WHEREAS, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel virus that is the cause of severe acute respiratory illness. It was first detected in Wuhan, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) in December of 2019. As of February 26, 2020, 81,830 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in China and more than forty other countries have been reported. There have been 2,771 deaths attributable to the disease, including 56 outside mainland China. 

The Secretary of Finance has advised of a projected reduction in the estimated general fund resources for the current fiscal year ending September 30, 2020. In a communication to the Governor dated February 3, 2020 (SFL 2020-081), the Secretary of Finance reported a shortfall in revenue by 8% or $4,364,189 for the first quarter of FY2020. The Secretary further advised of the need to revise the annual revenue estimate for FY2020 by a reduction of 16.8% and budgetary resources by 25.3% for the remainder of the fiscal year. Subsequently, in a communication dated February 6, 2020 (SFL 2020-085), the Secretary of Finance informed the Governor that his department updated and revised the annual revenue estimates for FY2020 based on new data. The Secretary of Finance now reported the need to revise the annual revenue estimate for FY2020 by a reduction of 20.7% and budgetary resources by 28.3% for the remainder of the fiscal year.