Cruise Ship Quarantined Off the Coast of California Due to Coronavirus Concerns

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency and ordered a cruise ship returning from Hawaii to be held in quarantine off the coast of San Francisco after public health officials learned that some passengers and crew members were showing symptoms of the coronavirus. One of the passengers who previously disembarked from the ship died in California on Wednesday, marking the first U.S. coronavirus death outside Washington state. On Thursday, California officials announced that another man who had been on the cruise had died, likely from the virus. Officials are now trying to locate the hundreds of other California residents who left the ship last month to determine if they also have symptoms. “We have the resources. We have the capacity. By [Wednesday evening], we will have contacted every county health official that has someone who came off this cruise … The ship will not come on shore until we appropriately assess the passengers,” Newsom said. Further up the West Coast, public health officials in Washington asked the legislature for $100 million to respond to the coronavirus, a measure supported by Republican Sen. Steve O’Ban, who is proposing the state dip into its emergency rainy day fund. “A public health crisis is exactly the kind of event that justifies dipping into the ‘rainy day fund.’ We want to act quickly to make sure response and recovery efforts are not delayed by a lack of funding,” he said. Meanwhile, authorities near Seattle have closed a school district that serves 20,000 students. On the east coast, the number of confirmed cases in New York rose to 13, and at least one teacher in New York City is in self-quarantine after she developed symptoms. NYC Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said that “closing schools is probably the last option.” Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced an immediate suspension of state schools’ study abroad programs in China, Italy, Japan, Iran, and South Korea, as well as ordering all students and staff in those countries to return to New York and begin a 14-day quarantine. Around the world, there are now more than 90,000 confirmed cases and 3,000 deaths. [New York Times; CBS New York; Peninsula Daily News; Los Angeles Times]

BORDER WALL | Nineteen states filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over the $3.8 billion dollars diverted from the military that will go towards funding a wall at the Mexican border. The lawsuit says that $1.3 billion will come from National Guard state defense programs, causing “damage to their economies." California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is leading the lawsuit. "This year’s victim of his taxpayer money grab is the National Guard, which would lose critical funds to secure essential equipment for our troops. Congress has repeatedly and explicitly rejected taxpayer funding for a wasteful Trump wall along the border. We're going to court—once again—to remind Donald Trump that even the President is not above the law,” he said. At a House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing with top National Guard officers, Republican Rep. Ken Calvert of California said that “this kind of reprogramming has to end [because] there's going to be a future president at some point, maybe President [Bernie] Sanders, who may want to create a national emergency and move money into Health and Human Services.” [Politico]

SCHOOL FUNDING | A group of parents in Nevada is suing the state for failing to meet its constitutional obligation to adequately fund education. The lawsuit names the Nevada Department of Education and the State Board of Education as defendants. Amanda Morgan of Educate Nevada Now, an education advocacy group, said that she filed the suit to clarify the state’s obligation. “The court won’t say you need to put x amount of dollars into education. But it will say, ‘What you’re doing right now doesn’t meet your constitutional obligation. Go fix it,’” she said. State Board of Education member Felicia Ortiz said she supports the lawsuit but doesn’t understand by the Board is named as a defendant. “When (families) mentioned a lawsuit, I said please do, because it appears that’s the only way we’re going to get this funding. But I thought they would be suing the state Legislature, not the Board of Education,” she said. The Nevada State Education Association, a union for teachers in the state, said they support the move and will file an amicus brief in support. [Las Vegas Review Journal]

BICYCLISTS | The Colorado legislature passed a bill aimed at giving bicyclists more protection on the road. The bill requires drivers to yield to cyclists in bike lanes and gives law enforcement the ability to ticket drivers who block bike lanes. State Sen. Mike Foote said that the legislation—the first bike-specific measure the legislature has considered this year—is necessary to protect cyclists. “It’s a pretty straightforward bill. It basically says that if the cyclist is riding in the bike lane and gets hit by a car, it’s not the cyclist’s fault,” Foote said. [ABC Denver]

IMPORTING DRUGS | New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed several health-related bills this week, including legislation that will pave the way for the state to import medications from Canada. Prescription medications cost about 30% less in Canada, and more states have turned to importation as a strategy to combat soaring drug prices. “My goal is to make health care so much more cost-effective and affordable for New Mexicans,” Lujan Grisham said. [Santa Fe New Mexican]