Message from the President
March 20, 2020
Yesterday, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statewide
stay at home order
that took effect at midnight today. It orders all individuals living in California to stay at their place of residence, 'except as needed to maintain continuity of operation of the federal critical infrastructure sectors, critical government services, schools, childcare, and construction, including housing construction.'
The measure goes a bit further than the shelter-in-place orders seen in
San Francisco
and
Oak Park
, deferring to the Department of Homeland Security's
list of critical infrastructure sectors
. The existence of this list of 16 critical sectors, that has been specifically created for the COVID-19 crisis, could be an indication that the federal government is also considering further shut down measures.
We haven't received any official information that the governor has made a decision on shutting down more businesses, but it is reasonable to expect that Illinois is seriously contemplating similar action. We strongly encourage all businesses to make a contingency plan for their operations and employees if they haven't already.
We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.
As always, please call me with any questions or concerns at: 217.522.5512 ext. 233.
We anticipate having another update very soon.
Sincerely,
Todd Maisch
President and CEO
Illinois Chamber of Commerce
