role they play in determining what is essential in terms of business and infrastructure. And so the idea is that they may not realize the components that they make go into the bigger service of operations, the supply chain that is being provided. And so Ohio has made it very clear that if you are in the supply chain, getting something from point A to point B, or A to Z, you are an essential business operation. And Ohio likewise doesn't have, like Connecticut doesn't have a specific enforcement provision or penalties, but Governor DeWine has said that he has not specifically enumerated them because it's not meant to be punitive. But it's not just a recommendation, it's a health order. So again, if we have, if essential businesses give people reasons or give governmental leaders reasons to have to put enforcement provisions, and they will, and certainly the laws of all the states that we've talked about and that exist here are able to do that. There are enforcement provisions that are enforceable in the states. So you have to recognize that they can be punitive, there can be punishments, there can be penalties, both civil and criminal. Businesses can be shut down. The notion here is right now we're trying to be American and not do that with our governmental operations. We recognize they could be if people are, if leaders are forced to do that. Let's talk about Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania interestingly uses the term life-sustaining businesses instead of essential. They align with CESA guidance in the way that these are defined here. There are key provisions for equipment distributors in Pennsylvania that's worth talking about. And this is a little bit of a deviation from what we've discussed already and with the states that we've talked about. Pennsylvania says that the construction of buildings, heavy and civil engineering construction including highway, street, bridge construction and specialty contractors are not permitted except emergency construction of health care facilities and emergency repairs. So this is a deviation in the state of Pennsylvania that specifically excludes construction unless for emergent construction or the construction of health care buildings. Trade, transportation, and utilities are permitted. So machinery, equipment, and supplies, merchant, wholesalers are permitted under the Pennsylvania order. Sorry, I'm going backward, forward here. Financial activities, commercial and industrial machinery and equipment, rental, and leasing are permitted. So what's interesting in preparing for this conversation with you today, it appears that all of the folks on this call have businesses that are deemed essential. The question is, we don't know if the people that you service will be able to operate in light of the restrictions on construction and other operations. So a provision to recognize. Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment repair and maintenance are permitted. And if a business is listed for closure in Pennsylvania, believes it could help to mitigate the crisis by providing life-sustaining service, it can seek an exemption. So again, you have the right to an exemption in Pennsylvania. And those are obtained by the Department of Community and Economic Development. The website is there. The telephone number is there. And the link is there. You select option one if you believe that you are not listed and that you ought to because you can help mitigate the crisis by providing life-sustaining services. Pennsylvania has some enforcement provisions, some penalties that are carried out under their administrative code and their code for the disease prevention and control law. Summary offense, a fine of up to $300, you can go to prison for 30 days, and administrative penalties under certain circumstances. Let's talk about New York. New York has essential businesses and entities. It does not make specific reference to CESA like the other states we've talked about do. Here, you'll see the essential health care, infrastructure, manufacturing, retail, services, the news media, financial institutions, people who are essentially economically disadvantaged, construction, broad term, defense, essential services necessary to maintain safety, sanitation, and essential operations of residences or other essential businesses, and then vendors that provide essential services or products, including logistics, technology support, child care, and services, all permitted under the act. So construction, again, under the New York executive order, is classified as an essential governmental or an essential business. And that is other related construction firms and professionals for essential infrastructure or for emergency repair and safety purposes. Essential infrastructure is defined. Utilities, power generation, fuel supply transmission, public water and wastewater, telecommunications and data centers, airports, airlines, and then transportation infrastructure, such as bus, rail, or for hire vehicles and garages, so all essential infrastructure. If you supply equipment to these sectors, it's currently not enumerated in the New York Executive Order, whether they're essential. So not listed for health care, retail, grocery, hardware, trash, recycling, defense, they're not specifically enumerated. But given the broad terms and the broad definitions, we expect they are. And if you have any question in New York and you want to make sure that you are permitted to do that, you can request an opinion from the Empire State Department Development Corporation. Again, the link for that department is there. And the requests for operation or classification as an essential business operation will be given if it's in the best interest of the state to have that operation, your operation, that workforce continue at full capacity to respond to the disaster. Now, there's some questions, and New York has clarified this, that if you engage in multi-line operations or multi-line businesses, and one aspect of the business is clearly under the definition of essential business, given the state's executive order, and another may not, what do you do? And New York answers that by saying, with respect to business or entities that operate or provide both essential and non-essential services, supplies, or support, only those lines and or business operations that are necessary to support the essential services, supplies, or support are exempt from the restrictions. So they make it clear in the state of New York that one line may operate, another line may not. Now, the question will be, how do you make a determination as to what line is which, and that I leave up to you, your lawyers, and those who are best to make those decisions. Enforcement in New York does exist. New York has the most stringent of restrictions, the most significant, I should say, of restrictions under their Act, $2,000. You saw $300 in Pennsylvania. In New York, it's $2,000 for every violation, although I know that the price of a Coke or a cup of coffee is probably equivalent when you look at it. So I guess the fines match the goods and services that are provided for in that state. $5,000 for a subsequent violation if the person has committed the same violation in a year. And $10,000 if there's a determination that it results in serious physical harm to any patient, to any person. So if there's a determination that you're in violation of this executive order and it caused harm, there's a violation that is potentially in place. Let's talk about the state where AEB is situated here in Illinois. And Illinois, like New York, does not make mention to CESA. It creates its own list of essential businesses and operations. Those are all listed here. Again, very much the same that we've talked about in certain places. Again, more of a list, similar to what we've seen in other places. And essential infrastructure. Essential infrastructure. Worth talking about because it is, again, an include but not limited to. And at that second bullet point, again, construed broadly. So in Illinois, we make it very clear that essential infrastructure is listed here if it engages in one of these, if you're engaged in one of these activities and it's going to be construed broadly. Again, if you are in the manufacturer distribution and supply chain for clinical products, you are also included, just like we talked about above. Our governor here in the state of Illinois has stated that it will be enforced pursuant to state and local law enforcement and there's provisions of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act that provide for that, those provisions. According to Pritzker, violators will be subject to warnings, cease and desist orders, a licensure penalty such as fines, suspensions and revocation, and the conviction of a misdemeanor offense. Again, the state here is saying we don't want to make this punitive. We're not out to make money. We're not out to enforce, to get the local militia out to enforce this order. We want people to recognize that it's a significant issue and that everybody participating in the shelter-in-place or these stay-at-home orders are part of the solution to diminishing the amount of spread of the virus and lessening the impact on the local health care operations, which are suffering from the lack of personal protective equipment, health care workers and places to go. New Jersey has a list of essential retail businesses, again, which makes very clear that they've used retail businesses. So they make certain that if you are a retail operation, you know who you are and who you are not. And that list of retailers is enumerated. More, again, listed here. Again, listed here. And this PowerPoint will be made available to all of you who are on this webinar and any member of the respective associations. I know Daniel will tell you more about that at the end. So you don't need to take notes. You don't need to worry about reading every single word. If you're from New Jersey, you can certainly go back and refer to this list. New Jersey also uses the definition of other commercial operations, which is manufacturing, industrial logistics, ports, heavy construction, shipping, food production, food delivery. Other commercial operations may continue operating, but they should limit the staff on site to the minimum number to ensure the essential operations can continue. So the goal here is to say, if you're in New Jersey and you do one of these things, we want you to put the minimum amount of staff that you have to in order to carry it out. And there's not going to be anybody second guessing. I don't believe what your determination is as to the numbers. Now, New Jersey is interesting because they tell you who cannot perform functions remotely, meaning these are people who likely have to show up to these essential functions. This is, as I was reading the commentary on this, this is to stem the notion that people who think they ought to be able to stay at home can't. And this is the list of those people. So all of them are enumerated here. And nothing in the order of New Jersey should be construed to limit these people, health care, essential services, newspapers, law enforcement, federal government for folks. Now, there's a little bit of a lack of clarity when you have those specific enumerations as to whether or not equipment distributors are determined to be non-essential retail businesses which must close to the public or other commercial operations which may continue in person. And so I point that out to say that they're not specifically enumerated, but it would seem to me that it is an operation that needs to continue with in-person operations. If you supply equipment to these sectors in New Jersey, it's currently not clear whether you are essential. Although again, given the tenor and spirit of the executive order, we believe you are. But it's not specifically enumerated. So those of you who operate in New Jersey may wish to seek clarification on these particular provisions. But again, we know that what is specifically enumerated are those employees who can't perform functions remotely, like repair workers and certain administrative staff and warehouse workers because they need to be there. And so if you are an equipment distributor who is responsible for sending technicians out to repair equipment, then certainly you couldn't do that in New Jersey remotely. And so it would seem to be that it comes within the purview of the definition. The state director of emergency management who is the superintendent of the state police is the one who has the discretion in New Jersey to make additions, amendments, clarifications, exemptions, and exclusions. New Jersey also has a penalty and enforcement provision conviction of disorderly person's offense, go to jail for six months and a fine of up to $1,000. So let's come to this for the rest of our time today to talk about some practical tips. And this is where we will bring Daniel in at the end to give you some of his practical tips from the notion of the association. I start with this practical tip and it's been something I've talked about in all of dealing with COVID-19 with my many clients. And I think it's important to recognize this Hippocratic Oath, which obviously applies to the medical field, right? It applies to doctors, which is the first aspect of the oath that Hippocrates says to take is first do no harm. So I think it's a good principle for all of us to practice. If we, while most of us on this call are not healthcare practitioners, we're not first line responders, we're not emergency services personnel. This notion has to apply to all of us because we are, as we, I think, just gone through today, essential. We're essential to keeping our economy running, keeping people safe. But what we have to recognize is that we do not want to create harm. So all of the principles that apply to social distancing and everything else is important. So I put this up here to say, even if you are essential, you need to maintain good business practices. So follow and enforce the guidelines regarding social distancing, the six foot recommendation. Using respiratory etiquette, coughing into the arm or a tissue and discarding that tissue. Using hand hygiene, washing the hands for 20 seconds under hot soapy water. Cleaning and disinfecting areas, so your rigs, any kitchens, any place where food is consumed, any place where there's any surfaces. So if you are an essential operation and you do have a workforce in place, make sure your workforce is protected by engaging in these particular provisions. And I don't have a lot of words here, but I do have this picture and I thought it was a good picture to say, look at those cars, those vehicles. So what we have to recognize is everybody knows is that with this pandemic, we are dealing with an evolving fluid situation. Again, as we talked on this call within the last hour, we recognize that Indiana is issuing a shelter in place order. So things are changing. And right now, while we feel fairly comfortable in the state that has issued executive orders that the operations that all of you engage in are essential businesses or essential operations, you should know that that could change at the drop of a hat, at the blink of an eye. And if there is mounting pressure on the public officials, on the elected officials to do that, they will. And they will have no choice but to. So that's why I talk about all of those kind of requirements the CDC outlined to say, if you are engaging, if you are an essential business engaging in your regular workplace operations and you're out on the road where people can see, don't be the reason why a governmental official decides it's going to make more stringent its executive order. So be careful and communicate this to all of the people you interact with from your own workforce to the clients that you service to say, we need to be careful. There's not going to be any hugging and handshaking and intimate lunches. There needs to be very much when you are on display, the notion that we need to behave in a way that will be smart so that we are not going to be subject to scrutiny later or to be the easy targets that are going to be faced later or that are going to face the music later. So I think it's worth conversing about. Some liability considerations. I won't spend a lot of time on this. I imagine that, you know, come the 4th of July, we're going to have lots of webinars on the liability that has emerged as a result of COVID-19 in the United States of America. My brethren on the other side of the V, the plaintiff's bar will look at a way to make this a lucrative opportunity for them to make money and to all, of course, for the altruistic purpose of caring for the everyday American who has been harmed by either the workforce, the worker or the work, the employer or society. Nonetheless, that's my editorial comment. I recognize that there have been laws that are put into place that if there is evidence that an individual contracts COVID-19 in the workplace, that they are subject to workers' compensation laws. So you should be familiar with that in your local, in your state. Certainly, I see an argument to be made that if you are an essential business and that your operations mean that somebody comes into contact with an employee who is diagnosed with COVID and there's an explanation, and there's a way to track that another person got COVID from you or your agent is there a potential for third-party liability? I'd say there's a potential for that. Clausation may certainly be a question, but I tell you to be smart in your behaviors. This is the crystal ball here that is shown. I'm going to end with my part of this discussion in terms of authorization letters. I know Daniel Fisher has some examples of those that are going to be, that are available on the AED website. But of the jurisdictions we talked about, Louisiana, Ohio, and Connecticut essentially don't have any enforcement provisions or penalties in their executive order. So there's no, probably any necessity for an authorization order. When I talk about an authorization order, I mean that if you are going from one place to another on a roadway and you're stopped by, your employees are stopped by a patrolman, an officer to find out why they're going from point A to point B. It may be necessary for them to have a letter in their cab that says here's where I'm going and here's who I am in order to establish that they are an essential business, engaged in essential business operations. Yesterday, our governor said when asked that question that people don't need papers. Now the image of papers that was asked by the reporter in that instance was almost as if it was talking about illegal immigrants or aliens. And so he tried to talk about papers in that sense. But I'd say that I caution all of you to say, while you may not need a letter today in Louisiana or in Illinois or Ohio or Connecticut, this could change rapidly. So while you have the staff and the ability to indicate what you do and why the individual may be out and about in light of an executive order, it might be worthwhile having that paper in the hands of your employees now before it's too late. Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, if you are in those states where the penalties are in place and significant with criminal or civil penalties, I suggest that you have those authorization letters. And you should monitor federal guidance such as CESA. You should watch for further state executive orders and any additional orders by the local authorities. Like we say, California and Illinois specifically said that the local authorities may make more stringent policies. And with that, I turn this over to your esteemed Vice President. Well, thank you, Michael. Thanks for that great presentation. I'm going to keep this relatively short on my end because I know there's a lot of questions out there, but I did want everyone to be aware of what AED has been doing specifically related to ensuring that the broader construction industry as well as equipment dealers are deemed as essential. So we've been working with the federal government's CESA as Michael talked about CESA. And really the importance there is that a lot of states are linking to CESA or referencing CESA guidance. And the guidance from CESA is not binding. It's guidance guidelines for states to use. But when states are citing them, that does then become binding in that particular state. And we've been working with CESA to ensure that the construction industry, all the construction industry sectors, workers are deemed essential. As Michael went through, we believe that that is the case, but it is a little ambiguous and we'd like some clarity there. The CESA process is also important because if we were to go to a national standard, which many are calling for because this patchwork of states, you know, setting up different systems could be obviously very problematic. So there are calls for the federal government to step in and kind of come up with a national definition. We'll see if that happens. There's a lot of issues there with who's state and federal government who controls public health and such things. But the CESA guidance is important and we are engaging constantly with CESA on making that definition more clear. We've been weighing in with states and localities about the need to keep construction projects going and the essential nature of the equipment industry. We've partnered with other organizations to do this, many of your customer organizations, as well as your manufacturer organizations. And we've been weighing in. For example, the last one was in Pennsylvania where they basically prohibited most construction projects from moving forward. We've been weighing in there and it's been, I think, very well received. We've been partnering with your national organizations to really ensure the best possible outcome for your members. The national AGC, national contractor groups, NSSGA, as they're advocating for their specific industries, I've been very much letting them know that they can't forget about us and that they can't do their work unless they have the equipment and they have the service that our members are providing. Michael mentioned the sample letter that we have, the authorization, the essential letter, I guess, that you can use to deem your employees essential. And that is on our coronavirus update center. You may have seen it. We sent it out last night to all AED members through an action alert. And that is now, if you go to aednet.org, our website, there's a coronavirus update center right on the front of the page. You can click there and you will see the essential worker authorization letter that we've drafted. We recommend in the states that Michael said you may need that, that you would put that on your letterhead. You can keep AED's logo on there. And you would fill that out, fill in the details there. And then as far as communication, so ongoing, really, it's very important for you to stay updated. This is, as Michael alluded to, this is something that's changing by the day, by the hour, sometimes by the minute. And you really need to make sure that you are engaging, and that means engagement not just at maybe the governor's level, but also at your mayor or village president, your county board, as well as your township supervisors. These are the people that are actually going to be, in most cases, enforcing these essential worker orders, these shutdown or shelter-in-place orders. So it's important that you are engaged at a local level, in addition to being engaged at the federal state level as well. And it's very important, your governor's page, your local mayor's page, your county page will have all these orders listed. They're very easy to find. The governor, I know people have been asking about the various states that just announced today. I was able to find all those orders relatively easily. I haven't had a chance to analyze them, but I was able to find them on the governor's pages, and so they're up. And I do think that, in most cases, they're fairly clear about who is and who is not essential. And also I'd encourage you to engage your local customer and customer groups. As I mentioned, I've been engaging with the AGCs, the ARPAs here in Washington, D.C., but it is important that you get – they're a great resource, one, for having the latest and greatest information on what is going on locally, but also they are valuable for us in terms of being a great advocate for our industry and making sure that just because construction workers may be deemed essential, that those who are supplying the industry and maintaining the equipment are also going to be deemed essential. So keep in touch. I know many of you are members of your local AGC, ARPA, Stone Sand and Gravel, any of your customer groups. So I would be sure to keep in touch with them and make sure that you express any concerns you have, but also – and they also are a great resource for information on these shutdown orders, especially as they are coming out quickly. So with that, Liz, we will accept questions. Okay. We'll start at the top. What are the legal obligations for a company to keep the air that workers breathe safe and comfortable, free from pollutants, heat and humidity? Well, I would direct you to the OSHA regulations with respect to air quality and air safety and certainly any of your state and local regulations with respect to air quality and air – legal requirements in terms of air. Certainly beyond the scope of this mere lawyer's expertise, but recognize that all of the way in which the workplace is governed in terms of safety begins with OSHA. So I suggest you start with OSHA, look at those OSHA requirements, and OSHA has come out with a lot of guidelines or regulations, rather, with respect to safe workplaces in light of COVID-19, including having ample soap and hand sanitizers, alcohol-based 60 percent, wipe downs, Clorox, Lysol, all of those requirements, all in the OSHA guidelines and requirements. So I suggest you speak to your OSHA experts and your OSHA representatives with respect to that. Okay. We are a forklift company in Louisiana. Are we essential? I think the short answer to that question is it depends on who you service in Louisiana as clients. So I'd say the broad answer to that question from my perspective is yes, if it is that you provide forklift service to warehouses, where warehouses are storing food supply, medicine, anything else that's essential in terms of the operations. So I think you need to look at who your client base is, who you're servicing in Louisiana, and whether or not those forklifts need to be repaired in order to carry out the maintenance on those forklifts to be carried out in a particular jurisdiction or region of Louisiana in order to carry out the essential services. Okay. When a state or locale issues one of these orders, how can we get an actual copy of what they are considering essential, such as if they are using CESA definitions of their own? Daniel, I'll let you take that one. Sorry. Take it off mute here. As I mentioned, the state governor's page is a great resource. If it's a local order, that would be on the mayor's page or the county council page, if it's a county-wide thing. But these things are, I mean, just Googling them, they come up pretty readily. They're linked to in most news stories. But these orders are right on most of the front pages of the governor's and your local government's websites. Okay. If you are a manufacturer supplying equipment to a company for a project in any of the states noted, will the guideline apply to the manufacturer as well? Yeah. To me, again, these are all generalizations and general answers, and none of what I'm saying is a substitute for your own individual consultation with your lawyers who are familiar with your local laws and your own governor's executive order and your own internal operations as a business. But we recognize that if you're a manufacturer and you're manufacturing something that is in the supply chain in certain states that specifically enumerated the supply chain as an essential business, then the answer is yes, again, from a broad perspective. Again, review the state requirements and talk to your own lawyers. But I see no reason why manufacturers would be excluded in the event they're in an operation. Now, if you're a manufacturer of playing cards, I guess, or decks of cards, or things along those lines where there's no clear way to attribute what you're doing as a manufacturer to an essential function within your state, then you may have a more difficult time with establishing yourself as essential in the terms of manufacturing. Michael, if I may, a lot of the orders do make fairly clear on the manufacturing side. I think on the suppliers such as the distributors, I think it's a little more ambiguous. But on the manufacturing side, most of them are pretty specifically enumerated on the manufacturing side, and the CESA language is very specific on manufacturing, what kind of manufacturers, and it does include manufacturers of earth-moving machinery and construction equipment and air compressors and stuff like that. So to the extent your state's linking to the CESA guidance, it's very clear there, and I think most states have enumerated pretty well with specificity what manufacturers are deemed essential. Okay, and kind of going along with that supply chain question, I'm going to skip ahead to another question that we had. We have several customers who have sent us notifications that they are essential and that we are considered essential to them. How do we treat those notifications? Yeah, I think those are critical notifications that are, as I say, the word essentially. I don't think anybody will use the term essential ever the same again. I don't think anybody will use the term essential ever the same again since COVID-19. But those notices, those notifications are designed for you to use in terms of establishing yourself and determining for your own selves that you are critical in terms of the operations of the local jurisdiction. So I would certainly maintain those notifications, and in the event there's any enforcement action taken by the local authorities or the local government that essentially challenges you on whether or not you come within the purview of the order within your jurisdiction, you use those as a defense to say, of course, we are not. We are not violating any orders. We are essential, and look it here. We have directives from our clients and customers that say we need you in order to continue on without our operations, and we are clearly essential, and so you are essential to us. So those are important perspectives. Those are important documents to have in order to maintain the perspective of the enforcement operations. Okay. We've got two questions that are related to employees traveling across state lines. So the first, we are in Iowa and have several employees in Illinois. Can they travel to Iowa for work? And then the second one, is there any special consideration or provision for material handling installation crews traveling across state lines into a state that has made shelter-in-place provisions but repair or construction is still allowed? I think in both of those instances, the restriction on travel has been restrictions only for essential travel. So if the travel is for purposes of business and you're deemed an essential business and that's the reason for the travel, I think that travel will be certainly authorized and permitted, and I don't think anybody will enforce shelter-in-place or stay-at-home order against you. Likewise, I think the same is true if there's an adjoining state and you're crossing state lines in order to perform maintenance or repair work or any other essential work. I would suggest, again, that just to be safe rather than be sorry, to ensure that the individuals are in possession of a letter that clearly depicts the name and address of the person and say the name and address that matches their state-issued government ID that they're using to cross state lines with, and that says, I'm engaged in the business of my company, and just to make sure that there's no questions and that there's a safe transport. I think that the experts in this arena generally say that law enforcement officers who are tasked with enforcing shelter-in-place or stay-at-home orders generally want something in order to let them do their job easily. If you give them something to do their job easily, they are not interested in creating havoc or giving people troubles or problems. In Ohio, if our company is essential, does that mean that 100% of our employees are essential with regard to the emergency paid sick leave? How would we justify saying that one tech stayed home and should be reimbursed when another tech had to work, for example? Well, don't confuse the sick leave requirements, which we talked about on the webinar last week for AED, with any other determinations. The sick leave policy that the federal government passed is a policy that applies to those who are sick from COVID-19. So if they have a diagnosed condition of COVID-19 from a medical professional, they are entitled to the sick leave provisions of the Families First Act that Congress passed and the President signed that take effect April 2nd. So there's no mixing here of the two. So if a technician is not working because of COVID-19, then that technician is not working because of COVID-19. It has nothing to do with the essential operations. Now, you can have 100% of your workforce work if that's what's necessary. Remember, in many places what's being recommended is that the minimum necessary to perform the essential functions of the business in order to be considered an essential business ought to be in place. So if you can reduce the workforce by allowing the person to work from home, then they ought to work from home. If you can't and they can't work from home, then the other provisions of the laws that we expect to see come out of Congress that are being negotiated will, I believe, deal with those people who are furloughed, laid off, terminated because of COVID-19 and the lack of work. So those are all the milieu of questions and legal issues in that particular question that all need to be parsed out and answered specifically in light of the different factors or facets of the legal principles that apply. Okay. I think we've got time for maybe a couple more. The first, in Michigan, if I elect to stay home and my employer states that we are essential, am I expected to be at work? I'm glad you asked the question about Michigan. I have a little bit of information from Mark Kinsey, who I will publicly announce. He's one of my senior associates at the office who's worked hand-in-hand with AED and me in putting together this PowerPoint. He sent me some information while we were talking about the Michigan law, which is the executive order that will be effective tomorrow, and it allows for minimum basic functions. It adopts CESA with some elaboration. It has an interesting provision on distributors and supplies that can be designated. So that's good news. All essential workers must be designated in writing. So there you go in terms of having somebody has to identify you as an essential worker in writing. So when we talk about the variation from state to state, and the Illinois governor says you don't need quote-unquote papers, it looks like Michigan is saying you do. There are enforcement provisions under Michigan's executive order, and local authorities there have the right to make more stringent or more restrictive requirements as opposed to what the state's executive order is going to be. So we don't have the Indiana executive order yet. We're trying to find that, and as Daniel said, once we have that, we will provide that to all of you by AED. Now, Liz, the question again in terms of Michigan. Sorry, I had myself muted. In Michigan, if I elect to stay home, my employer states that we are essential. Then am I expected to be at work? Again, there's a lot of issues in terms of that question as to, you know, if a person elects to stay at home, why do they elect to stay at home? Are they staying at home because they're sick? Are they staying at home to care for a kid who is home from school? Are they staying at home to care for a loved one who's got COVID-19? You know, there's a lot of issues if the person elects to stay at home because they don't want to show up to work because they're lazy. That's one issue. If the person says they're not going to come to work because they fear something, there are a lot of different issues in terms of the aspects of answering that question. But generally, in the United States of America, you get paid if you work and you don't get paid if you don't work. And so I use that as a general caveat. What we're seeing happening in Washington is a little different than what we're normally used to. So I think we need to watch for the guidance that comes from Washington on this topic. But if a person has PTO time, paid time off, or vacation time, I believe that that can be charged to the employer or by the employer to the employee if they choose to stay home, even though the operations are running and the operations are running in a place where there's an executive order for shelter in place or stay at home, and that employer is still a viable or an essential business. So a lot of questions there to work with your human resources professionals in answering that question in Michigan. Okay, I think this one might be for Daniel Fisher. Is AED providing letters as a third party to members relying on those in the essential category? Yes, so I mentioned that, and I believe it's been linked in the chat room or the chat box there now where that letter is that you're welcome to use and repurpose to provide to your employees that you deem essential. And that is on the AED. I'm sorry, go ahead, Michael. That is on AED's home webpage under the COVID-19 Resource Center there. I do not know what the Michigan specifically requires, so I encourage you to look at what the executive order in Michigan says about what is necessary in writing in order to ensure it complies. So we'll certainly take a look at that after we are done with this call today. Okay. All right. That's all the time we have for questions. Daniel? Yeah, I would just, Michael, you have something? I was just going to say Massachusetts real quick. For those of you who are on from Massachusetts, there are exemptions under Massachusetts so there's a shelter-in-place order, stay-at-home order. Massachusetts adopts CESA, and to request a designation as an essential business, there is a way to do that. And any questions can be answered at COVID19.biz at mass.gov. There are criminal and civil penalties in Massachusetts up to $300, and the local authorities in Massachusetts are not allowed to issue a more restrictive order or orders that interfere with the essential businesses as defined by the executive order of the state governor there. So just to kind of give you the latest updates on Massachusetts and Michigan. Great. Well, thank you, everyone, for joining. I would just say stay tuned to AAD. Stay tuned to your state governor's website. Stay tuned to your local county, mayor, or city website for the latest and greatest. But, really, AAD will continue to provide updated information as we get it. Like I said, it's a very fluid situation, but we're trying to push this information out as quickly as possible to all our members. Brian, I don't know if you had any comments before we wrap up here. Yeah, I would just echo this is a very fluid situation. As we mentioned, several states issued after midnight, after we put this presentation together. So things are constantly changing. I would encourage MAHIDA members to stay in touch with MAHIDA. They are doing their best to keep you informed as well as AAD is doing. And remember, the big thing with the letters, I see a lot of questions popping up about the letter. In most localities, it's a very broad definition of essential. You're self-declaring that you're essential with the ability to back up why you fall under the exemption. In most locations, that's how it's working. So you can use the letter that AAD has posted. You can keep our logo on there. You can take it off. It's completely up to you what you want to do with that. Because, again, it's a self-declaration that you are essential based under the law. Most states are not individually handling that. They're looking for industry to police itself. But the letter is there and should help. Again, stay tuned. We will continue to update you as updates come available. I suspect we will be doing other webinars as the week goes on. So thank you, everybody, for joining us. And everyone will be able to access the PowerPoint presentation. And this webinar has been recorded so that if anybody wants to share it with somebody who wasn't on, they can. But thank you again, everybody.

equipment dealers

COVID-19 pandemic

essential businesses

state orders

CISA guidelines

enforcement

social distancing

hygiene practices

liability considerations

authorization letters

safe work environment