The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association has been communicating directly with manufacturers across Illinois as the situation changes and will continue posting resources online at the IMA’s dedicated page
www.ima-net.org/covid-19/
.
Nationally, 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment in March, more than 5 times higher than the previous record set in 1982. The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) reported that monthly unemployment claims totaled 133,763 compared to 27,493 over the same period in 2019 when unemployment was at a near-record low.
Governor JB Pritzker held his daily press conference today and continued to stressed the need for individuals to abide by the stay-at-home order and practice social distancing as much as possible. The Governor also introduced new measures to help non-profit organizations in the state that are helping people through the COVID-19 crisis.
The Governor and Director of Public Health announced the following:
- There are 673 new cases of coronavirus in Illinois
- There are a total of 26 deaths related to coronavirus, including seven today
- A total of 2,538 cases have been confirmed in 37 of the 102 counties
New or critical items of note that were discussed today by the Governor and local leaders:
- The Governor announced that the federal government has approved Illinois' request for a federal major disaster declaration. This declaration will allow for additional emergency funding for hospitals and expanding telehealth programs.
- The Governor is also seeking another disaster declaration for every county in Illinois in order to access FEMA’s individual assistance program that would give resources for more unemployment benefits and enhanced benefits for shelter, food and emergency supplies.
- The Governor also announced the creation of the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund, in partnership with United Way of Illinois and the Alliance of Illinois Community Foundations, to support local community organizations and non-profits across the state who are responding to the COVID 19 crisis. Led by former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, this fund has already raised $23 million. To learn more, please visit www.ilcovidresponsefund.org
- The Governor lauded manufacturers who are retooling to produce the goods that will keep us all safe.
The Governor was joined at his press conference today by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin who praised the recent unanimous passage of the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Response and Affordable Care Act (CARE). This rescue package is expected to pass the House of Representatives as early as tomorrow. Our partners at the National Association of Manufacturers were intimately involved in crafting the package to ensure that manufacturing voices were heard and provided this
summary
.
Employer Resources & Programs
The IMA is offering conference calls this week to update manufacturers and businesses about changing laws, rules, and regulations.
Friday afternoon, the IMA will host a webinar on COVID-19 employee leave laws and FMLA. Panelists for the webinar include Norma Zeitler and David Ritter, partners with Barnes & Thornburg LLP. To register,
please click here
.
Additionally, the IMA has released a new
Question & Answer section
on our website. This document contains some of the most frequently asked questions and we continue adding more information as it becomes available.