Pub. 60 2019-2020 Issue 4

14 W hen the NBA season and the NCAA Conference basketball tournaments ground to a complete halt Wednesday, March 11th, due to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the United States, it was the first sign that life was about to change in significant and far-reaching ways. As it did change, TADA, the regional dealer associations in Texas, and NADA worked to ensure dealership operations continued in the state of Texas. OnMarch 13th, TexasGovernor Abbott issued a disaster dec- laration for all counties inTexas in response toCOVID-19. By March 17th, the Bay area lockdown covering San Francisco and its surrounding counties was put in place, giving the nation its first glimpse at the future of shelter in place/stay at home/stay safe orders that would eventually spread to most states and localities throughout the country. Under the Bay area order, only defined essential businesses were allowed to remain open, and that included auto supply, auto repair and related facilities. Given that this initial order in California was interpreted to only include automotive maintenance and repair, NADA and the Alliance of Automotive Innovation sent a joint letter on March 17th to President Trump requesting that automobile and truck sales be considered critical infrastruc- ture, and essential nationally, in addition to automotive maintenance and repair. This was done on the belief that federal guidelines would influence future actions likely to be taken in the states and localities in determining essential businesses and activities under their orders. OnMarch 19th, the federal government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued its first listing (CISA 1.0) of critical infrastructure, but only automotive maintenance and repair were covered at that time. As cit- ies, counties, and states began to impose shelter in place/ stay home/stay safe orders, automobile and truck sales were restricted or limited in many areas of the country. Back in Texas on March 19th, Governor Abbott issued a statewide Executive Order closing in-room dining in restaurants, bars, schools, and gatherings of more than 10. By March 20th, TADA began preparations with the re- gional associations to advocate for keeping the sales func- tion included in any essential business determinations with the expectation that local jurisdictions would go first, but statewide orders could reasonably follow. By the evening of the 20th, TADA had provided language to the Governor’s office in the event of a statewide order, and the regional associations began communicating with their local leaders about the need to include the full operations of the dealer- ship as essential in any local order. Governor Abbott declined to put the state under stay at home orders on March 22nd citing the diversity of the state and the then-footprint of reported cases of COVID-19 in Texas. However, the Governor invited local jurisdictions to act if they felt the need to do so in their areas. By nightfall, Dallas County had issued a stay at home order and had listed only auto supply, auto repair, and related facilities as essential activities that could continue operating under the order. Realizing that the Dallas County order would encourage other counties/cities to act in a similar fashion, TADAPresi- dent DarrenWhitehurst organized a joint formal letter with the regional associations onMarch 23rd.The letter, addressed to the Governor, Texas County Judges, and Texas Mayors, spoke to the essential nature of all operations, including sales, Dealer Associations Work Collectively and Cooperatively to Keep Dealerships Operational in Texas