Lessons Learned from the Covid-19 Pandemic: A DC Perspective
This week marks the end of the U.S. national emergency to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic as President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan congressional resolution to bring it to a close after three years — weeks before it was set to expire alongside a separate public health emergency. The President signed the measure after having initially opposed the congressional resolutions.
The declaration put in place by President Trump, allowed the government to take sweeping steps to respond to the virus and support the country's economic, health, and welfare systems. The public health emergency — also the foundation of the tough immigration restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border — was set to expire on May 11.
As we read about its conclusion, for me as someone who has worked in public policy in DC for over 45 years, it caused me to pause and think about what we learned from this earth-shattering event. And it brought back memories of how the pandemic started for us personally. I also realized how much I had forgotten about it. It reminds me of having our son, I completely forgot that tough delivery, I just remember the beautiful child. I have to admit I had to ask my husband what year it was when the pandemic actually began, as it truly was a blur. How does such a momentous event become a blur? A blur of huge events, major changes, and tremendous personal losses for all of us, yet I couldn’t remember what year it was. So, we decided it was important for our team to record at least for our family and friends what happened, and what we learned.
For us, it started in the middle of March 2020 with a client visit to Washington, DC to meet with members of Congress. After the visits were over, we learned from one of the Congressional offices that a staffer in the office had come down with Covid. We reached out to our HR folks and were advised that the entire team should stay home for the prescribed two weeks or 10 days (can’t remember which as that requirement was ever-changing). We didn’t come back for almost two years.
Opportunity to Help or Firm Disaster?
While the first public case in the U.S. was reported on January 20th, 2020, the first major restrictions leading to lockdowns didn’t begin until March of 2020 in New York, the same month the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. We knew at that point we needed to prepare our clients for a major event. We just didn’t know that it was the event of a lifetime.
In Washington, Congress swung into action to pass three separate bills that they referred to as phases one, two, and three. All three were passed on a bipartisan basis in one month.
The first two relief bills were signed by President Trump early in 2020: $8 billion on March 6, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act that provided for vaccine research and development and $192 billion on March 18, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which focused on unemployment and sick leave compensation, providing free coronavirus testing, 14-day paid leave for American workers affected by the pandemic, and increased funding for food stamps. It was apparent to Congress that these would not be sufficient. A much larger third package, which was to become the CARES Act, was negotiated. The $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by Congress was signed into law by President Trump on March 27, 2020. The spending primarily includes $300 billion in one-time cash payments to individual people who submit a tax return in America (with most single adults receiving $1,200 and families with children receiving more, $260 billion in increased unemployment benefits, the creation of the Paycheck Protection Program that provides forgivable loans to small businesses with an initial $350 billion in funding (later increased to $669 billion by subsequent legislation), $500 billion in loans for corporations, and $339.8 billion to state and local governments. This legislation was the largest economic stimulus package in U.S. history, amounting to 10% of total U.S. gross domestic product.
In late April 2020, Congress approved and the President signed into law an expansion of the Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enhancement Act, providing $484 billion in additional funding to the existing Paycheck Protection Program. On May 15, 2020, the Democratic-controlled House passed a $3 trillion relief bill called the HEROES Act, but the Republican-controlled Senate never brought it to a vote. There was no other significant economic relief bill until late December 2020 when Congress reached an agreement on a $900 billion stimulus package.
Over the course of the pandemic, the Trump and Biden Administrations set up Operation Warp Speed and the Covid Response Task Force, respectively, and cumulatively approved 88 Executive Orders to address the pandemic. In addition to state-specific emergency declarations, these orders primarily targeted expediting federal agency actions, especially at HHS and invoked the Defense Production Act to order the private sector to make necessary health care equipment, drugs, and tests, and to keep industries on the job like the food industry.
The Problem
Our team realized our clients were going to need help in so many ways to solve pandemic problems and so we set to work to connect them with the right policymakers in the Administration as well as in Congress. We knew we needed to work hard to help them stay in business, as almost all of them were essential businesses to support the American public.
Our clients needed state and federal guidance for responding to COVID-19 effectively and responsibly. Workers needed personal protection equipment, documents asserting their essential status, access to tests and vaccines, and even financial assistance to retain staff despite the disruptions. Another effort, aided by the various executive orders, was focused on helping clients receive EPA or FDA approval on the wide variety of improvements, innovations, and inventions that were developed and manufactured to respond to the public health emergency. From vials and syringes to sanitation solutions and medical equipment, we understood that the technology of business and government had to change and that we needed to support our client base.
And as the pandemic wore on, we worked closely with the government to get the supply chain running again. Even prior to the pandemic, the U.S. was engaged in a massive trade war that had already disrupted our existing supply chains. Steel and aluminum needed in America, for example, were tariffed or limited by absolute quotas impacting trade with all our foreign partners. We also underwent a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada and saw Section 301 tariffs imposed on China through numerous lists covering almost all imported products and a similar Section 301 tariff imposed on the European Union over Airbus. We filed over 3,000 applications to protect American companies from these tariffs and keep supplies on the shelves for American consumers. The impact of a pandemic and a major trade war combined was devastating to our supply chains in some cases requiring airlifting of Personal Protection equipment like masks and gloves from overseas and special exemptions from tariffs to get them here at all.
How to Make Lemonade out of Lemons
How did we help our clients when we, like the rest of America, were stuck at home? First, we needed to change our communications. Instead of once or twice a week in-person meetings, we created a daily morning call and regular check-ins. It allowed us to connect personally on what our families were up to as well as have important business discussions. Those discussions, not just among partners but including the whole team allowed for all members of the team to learn from each other. It was great training for the newest members of the team. We also got to know our coworkers’ families. Children talking in the background, spouses and even dogs barking, and cats on the computers made all of us smile and a little more humble. Although, learning when to talk and when to listen was equally important. We also set up specific practice area huddles, centered around trade, energy & environment, food & agriculture, and health.
We moved from the conference call to video conference calls, mastering a brand-new technology. Congress and the Administration moved with us to use technology also moving to embrace that technology not only for business meetings, but eventually for political events and fundraisers. Congress voted in the House to utilize proxy voting at about the same time.
These adaptions led to successes for our clients. We were able to set up bi-weekly check-in calls between our food processors and a mixture of leadership from the FDA, OSHA, HHS, and, at times, FEMA. This gave federal leaders insight into the ‘boots on the ground’ perspectives of our critical workers ensuring food remained on the shelves of our grocery stores. We developed virtual relationships with leaders around the country which enabled us to work directly with state governments to ensure vaccines were prioritized to our client manufacturing the vials for the COVID-19 vaccine when their facility was observing increased absenteeism due to pandemic-related illnesses. We even secured formal documentation for our clients’ essential workers to carry with them at all times if they were stopped by state or local authorities during various shutdowns. We were nimble, adaptive, and dedicated to finding solutions to do our part.
Our World is Forever Changed
Even as we come back into our offices, our modus operandi has changed forever and for the better. Undoubtedly, there is still nothing that beats an in-person meeting. But it’s also never been easier to quickly schedule virtual calls when necessary. We still keep our daily check-ins, which helps us efficiently manage our hybrid work schedules and provides an opportunity to share intelligence and provide general team updates. We problem-solve more creatively, and we also know what government is capable of when given the tools to advance its mission effectively.
COVID-19 showed the best and the worst of us. It brought us together during times of national tragedy and offered a stark reminder of the work we still need to do as a society in our great democratic experiment. We observed frontline workers bravely go to work each day while we sheltered in our homes and saw a nurse on live tv proudly receive the first dose of the historic vaccine that would eventually lead us out of the darkness; we heard the chants of Americans demanding for civil rights and saw the smoke that billowed from the Capitol Building; we attended Zoom weddings and nearly perfected the outdoor, distanced Thanksgiving dinner. Reminders of the pandemic’s ruthlessness and danger hit personally too. We lost a longtime client and good friend, Steve Smith, who passed away during the pandemic. Still, our coalition of fruit & vegetable processors came together to establish a fund to support college pursuits for his children when the time comes. We didn’t let a pandemic destroy our sense of kindness and trust in humanity.
The pandemic reminded me that time with our families must become more of a priority. We’ve now been through some of the first few holidays ‘post-covid’ and it seems like our hugs are tighter and our laughs are louder. Take a moment to reflect on the past few years, the journey you and your family have been on, and appreciate those around you while remembering those no longer with us. Time is precious and never underestimate how the work that you, your family, your community, or your coworkers can make the world a better place. It’s the only thing that ever has.
Dedicated to a very special personal friend and client, Steve Smith, Director of Agriculture for Red Gold who was an early victim of Covid-19. This week as members of the USDA Fruit & Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee gather we remember and honor Steve who was so proud of his membership in this group on behalf of Red Gold and our client the American Fruit and Vegetable Processors and Growers Coalition.
