News
ISSA Advocacy Recap—Trump Administration to Review DACA & Reject New Applications
July 31, 2020
Welcome to the ISSA Advocacy Recap, our regular roundup of the latest public policy issues impacting the cleaning industry. This week’s recap touches on the Trump administration’s intention to reject new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applications while the administration reviews the program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of 13 List N products as effective against SARS-CoV-2, June’s U.S. consumer spending increase, and more.
Trump Administration to Review DACA and Reject New Applications
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it will not accept new applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and will limit renewals to one year as opposed to two while it reviews the program. The announcement, which comes more than a month after the Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to end DACA and weeks after a federal judge said that the administration must begin to accept new applications, “seems intended to buy time while the administration decides its next steps,” according to CNN. The memo is the Trump administration’s third attempt to rescind the program and is bound to face legal challenges.
EPA Approves 13 Products from List N as Effective Against SARS-CoV-2
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Thursday that 13 List N products have completed laboratory testing for use specifically against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Products on List N are expected to kill SARS-CoV-2 based on past efficacy testing, but this step gives the products’ efficacy against the virus additional weight by providing “critical scientific data and information,” according to Andrew Wheeler, EPA Administrator. The total number of products in this category is now 15. EPA continues to add products to List N that are expected to kill SARS-CoV-2, and the list currently has 469 approved products.
U.S. Consumer Spending Rises for Second Straight Month
On Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department announced that U.S. consumer spending increased 5.6% in June after a record 8.5% hike in May, contributing to a rosier growth trajectory going into the third quarter. The June increase was 0.1% higher than economists had predicted. June’s increase helped pull inflation-adjusted consumer spending out of April’s deep hole, though it remains below its pre-pandemic level according to CNBC. Moreover, the resurgence of COVID-19 infections and the resulting business closures and reopening halts casts a shadow over the magnitude of recovery.
Other links of interest:
- Cleaning Tax Credit Included in Senate Economic Stimulus Bill
- Take Action Now – Urge Your Elected Officials to Support Cleaning Tax Credit
- Register for ISSA’s Upcoming Advocacy Webinar–Hand Sanitizers and the FDA
- U.S. Officials See ‘Signs of Progress’ in Sun Belt Coronavirus Outbreaks, though Deaths Remain High
- Republican Senators Propose $1,000 Stimulus Checks
