The governmental orders by layer
The orders that reached this industry came from every layer of government and every class of authority the Suspension Clause names: the President and the federal agencies, the governors and State health officers, the secretaries of state and commissioners of motor vehicles, the county judges and health officers of the largest metros, the State occupational-safety and licensing agencies, the tribal and territorial governments, and the foreign governments whose plants and borders supply the industry. The Suspension Clause is section 2301(c)(2)(A)(ii)(I) of the CARES Act, re-enacted as section 3134(c)(2)(A)(ii)(I) of the Internal Revenue Code, and it is read element by element at The Law: the statute. This section inventories the orders by layer; the jurisdiction table on this page tabulates them. The face-covering orders that recur in this section and in the six quarters are described as what they were: workplace infection-prevention and exposure-control requirements, occupational-health and airborne-transmission controls that bound every indoor workplace of the industry, showrooms, service drives, lounges, parts counters and offices included. Where the instrument that required face coverings also compelled the screening of employees and customers, physical distancing and capacity limits, barriers, ventilation or cleaning, the isolation and exclusion of exposed workers or a written prevention plan, the passage names those companion controls; where it required face coverings alone, the passage says so, and the requirement stands as one of the airborne-transmission controls the authority imposed on every indoor workplace. Where the exhibit is an agency's release, notice or guidance rather than an order, this section cites it as the record of the measure the agency announced or of the regime it implemented, and cites the order itself where it reached the industry in terms; no such exhibit is treated as an order.
The universe
Between March 1 and May 31, 2020, forty-two States and territories issued mandatory stay-at-home orders covering 2,355 of the nation's 3,233 counties, and "most jurisdictions issued multiple orders."15 The Council of State Governments counted 2,065 executive orders issued by governors and State agencies between February and June 29, 2020; the Department of Health and Human Services' own dataset records 4,218 State and county policy-order entries between March 23, 2020 and August 31, 2021; and the COVID AMP database catalogued more than 20,000 policy measures at the United States national and State level, ninety-five percent of them issued before November 23, 2021, and approximately 8,000 issued by counties.16 The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that between July and September 2020 "19 percent of establishments (1.6 million) experienced a government-mandated closure" and "52 percent of establishments (4.4 million) told employees not to work."17 On July 2, 2021, thirty-five States had emergency declarations in force and nine had statewide face-covering requirements, airborne-transmission controls binding every indoor workplace; on September 21, 2021, twenty-five States had emergency declarations and eleven had statewide face-covering requirements, and Hawaii was "Imposing New Restrictions."18 The Library's count of indexed instruments, shown on this site's home page, is a count of what The COVID Project has retrieved and indexed, not of the orders issued nationally, which the sources above place in the tens of thousands.
The federal layer
2020
The President proclaimed a national emergency on March 13, 2020, the Secretary of Health and Human Services had determined a public health emergency on January 31, 2020 and renewed it without interruption, and the President's Stafford Act determination of March 13, 2020 reached every State, Tribe and territory.19 The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's advisory list of March 19, 2020 named "Automotive repair and maintenance facilities" and said nothing of sales; version 2.0 of March 28, 2020 added "Workers critical to the manufacturing, distribution, sales, rental, leasing, repair, and maintenance of vehicles and other transportation equipment" and "Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) workers"; the list was advisory in its own terms and became an order only where a State incorporated it, as Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana did, and the States with their own lists, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Washington, Colorado, Nevada, Minnesota, Delaware, Rhode Island, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Vermont, Hawaii and the counties of California, did not adopt the sales language.20 The Secretary of Homeland Security restricted the land borders with Canada and Mexico to essential travel from 11:59 p.m. March 20, 2020 and renewed the restriction every month through November 8, 2021; the President suspended entry from China from February 2, 2020, suspended immigrant entry from April 23, 2020 and H-1B, L-1, H-2B and J entry from June 24, 2020 to March 31, 2021; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suspended the introduction of certain persons at the land borders under Title 42 from March 20, 2020; the Department of State suspended routine visa services worldwide on March 20, 2020 and announced a phased resumption on July 14, 2020, effective July 15 (Ex. AGY-FED-LABOR-IMMIGRATION-061; Ex. FED-327); USCIS closed every field office from March 18 to June 3, 2020; and the Department of Homeland Security announced on March 20, 2020, by release, a deferral of the in-person inspection of Form I-9 documents, extended by successive announcements through the period and cited as the fact of the deferral.21 The Families First Coronavirus Response Act compelled every employer with fewer than 500 employees to pay leave from April 1 to December 31, 2020 to every employee under a quarantine order or caring for a child whose school an order had closed, under a Department of Labor rule effective April 2, 2020 and revised September 16, 2020.22 The Treasury and Customs and Border Protection postponed the deposit of estimated duties on March and April 2020 entries for importers whose operations were, in the rule's own words, "fully or partially suspended during March 2020 or April 2020 due to orders from a competent governmental authority limiting commerce, travel, or group meetings," which is the Suspension Clause's vocabulary applied by another federal agency to the importers of this industry's parts and vehicles.23 The Federal Maritime Commission opened Fact Finding Investigation No. 29 into the ocean supply chain on March 31, 2020 and supplemented it on November 19, 2020; the federal financial regulators issued their supervisory statements of March 13, 2020 (guidance to every lender, cited as the regime it announced) and, by interim final rule, deferred real-estate appraisals to December 31, 2020; the National Credit Union Administration extended its temporary regulatory relief to December 31, 2021; and the Treasury postponed the April 15, 2020 filing and payment deadlines to July 15, 2020.24 The Office of Management and Budget directed every federal agency to maximum telework on March 17, 2020 and kept that posture through June 10, 2021, which is the condition under which every governmental fleet customer of this industry bought and serviced vehicles.25
2021, first and second quarters
Executive Order 13991 (January 20, 2021) imposed workplace infection-prevention controls, masks and distancing, on federal employees, "on-site Federal contractors; and all persons in Federal buildings"; OMB Memorandum M-21-15 (January 24, 2021) capped every federal workplace at twenty-five percent of normal occupancy until June 10, 2021; Executive Order 13998 (January 21, 2021) directed the conveyance order, an airborne-transmission control on every conveyance and transportation hub, that the CDC signed January 29, 2021, published at 86 Fed. Reg. 8025 (Feb. 3, 2021) and made effective 11:59 p.m. February 1, 2021, under which "a person must wear a mask while boarding, disembarking, and traveling on any conveyance into or within the United States" and "at any transportation hub," enforced by TSA Security Directive SD 1582/84-21-01 from February 1 to May 11, 2021 and SD 1582/84-21-01A from May 12 to September 13, 2021, ratified by the Administrator on April 20, 2021; the CDC required a negative pre-departure test of every inbound air passenger from January 26, 2021; Proclamation 10143 (January 25, 2021) continued the entry suspensions for the Schengen Area, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil and South Africa, Proclamation 10149 (February 24, 2021) revoked Proclamation 10014, Proclamation 10052 expired March 31, 2021, and Proclamation 10199 (April 30, 2021; effective May 4, 2021) suspended entry from India.26 The Federal Railroad Administration's Emergency Order No. 32 imposed face-mask controls, an airborne-transmission control, on every railroad operation from March 1, 2021; the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Information Bulletin 02-21 (February 1, 2021, Ex. AGY-USCG-PORTS-031; Change 1, March 22, 2021, Ex. AGY-USCG-PORTS-033; Change 2, June 11, 2021, Ex. AGY-USCG-PORTS-037), cited as the record of the regime and not as an order, announced the conditions the Captains of the Port imposed on every commercial vessel and seaport under 33 C.F.R. §§ 160.111 and 160.216 (Ex. LAW-308) and the CDC's conveyance order; the Department of Transportation's Order 2021-4-13 conditioned domestic air service from May 14 to September 30, 2021; OSHA's National Emphasis Program directed inspections to COVID-19 hazards from March 12, 2021; and the Secretary of Defense's conditions-based travel restrictions of March 15, 2021 governed every installation.27 The President ordered a review of "America's Supply Chains" on February 24, 2021, directing a 100-day report "identifying risks in the semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging supply chains"; the Commerce Department requested public comment on the semiconductor supply chain on March 15, 2021; and the 100-day review reported June 8, 2021.28
2021, third quarter
The third-quarter inventory below states the quarter in full: Executive Order 13991 and the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force's Model Safety Principles of July 29, 2021 governed every federal workplace and onsite contractor; the CDC conveyance order and TSA directives were in force on every day; the DHS land-border notifications of June 23, July 22, August 23 and September 22, 2021 continued the Canada and Mexico restrictions; Proclamations 9984, 10143 and 10199 suspended entry on every day; Executive Order 14042 (September 9, 2021) directed every agency to include the Task Force's safety clause in covered federal contracts from October 15, 2021, and the Director of OMB determined its terms on September 24, 2021; CISA reissued its advisory critical-infrastructure list as version 4.1 on August 10, 2021; the Commerce Department published its request for information on the semiconductor supply chain on September 24, 2021; and the Federal Reserve recorded the inventory collapse on July 14 and September 8, 2021.29
The fifty States
The industry's regime
In every State the industry was divided by the first order into a permitted half and a forbidden or conditioned half. Repair, maintenance and parts were essential everywhere because the federal advisory list said "Automotive repair and maintenance facilities" and the State lists copied it; the showroom, the test drive, the finance desk and the delivery were a different matter. In twenty-three States and the District of Columbia the sales function was closed to in-person traffic or confined to remote transactions and appointments; in the rest it stayed open only under distancing, occupancy, face-covering and sanitation conditions, the workplace infection-prevention and exposure-control requirements of the reopening orders; and in the largest counties of Texas, California and Pennsylvania local orders closed the showroom outright. A third layer reached every dealer in every State: the motor-vehicle agency, the county clerk and the tax office closed or went appointment-only in March 2020, so that the title and registration that completes every sale could be obtained only by mail, drop box, dealer portal or extended temporary tag. A fourth layer reached the inventory: Michigan and Pennsylvania closed the plants by order, Mexico suspended them by decree, and the borders closed to non-essential travel. The jurisdiction table on this page carries every jurisdiction with dates; this section states the regime by region.30
The Northeast
Pennsylvania closed every business "that is not a life sustaining business" on March 19, 2020, listing "Automobile Dealers No" and "Other Motor Vehicle Dealers No" beside "Automotive Repair and Maintenance Yes," told dealers on April 20 that they "were not permitted to continue physical operations" and might sell only online through the Department of Transportation's registration program, admitted in-person sales by appointment in yellow-phase counties from May 8, and held the industry under the green-phase, targeted-mitigation and winter orders until the mitigation order expired May 31, 2021; PennDOT closed every driver license and photo license center from March 16, 2020 and restored limited services county by county from May 15, 2020; Act 15 of 2020 permitted remote notarization from April 20, 2020.31 New Jersey permitted "Car dealerships, but only to provide auto maintenance and repair services" from 9:00 p.m. March 21, 2020, capped essential retail at fifty percent from April 10, admitted in-person sales at fifty percent from June 15, 2020, imposed worksite protocols on every employer from November 5, 2020, and lifted the general restrictions June 4, 2021 while P.L. 2021, c. 103 continued Executive Order 242, as clarified by Executive Order 243, to January 1, 2022, so that Executive Order 192's worksite requirements survived the quarter only as carried by those orders (Ex. NJ-050; Ex. NJ-051; Ex. NJ-053); the Motor Vehicle Commission closed every agency, road test and inspection facility from March 16 to July 7, 2020 and extended every expiration.32 New York reduced in-person workforces by fifty, seventy-five and one hundred percent on March 20, 21 and 22, 2020, cancelled every in-person motor-vehicle appointment on March 20, permitted only "automotive repair" and then, from April 17, "automotive sales conducted remotely or electronically, with in-person vehicle return and delivery by appointment only," reopened showrooms in Phase 2 by region from May 29, 2020 under the Vehicle Sales, Leases and Rentals guidelines, held the industry under the cluster-zone and capacity regime through the winter, ended the percentage caps May 19, 2021 and the executive orders June 25, 2021, and kept the county motor-vehicle offices appointment-only until May 17, 2021.33 Connecticut reduced in-person workforces "by 100%" from 8:00 p.m. March 23, 2020, its Department of Economic and Community Development confined dealer sales to appointments, its Department of Motor Vehicles closed March 17, 2020 and extended every registration, and its Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 2.1 sector rules governed every showroom from May 20, 2020 to May 20, 2021.34 Rhode Island closed non-critical retail from March 30, 2020 and its Department of Business Regulation listed dealerships as non-critical "except for auto repair and by appointment only," reopened them in Phase I from May 9, paused again from November 30, 2020 and lifted its capacity rules May 21, 2021, with the safe-activities regulation in force to August 31, 2021.35 Massachusetts closed every workplace not providing essential services from noon March 24, 2020, reopened retail for curbside pickup from May 25 and in-store from June 8, 2020 (Phase II), cut capacity to twenty-five percent from December 26, 2020 and rescinded its orders May 29, 2021; the Registry of Motor Vehicles took no walk-in customers and the General Court authorized remote notarization from April 23, 2020 to December 15, 2021.36 New Hampshire named "Automotive sales, repair and maintenance facilities" essential from March 27, 2020 and bound them to the Universal Guidelines for every employer from May 1, 2020 to May 7, 2021 and, from November 20, 2020, to the statewide face-covering order, an airborne-transmission control on every indoor space.37 Vermont ordered work from home on March 23, closed non-critical businesses on March 24 under the Agency of Commerce's critical list, closed the Department of Motor Vehicles on March 19, 2020, restarted retail through the addenda of April 17 to May 15, 2020, re-tightened from 10:00 p.m. November 14, 2020 and ended its emergency June 15, 2021.38 Maine closed the businesses outside its essential list from March 25, 2020 with "Vehicle Travel" restricted from April 2, restored "Auto Dealership Sales" in Stage 1 on May 1, 2020 under mandatory prevention checklists, extended dealer plates by Executive Order 4 of July 22, 2020 and registration requirements by Executive Order 15 of October 19, 2020, required face coverings in every indoor space from May 1, 2020 (Ex. ME-021), regardless of distance from November 4, 2020 (Ex. ME-042), to May 24, 2021 (Ex. ME-058), an airborne-transmission control that ran beside the prevention checklists, and scheduled the expiration of its transition provisions through September 30, 2021 by Executive Order 40 of June 30, 2021; the Bureau of Motor Vehicles closed March 17, 2020.39 Delaware closed vehicle sales except repair and parts from 8:00 a.m. March 24, 2020, permitted sales "only by appointment with no more than two appointments per half hour" from April 7, reopened at thirty percent in Phase 1 on June 1, 2020, re-tightened from December 14, 2020, lifted its restrictions May 21, 2021 and terminated the emergency July 13, 2021 while declaring a public health emergency on July 12; the Division of Motor Vehicles changed its operations March 16, 2020.40
The South
The District of Columbia closed non-essential businesses on March 24, 2020, ordered residents home April 1, permitted curbside retail May 29 and in-store retail June 22, 2020, paused from December 23, 2020, lifted its restrictions May 21, 2021, and kept its Department of Motor Vehicles appointment-only from June 23, 2020 to July 19-20, 2021 before reinstating universal indoor face coverings, an exposure-control requirement on every business, from July 31, 2021.41 Maryland closed the businesses outside its essential list March 23, 2020, listing supply and repair as essential and sales as not, ordered residents home March 30, reopened retail at fifty percent May 15, required face coverings in every indoor space from July 31, 2020 (an airborne-transmission control added to the capacity and distancing conditions of its reopening orders), re-tightened November 20, 2020, lifted most capacity limits March 12, 2021 (Ex. MD-026), ended venue caps and the general indoor face-covering order at 12:01 a.m. May 15, 2021 (Ex. MD-095; Ex. MD-030), terminated its residual orders July 1 and fourteen orders and the emergency itself at 11:59 p.m. August 15, 2021 (Ex. MD-031; Ex. MD-073), and authorized remote notarization from March 30, 2020 to August 15, 2021.42 Virginia capped every retail establishment, dealerships included, at ten patrons from 11:59 p.m. March 24, 2020, ordered residents home March 30, reopened at fifty percent in Phase One on May 15, 2020, adopted the nation's first workplace standard on July 27, 2020 and made it permanent January 27, 2021, re-tightened December 14, 2020, and lifted its general restrictions May 28, 2021; its Department of Motor Vehicles closed March 18 to May 18, 2020.43 North Carolina incorporated the federal list on March 30, 2020, capped retail at twenty percent of fire capacity from April 13, listed "vehicle dealerships" at fifty percent in Phase 1 from May 8, 2020, required face coverings in every business from June 26, 2020, an airborne-transmission control added to its capacity conditions, imposed a modified stay-at-home order from December 11, 2020 to February 2021, lifted its restrictions May 14, 2021, extended dealer plates and manufacturer and distributor licenses by the COVID-19 Recovery Act of May 4, 2020, and issued Executive Order 224 on July 29, 2021.44 Georgia ordered residents home April 3, 2020 under an order incorporating the federal list, reopened retail with measures from April 27 and May 1, 2020, ended its gathering ban and shelter-in-place April 8, 2021 (Ex. GA-034) while keeping mandatory measures on restaurants, bars, event facilities and every Organization through June 30 (Ex. GA-035; Ex. GA-038; Ex. GA-040), ended its public health emergency July 1, 2021, declared an Economic Recovery State of Emergency from June 30, 2021 with regulatory suspensions, and permitted remote notarization from April 9, 2020.45 Florida named dealerships essential under its Safer at Home order of April 3, 2020, reopened at twenty-five percent in Phase 1 on May 4, moved to Phase 3 on September 25, 2020, suspended every local mandate May 3, 2021 and enacted SB 2006 effective July 1, 2021; its motor-vehicle department extended every expiring license and registration.46 Texas incorporated the federal list on April 2, 2020, but Denton County ordered that "showrooms must remain closed" with online sales only from March 31 to April 30, 2020, Dallas County confined dealerships to "in-person mechanical services or to complete" online sales until April 23, and Bexar County named "car dealerships" essential from March 24; the State reopened retail at twenty-five percent May 1, capped occupancy under GA-28 from June 26, required face coverings in every business from July 3, 2020, an airborne-transmission control added to GA-28's occupancy conditions, rolled occupancy back to fifty percent in eighteen Trauma Service Areas under GA-32 from October 14, 2020, rescinded every operating limit by GA-34, issued March 2, 2021 and effective March 10, 2021, and ended the title and registration waiver announced March 16, 2020 on April 14, 2021; the Department of Public Safety closed every driver license office and the Department of Motor Vehicles every regional office on March 19, 2020, and the Governor suspended the in-person notarization statutes from April 8, 2020 for the duration of the disaster.47 Louisiana closed under its stay-at-home order from March 23, 2020, reopened at twenty-five percent in Phase 1 on May 15, required face coverings in every indoor space from July 13, 2020, an airborne-transmission control beside its Phase 2 capacity conditions, held Modified Phase 2 from November 25, 2020, lifted its capacity rules May 26, 2021 and reinstated statewide indoor face coverings, an airborne-transmission control on every indoor workplace, from August 4, 2021; the Office of Motor Vehicles closed every location in March 2020.48 Tennessee named "automobile supplies (including dealers ...)" essential under its stay-at-home order of March 31, 2020, reopened at fifty percent April 29, extended every driver license by Executive Order 15 of March 19, 2020, delegated face-covering orders to the counties from July 3, 2020, ended its general restrictions January 31, 2021 and declared a limited emergency July 30, 2021.49 Kentucky closed in-person retail from 8:00 p.m. March 23, 2020, reopened dealerships on May 11, 2020 under the Healthy at Work requirements (Ex. KY-017) and, from June 11, 2020, under Version 2.0 of the Requirements for Vehicle and Boat Dealerships, which provided that "In no case should a showroom exceed 25% of its designated maximum occupancy" (Ex. SEC-08-010), required face coverings in every public setting from July 10, 2020, an airborne-transmission control added to the Healthy at Work requirements, re-tightened November 20, 2020, rescinded the Healthy at Work regime June 11, 2021 by Executive Order 2021-386 (Ex. KY-049), and required face coverings in every school from August 10, 2021; the Fayette County Clerk closed March 27, 2020 and remained closed to the public until at least July 6, 2020.50 Alabama named "automotive sales and repair" essential under its stay-at-home order of April 4, 2020, reopened retail at fifty percent April 30, required face coverings in every public space from July 16, 2020, an airborne-transmission control added to the Safer at Home conditions, kept its employer code to April 9, 2021 and declared a new emergency August 13, 2021; the Law Enforcement Agency closed every driver license office.51 Mississippi named "automotive sales and repair" essential under its shelter-in-place order of April 3, 2020 and reopened at fifty percent April 27, with remote notarization from April 6, 2020 for the duration of the emergency.52 Arkansas closed by directive from March 20, 2020, required face coverings statewide from July 20, 2020 to March 31, 2021, one of the airborne-transmission controls the Department of Health's directives laid on every business, and declared a new emergency from July 29 to September 27, 2021.53 South Carolina ordered residents home or to work from April 7 to May 4, 2020, its Department of Motor Vehicles took customers by appointment only and extended every credential, and its trial-court order ran to August 27, 2021.54 Oklahoma listed NAICS 441 as essential on April 1, 2020 while closing every other business statewide to April 24, and ended its emergency May 4, 2021.55 West Virginia ordered residents home from 8:00 p.m. March 24, 2020, reopened retail May 21, required face coverings in every indoor space from July 7, 2020 (Ex. WV-041), an airborne-transmission control that carried a business enforcement duty from November 14, 2020 (Ex. WV-051), to June 20, 2021 (Ex. WV-066), terminated its orders April 20, 2021 and suspended the vehicle-inspection deadline from March 19, 2020 to October 1, 2021.56
The Midwest
Illinois ordered residents home from 5:00 p.m. March 21, 2020, permitted repair as essential and sales by remote transaction and appointment, closed every Secretary of State facility from March 17 to June 1, 2020 and again from November 17, 2020 to January 5, 2021, suspended every expiration from March 17, 2020, reopened in Phase 3 on May 29 and Phase 4 on June 26, 2020, imposed Tier 3 mitigations from November 20, 2020, moved to Phase 5 on June 11, 2021 and reinstated universal indoor face coverings, an airborne-transmission control on every indoor space, from August 30, 2021.57 Indiana ordered residents home from 11:59 p.m. March 24, 2020, permitted "auto sales" as retail from April 6, closed every Bureau of Motor Vehicles branch from March 24 and reopened them by appointment from May 11, 2020, reopened in Stage 2 on May 4, required face coverings statewide from July 27, 2020, an airborne-transmission control on every indoor public space, imposed county-based measures from November 15, 2020, lifted them April 6, 2021 and continued limited provisions from July 1, 2021.58 Ohio named "automobile supplies (including dealers ...)" essential under its stay-at-home order of March 23, 2020, closed 181 Bureau of Motor Vehicles deputy registrar locations from March 19, extended every expiration by H.B. 197 of March 27, 2020, reopened retail May 12, required face coverings in every business from July 23, 2020 and, from November 16, 2020, placed on every retailer an enforcement duty toward its customers, exposure-control requirements carried beside the Stay Safe Ohio conditions, and rescinded its orders June 2, 2021.59 Michigan barred in-person work not necessary to sustain life from 12:01 a.m. March 24, 2020, closed every showroom "to in-person traffic" from April 9, closed every Secretary of State branch from March 24, closed every non-critical manufacturing plant until May 11, 2020, admitted customers "only by appointment" from May 26 and generally from June 1, 2020, bound every workplace to safeguards from May 18, 2020 and to MIOSHA's emergency rules from October 14, 2020, paused under the Department of Health and Human Services' orders from November 18, 2020, and rescinded the gatherings and face-covering orders effective June 22, 2021; the Legislature extended every registration and license to September 30, 2020 and enacted the COVID-19 Employment Rights Act.60 Minnesota ordered residents home from 11:59 p.m. March 27, 2020, permitting "Automobile sales that are necessary to allow for essential travel, when conducted by appointment," extended the rule to RVs, motorcycles and ATVs on April 8 and to snowmobile and watercraft "sales facilities, and showrooms by appointment only" on April 18, closed every Driver and Vehicle Services exam station and driver's license agent office until May 4, 2020, reopened retail at fifty percent May 18, required a preparedness plan of every business from April 30, required face coverings statewide from July 25, 2020, an airborne-transmission control added to the preparedness-plan requirement, dialed back from November 20, 2020, ended its telework mandate at 11:59 p.m. April 14, 2021 (Ex. MN-037 ¶ 7.a.i), its general face-covering requirement May 14 (Ex. MN-039), its capacity and gathering limits at 11:59 p.m. May 27, 2021 (Ex. MN-038 ¶ 2), its all-business Preparedness Plan requirement June 30 (Ex. MN-038 ¶ 3) and its peacetime emergency at 11:59 p.m. July 1, 2021 (Ex. MN-041).61 Wisconsin named "auto and motorcycle supply, repair and sales" essential under Safer at Home from March 25, 2020, closed its Division of Motor Vehicles service centers on March 20 and reopened them by appointment only on March 23 with sixty-day extensions, lost its order to Wisconsin Legislature v. Palm on May 13, 2020, required face coverings statewide from August 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 by the Governor's successive Emergency Orders #1, an airborne-transmission control that stood alone after Palm, and kept its court accommodations through the period.62 Iowa closed by proclamation from March 17, 2020, reopened at fifty percent in seventy-seven counties on May 1 and statewide May 15, required remote work where feasible from November 11 and face coverings from November 17, 2020, exposure-control requirements laid on every employer and every gathering, and ended its face-covering, seated-service, gathering, telework and surgery mandates at 11:59 p.m. February 6, 2021 (Ex. IA-035), while its Proclamation of Disaster Emergency, renewed monthly, ran through September 30, 2021 and to February 15, 2022 (Ex. IA-039; Ex. IA-040; Ex. IA-041).63 Kansas ordered residents home from March 30, 2020 under a list that permitted businesses that "sell ... automobiles," extended every driver's license by Executive Order 20-12, ended the stay-home order May 4 and the emergency proclamation's business rules May 26, 2020, required face coverings in every business and public space from July 3, 2020 to March 31, 2021, an airborne-transmission control on every indoor workplace, and kept a travel quarantine through September 2021.64 Missouri ordered residents home from April 6 to May 3, 2020 while St. Louis County had closed from March 23, 2020 and re-tightened under Safer At Home from November 17, 2020, and the State's emergency ran to August 27, 2021.65 Nebraska imposed directed health measures from March 19, 2020 to May 24, 2021 and waived title, registration and driver-license requirements from March 19 to August 31, 2020, with county treasurers' offices closed.66 North Dakota closed businesses from March 20, 2020, quarantined every entrant from March 28 to September 21, 2020 (Order 2020-02, restated April 8 by Order 2020-02.1, Ex. ND-021; revoked by Ex. ND-056), required face coverings in every business and indoor public space from November 14, 2020 to January 18, 2021, one of the airborne-transmission controls the State Health Officer laid on every business, and ended its emergency April 30, 2021.67 South Dakota bound every enclosed retail business by its order of April 6, 2020 and its Back to Normal Plan of April 28, 2020, with the judicial emergency continuing through the period.68
The West
California ordered every resident home on March 19, 2020 under a list that named repair and not sales, its county health officers in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Placer permitted "automotive dealerships, but only for the purpose of providing auto-supply and auto-repair services" with online purchases delivered to a residence, its Department of Motor Vehicles closed every field office from March 27 to May 8 and June 11, 2020, its Secretary of State closed the Sacramento counters March 20, 2020, the State reopened retail in Stage 2 from May 8 and under the Blueprint tiers from August 31, 2020, required face coverings in every indoor space from June 18, 2020 under the Department of Public Health's guidance, made mandatory by the State Public Health Officer's orders as an airborne-transmission control beside the reopening orders' industry-guidance conditions, imposed the Regional Stay at Home Order from December 5, 2020 to January 25, 2021, held "Automobile Dealerships, Auto Repair" at twenty percent in Los Angeles County from December 30, 2020 and "automobile dealerships" at fifty percent in the Red Tier from March 15, 2021, bound every workplace to Cal/OSHA's emergency standard from November 30, 2020, readopted June 17, 2021, and ended its general restrictions June 15, 2021; its Department of Consumer Affairs waived license renewals for Division 3 licensees through October 31, 2021.69 Colorado cut every non-essential in-person workforce by fifty percent from March 24, 2020, ordered residents home and closed non-essential in-person retail from 6:00 a.m. March 26, permitted from April 2 only "automobile online sales with no touch delivery service" and dealership repair "but not in person retail sales," permitted curbside retail from April 27 and in-person retail at fifty percent from May 1, 2020, authorized emergency motor-vehicle rules on March 25, 2020, required face coverings statewide from July 17, 2020, an airborne-transmission control beside the Safer at Home conditions, adopted the Dial from September 15, moved to Level Red from November 20, 2020, lifted its restrictions April 16, 2021 and continued limited orders from July 1 and September 1, 2021.70 Nevada closed every business outside its essential list from 11:59 p.m. March 20, 2020, provided that "auto showrooms are to remain closed through the duration of the Declaration of Emergency," closed the showrooms of the businesses it had designated essential on April 8, ordered residents home April 1, reopened dealers on May 9 "on a limited basis" at fifty percent of fire-code capacity with household-only test drives, required face coverings in every public space from 11:59 p.m. June 25, 2020 (Ex. NV-019), an airborne-transmission control added to the Phase Two capacity conditions, paused at twenty-five percent from November 24, 2020, ended statewide distancing April 30 and capacity June 1, 2021, and required face coverings of every person indoors in Clark and Washoe Counties from July 30, 2021, enforced in every workplace by Nevada OSHA; the Department of Motor Vehicles closed March 16, 2020 and reopened by appointment only from June 15, with credential extensions to November 12, 2020 (Ex. NV-006; Ex. NV-027; the AAMVA table records March 17, Ex. SEC-08-004).71 Washington closed every business outside its essential list from midnight March 25, 2020, permitting repair and maintenance only, restored "vehicle and vessel sales" as a Phase 1 activity from May 4-5, 2020, extended every license from April 3, 2020, made the proclamations workplace law by emergency rule from May 26, 2020, rolled back to twenty-five percent from November 17, 2020, held the Roadmap to Recovery framework to June 30, 2021, moved to Washington Ready July 1, 2021 and reinstated universal indoor face coverings, an exposure-control requirement made a workplace rule by its emergency rule, from August 23, 2021; the Department of Licensing closed March 31, 2020.72 Oregon closed specified retail and prohibited office work where telework was available from March 23, 2020, held dealers under the county "Risk and Protection Framework" from December 3, 2020 to June 30, 2021, required face coverings in every indoor space from August 13, 2021, a rule Oregon OSHA made a workplace requirement the same day, and kept its Department of Motor Vehicles offices closed from March 18, 2020 and lobby-limited to June 30, 2021.73 New Mexico closed every business outside its essential list from 8:00 a.m. March 24, 2020, permitting "automobile repair facilities" and closing sales, closed every Motor Vehicle Division office, reopened retail at twenty-five percent from May 16, 2020 under the workplace infection-prevention and exposure-control requirements of its reopening order, universal face coverings and COVID-safe practices among them, reset for two weeks from November 16, 2020, adopted the Red-Yellow-Green framework from December 2, 2020, ended the framework July 1, 2021 and reinstated universal indoor face coverings, an airborne-transmission control on every indoor space, from August 20, 2021.74 Arizona prohibited the closure of essential services on March 23, 2020, ordered residents home from March 31 to May 15, 2020, announced on March 20, 2020 that from March 23 its Motor Vehicle Division offices would serve customers by appointment only, paused from June 29, 2020, imposed the Department of Health Services' phased-reopening measure from August 10, 2020, lifted occupancy limits March 5 and converted its business requirements to recommendations March 25, 2021, and rescinded its orders in steps ending September 29, 2021; Maricopa County required face coverings in every business from June 20, 2020, an exposure-control requirement laid on every business.75 Utah issued its Stay Safe, Stay Home directive March 27, 2020, suspended the vehicle-registration statutes from April 30 to May 15, 2020, bound every business to the Phased Guidelines from May 1, 2020 (Ex. UT-012; Version 4.1, Ex. UT-013), required face coverings of every person in every indoor business and of every employee from November 9, 2020 to April 9, 2021 (Ex. UT-029; Ex. UT-039), an exposure-control requirement laid on every business, and ended the remaining general orders May 4, 2021 under HB 294 (Ex. UT-040) by State Public Health Order 2021-11, which kept the school face-mask and Test to Play requirements to June 15, 2021 (Ex. UT-043), while the Department of Health's own emergency (Ex. UT-025) and the courts' orders ran through the third quarter of 2021 (Ex. UT-050; Ex. UT-051; Ex. UT-052; Ex. UT-053).76 Hawaii ordered every resident to stay home and work from home from March 25, 2020, permitting repair only, quarantined every arriving traveler from March 26, 2020 through the period, permitted "car dealerships" to reopen statewide from May 7, 2020, required face coverings in every indoor space from November 16, 2020, an airborne-transmission control carried in every successor proclamation, and on August 5, 2021 required every State and county employee to attest to vaccination or test weekly; Honolulu permitted online automobile sales from April 3, 2020, appointment-only dealerships from April 30, and held "New and used car and truck dealerships" under the tier and Safe Access conditions from September 24, 2020 through September 30, 2021 and beyond.77 Idaho ordered residents to self-isolate from March 25, 2020, moved through its stages to Stage 4 on May 11, 2021 and required face coverings in its Ada County courtrooms from August 9, 2021; Montana closed under its stay-at-home directive from March 28, 2020, permitting supply and repair, reopened in Phase One April 27 and Phase Two June 1, 2020, required face coverings, an airborne-transmission control on every indoor business, from July 15, 2020 in every county with four or more active cases (Ex. MT-016) and statewide from November 20, 2020 to February 12, 2021 (Ex. MT-018; Ex. MT-021), and ended its emergency June 30, 2021; Wyoming's Public Health Orders #1 and #2 of March 19 and 20, 2020 closed specified businesses and capped gatherings, continued every two weeks until the business rules ended March 16, 2021 and the remaining rules May 31, 2021, with statewide face coverings, an airborne-transmission control on every indoor public place, from December 9, 2020 to March 15, 2021; Alaska closed the businesses outside its critical-workforce list from March 28, 2020 under an attachment that named repair and not sales, and reopened in Phase I on April 24, 2020.78
The winter re-tightening and the 2021 transition
Between November 4 and December 30, 2020, at least sixteen jurisdictions re-closed or re-capped the industry's showrooms, offices and service departments: New Mexico's two-week reset from November 16; Illinois's Tier 3 mitigations and the Secretary of State's second closure from November 17 and 20; Washington's rollback to twenty-five percent from November 17; Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services orders from November 18; Colorado's Level Red from November 20; Nevada's Statewide Pause at twenty-five percent from November 24; California's Regional Stay at Home Order from December 5 and Los Angeles County's twenty-percent order from December 30; Pennsylvania's limited-time targeted mitigation from December 12; Delaware's winter modification from December 14; Rhode Island's Pause from November 30; Maine's indoor cap of fifty and 9 p.m. closing from November 4 and 20 (Ex. ME-042; Ex. ME-082); Ohio's retail compliance order with its closure sanction from November 16 (Ex. OH-037); Kentucky's and Minnesota's orders from November 20 (Ex. KY-033; Ex. MN-032); the District's pause from December 23 (Ex. DC-015); and Massachusetts's twenty-five percent ceiling from December 26 (Ex. MA-040).79 The capacity and exposure-control regimes on showrooms and service departments then ended by State: Texas on March 10, 2021; Colorado on April 16; North Carolina on May 14; Connecticut on May 19-20; Virginia and Massachusetts on May 28-29; Pennsylvania on May 31; Nevada on June 1; Illinois and Kentucky on June 11; California and New York on June 15; Michigan on June 22; Washington, Oregon and Maine on June 30; and New Mexico on July 1, 2021. Hawaii's and Honolulu's conditions did not end within the period.80 Where a State preempted local orders (Texas from GA-14 and GA-18 and then GA-34, GA-36 and GA-38; Florida by the suspension of local mandates on May 3, 2021 and SB 2006; Arizona by Executive Order 2020-12 and its 2021 rescissions; Georgia by its Economic Recovery orders), the State's own instruments and the federal layer carried the 2021 quarters, and the State's own courts and emergency declarations remained.81
The largest metros
The local instruments
The local face-covering orders named in this section were exposure-control requirements laid on every business within the jurisdiction, enforced by fine or as a misdemeanor, and the passage names the companion duties (health and safety policies, quarantine and isolation, verification of vaccination) the same instruments carried. Denton County, Texas ordered that "showrooms must remain closed" with online sales only from March 31 to April 30, 2020; Dallas County confined dealerships to "in-person mechanical services or to complete" online sales from March 23 to April 23, 2020, and from August 11, 2021 required every commercial entity to adopt a health and safety policy with universal indoor face coverings, an exposure-control requirement enforced by fine; Tarrant County ordered residents home from April 21, 2020 and required every entity serving the public to adopt a health and safety policy from June 26, 2020; Harris County ordered residents home from March 24, 2020 and required a health and safety policy with face coverings of every business from June 22, 2020, an exposure-control requirement; Bexar County and San Antonio named "car dealerships" essential from March 24, 2020.82 Los Angeles County confined dealerships to auto-supply and auto-repair services with residential delivery of online purchases from March 21, 2020, held "Automobile Dealerships, Auto Repair" at twenty percent from December 30, 2020 and "automobile dealerships" at fifty percent in the Red Tier from March 15, 2021, reinstated universal indoor face coverings, an exposure-control requirement on every indoor public setting, from July 17, 2021 and quarantined every exposed person and isolated every case by blanket orders of August 26, 2021; the City of Los Angeles held its Safer at Home order to June 1, 2020.83 San Francisco and the Bay Area counties confined dealerships to supply and repair from March 17 and 31, 2020, replaced the shelter orders with Safer Return Together on June 15, 2021, reinstated universal indoor face coverings from August 3, 2021 and required proof of vaccination of every patron of covered businesses from August 20, 2021; Santa Clara County continued sheltering from May 22, 2020; Placer County's and Sacramento's orders reached their dealers; San Diego County's orders of April 9, 2020 and its isolation and quarantine orders in force through September 30, 2021 reached theirs.84 Honolulu's Emergency Order No. 2020-04 permitted "On-Line Automobile Sales" from April 3, 2020, Emergency Order No. 2020-09 admitted dealership customers by appointment from April 30, 2020, the Recovery Framework of September 24, 2020 and its tiers governed every business through Tier 4 (June 9, 2021), Tier 5 (July 8, 2021), Emergency Order No. 2021-10 (August 23, 2021), which cut gatherings to ten indoors and twenty-five outdoors and aligned restaurant, bar and gym limits with the Governor's Executive Order 21-05 (Ex. MET-HNL-033), and the Safe Access O'ahu order of September 22, 2021, whose Exhibit B lists "New and used car and truck dealerships" among the businesses required to comply with its conditions; Maui County's and Hawaii County's emergency rules reached theirs.85 Philadelphia prohibited the operation of businesses outside the essential list from 8:00 a.m. March 23, 2020, moved to Yellow Phase June 5, 2020, re-tightened from November 20, 2020, adopted its Full Reopening Order June 15, 2021 and required face coverings in every indoor space from August 12, 2021, with the Board of Health's regulation of August 13 and its vaccination regulation for health-care and higher-education settings from August 16, 2021.86 Chicago applied the Governor's stay-at-home order by Public Health Order 2020-3, imposed a curfew on businesses outside the essential list from October 23, 2020, quarantined entrants from high-incidence States from July 6, 2020, moved to Phase 5 June 11, 2021 and required universal indoor face coverings from August 20, 2021, with Cook County following August 23 and Oak Park August 6; the Cook County Clerk closed to the public in March 2020 and the Secretary of State's Department of Business Services suspended paper filings.87 New York City reduced in-person workforces by one hundred percent from March 25, 2020, required proof of vaccination for indoor dining, fitness and entertainment from August 17, 2021, enforced from September 13, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority enforced a $50 mask fine from September 14, 2020.88 The Washington metro's Montgomery County continued the stay-at-home restrictions from May 15, 2020 and required face coverings in every indoor space from August 7, 2021; Fairfax County closed every county building to the public from 5:00 p.m. March 27, 2020.89 Atlanta, Fulton, DeKalb and Cobb Counties ordered residents home from March 23-31, 2020, Atlanta required face coverings in every indoor public place from July 28, 2021 and Savannah from July 26 and August 24, 2021; Maricopa County required them in every business from June 20, 2020 and in its courts from August 9, 2021; Boston required them in every indoor space from August 27, 2021, Somerville from August 20 and Cambridge from September 3, 2021, and Chelsea's orders reached its dealers in April 2020.90 Detroit's emergency order of October 9, 2020 and Oakland and Wayne Counties' screening orders of March 25-26, 2020 reached every open business; King County closed venues from March 16, 2020, Everett ordered residents home from March 23, 2020, Seattle capped delivery commissions, and King County required face coverings in every indoor space from September 7, 2021 and, by its order of September 16, 2021, fixed the verification of vaccination that applied to indoor establishments from October 25, 2021; Minneapolis required face coverings in every place of public accommodation from May 26, 2020 to June 1, 2021 and extended its emergency from July 1, 2021, and Saint Paul required them in every city property from August 3, 2021.91 Denver ordered residents home from March 24, 2020 and required vaccination of the personnel of covered entities, contractors included, from August 2 and September 1, 2021, and Boulder County required face coverings in every indoor space from September 3, 2021; St. Louis County ordered residents home from March 23, 2020, re-tightened under Safer At Home from November 17, 2020 and reinstated universal indoor face coverings from July 26, 2021, as did the City of St. Louis from July 26 and August 30, 2021; Springfield and Greene County held their own phases.92 Clark County, Nevada enforced the Governor's directives by emergency ordinance from March 20 and April 21, 2020, required face coverings of every employee indoors from July 22, 2021 and in its courts from July 19, 2021, and Washoe County required them from July 30, 2021; New Orleans ordered residents home from March 20, 2020, required face coverings in every indoor space from July 31, 2021 and proof of vaccination or a negative test of every patron of indoor establishments from August 16, 2021, while Jefferson Parish required face coverings from July 1, 2020 to April 28, 2021 and again from August 4, 2021; Louisville adopted interim operational practices August 12, 2021 and the Fayette County Clerk closed March 27, 2020; Milwaukee ordered residents home from March 25, 2020; Orange and Osceola Counties, Florida ordered residents home from March 26, 2020; Mecklenburg County, North Carolina ordered residents home March 25, 2020 and its Register of Deeds went to appointments.93
The sector regulators
The motor-vehicle agencies
Every State's motor-vehicle agency is a governmental authority with power over the title, registration, plate and license transactions through which this industry completes every sale, and every one of them acted by order, notice or emergency rule in March 2020. Where the exhibit is the agency's own release or web notice, it is cited as the record of the closure, appointment regime or extension the agency put in place under the State's emergency orders, and not as an order; the orders that reached the agencies in terms are cited as orders (Ex. NY-002; Ex. MI-011; Ex. IL-006; Ex. OH-012; Ex. AGY-ST-DMV-SOS-RECORDERS-076). The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators' jurisdiction tables of April 30 and May 12, 2020 record closures to the public in Illinois (March 17), Ohio (March 19, 181 deputy registrars), Texas (March 19), Pennsylvania (March 16), New Jersey (March 16), Michigan (March 24), Vermont (March 19), West Virginia (March 19), Colorado and Connecticut (March 17), the District (March 25), Maine (March 17), Maryland, Virginia (March 18), Washington (March 31), Louisiana, Kentucky, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota and Minnesota, with appointment-only or limited operation elsewhere and extensions of expirations nearly everywhere.94 Indiana closed every branch from March 24, 2020 and reopened by appointment from May 11; California closed 169 field offices from March 27 and reopened twenty-five on May 8 and the rest on June 11, 2020, and waived the in-person transaction requirements by Executive Order N-40-20; New Jersey's Commission stayed closed sixteen weeks; Wisconsin closed March 20 and reopened by appointment March 23 with sixty-day extensions and renewal deadlines extended to January 21, 2021; Kentucky's circuit clerks and the Fayette County Clerk closed; South Carolina and Alabama went to appointments and closed their driver license offices; Louisiana closed every Office of Motor Vehicles location; Arizona announced on March 20, 2020 that from March 23 its Motor Vehicle Division offices would serve customers by appointment only, changing the experience of "nearly 12,000 daily customers."95 The States extended the expirations on which dealers' temporary tags and customers' registrations depend: Illinois from March 17, 2020; Ohio by statute from March 27, 2020; Nebraska from March 19 to August 31, 2020; Tennessee from March 19, 2020; Kansas from March 26, 2020; Michigan to September 30, 2020 by statute; Utah from April 30, 2020; Florida from April 13, 2020; Connecticut from March 20, 2020; Washington from April 3, 2020 through the period; North Carolina's dealer plates, manufacturer and distributor licenses and other credentials by the COVID-19 Recovery Act of May 4, 2020; Maine's dealer plates from July 22, 2020 and registrations from October 19, 2020; Texas's title and registration requirements from March 16, 2020 to April 14, 2021; and West Virginia's vehicle-inspection deadline from March 19, 2020 to October 1, 2021.96 Into the third quarter of 2021 the District's Department of Motor Vehicles took customers by appointment only until July 19-20, 2021, Oregon's offices operated under lobby limits to June 30, 2021, New York's county offices were appointment-only until May 17, 2021, California's Department extended commercial driver's licenses through November 30, 2021 on September 2, 2021, and Louisiana's proclamations of August 6 and August 31, 2021 continued the Office of Motor Vehicles' emergency provisions.97
Notaries, recorders and secretaries of state
Twenty-five States rewrote the law of notarial acts within weeks of the closures, and the regimes of New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Texas, Vermont, Mississippi and Illinois ran into the third quarter of 2021; the finance desk's retail installment contracts, powers of attorney and odometer and title documents were executed under them.98 The Cook County Clerk, the Maricopa County Recorder, the San Diego Assessor/Recorder, the Dallas and Tarrant County Clerks and the Mecklenburg Register of Deeds closed their counters in March 2020; the Secretaries of State of California, New York and Illinois and Virginia's State Corporation Commission and Arizona's Corporation Commission closed their public counters, which are the offices through which dealers form entities, file liens and record the documents of their trade.99
Licensing boards, test centers and workplace agencies
California's Department of Consumer Affairs waived the renewal requirements of Division 3 licensees, which include the automotive repair dealers registered with the Bureau of Automotive Repair, for licenses expiring from March 31, 2020 through October 31, 2021, by orders of June 3, July and September 28, 2021.100 The State occupational-safety agencies of California, Virginia, Oregon, Washington and Michigan bound every dealership and repair shop in their States by standards carrying civil penalties: Cal/OSHA's emergency standard from November 30, 2020, readopted June 17, 2021; Virginia's emergency temporary standard from July 27, 2020 and permanent standard from January 27, 2021, amended September 8, 2021; Oregon OSHA's rules, with medical-removal benefits added September 16, 2021; Washington's WAC 296-800-14035 from May 26, 2020, readopted without interruption through September 20, 2021; and MIOSHA's emergency rules from October 14, 2020 to June 22, 2021, under which MIOSHA cited an equipment rental and sales business for violations of the rules.101 Nevada OSHA enforced the Governor's directives against every business designated essential from April 14, 2020 as occupational-safety requirements.102
The counterparties
Manufacturers, plants and freight
Michigan's Executive Order 2020-21 barred in-person work at every plant not necessary to sustain or protect life from March 24, 2020, and Executive Order 2020-77 permitted manufacturing to resume only from May 11, 2020 under conditions; Pennsylvania's list closed transportation-equipment manufacturing except as exempted from March 19, 2020; Ontario closed places of business outside its essential list from 11:59 p.m. March 24, 2020; Mexico suspended non-essential activities, including automotive assembly, from March 30 through May 30, 2020 and reopened under the semaforo strategy of May 14, 2020; Taiwan's nationwide Level 3 alert ran from May 19 to July 26, 2021 with Level 2 thereafter; Vietnam placed Ho Chi Minh City under Directive 16 from July 9, 2021; and Canada's entry prohibition of March 21, 2020, renewed monthly, was eased for vaccinated United States citizens only from August 9, 2021.103 The Federal Railroad Administration imposed face-mask controls, an airborne-transmission control, on every railroad operation from March 1, 2021 on pain of civil penalty; the Captains of the Port conditioned every port and vessel under the Coast Guard's regulations and the CDC's order, as the Coast Guard's bulletins record; the Federal Maritime Commission investigated the ocean carriers calling at New York and Los Angeles; the Port of Los Angeles' own statistics record the container surge of 2021; and the land-border notifications governed every truck crossing at Detroit, Buffalo, Laredo and El Paso.104
Lenders, customers, schools, transit and courts
The federal financial regulators' supervisory statements of March 13, 2020 (guidance, cited as the regime they announced), the appraisal-deferral rule and the credit-union relief rules fixed the terms on which every floor-plan and retail lender operated; the OMB and Defense Department orders governed every governmental fleet customer; the school-closure orders of the spring of 2020 closed every public school building in the country by March 25, 2020 and parked every school bus; the CDC conveyance order and the transit agencies' rules conditioned every commute; the courts' emergency orders governed every replevin, title and repossession proceeding; and the health-care vaccination orders of the third quarter of 2021 governed the hospitals and clinics whose fleets and staff this industry serves.105 The tribal governments closed their reservations and required face coverings, airborne-transmission controls, in their businesses: the Navajo Nation's stay-at-home lockdown of November 16, 2020, its business-status orders of May 21 and July 7, 2021, the Mescalero Apache Tribe's face-covering order of August 20, 2021 and the Yakama Nation's Public Safety Order No. 3 of June 26, 2020 reached the dealers and shops of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Washington whose customers live on those lands.106 Puerto Rico's closure of March 15, 2020 and its contractor and employee vaccination orders of August 16, 2021, Guam's isolation order of March 20, 2020 and vaccination requirements of August 20 and 24, 2021, and the Virgin Islands' order of March 23, 2020 reached the dealers of the territories.107
The ecosystem
The mechanisms
Six mechanisms carried orders addressed to others into this industry's operation, each carried by orders of United States authorities: supply chain and borders (the plant closures, the land-border notifications, the entry proclamations, the Title 42 order and the rail and port orders, operating in the circumstances the foreign plant and semiconductor orders created); workforce, schools and child care (the FFCRA mandate, the school closures, the quarantine orders, the paid-leave statutes); travel, tourism and gatherings (the traveler quarantines of Hawaii, New York and Chicago, the gathering limits, the venue closures that cancelled the auto, boat and RV shows); courts and public offices (the motor-vehicle agencies, clerks and recorders); transit (the conveyance order, the TSA directives, the transit agencies' rules); and health care as counterparty (the health-care-worker vaccination orders from July 26, 2021).108 The Library's meetings collection for this industry lists the auto, boat, RV, farm and equipment shows, the trade and buyer shows, the fairs and the recurring dealer gatherings that those orders disrupted, event by event, with the venue orders in force on each event's dates and the organizer's stated action. The Federal Reserve recorded the mechanism in its own words: on May 27, 2020, "mandated closures of retail establishments remained largely in place during most of the survey period"; on December 2, 2020, "mandated restrictions (recent and prospective)" and "more school and plant closings"; on July 9, 2021, "Companies laid off workers, idled plants, and canceled orders for materials ... by late 2020, factories in some industries were scrambling to find the workers, parts, and materials"; on July 14, 2021, "Supply-side disruptions became more widespread, including shortages of materials and labor, delivery delays, and low inventories of many consumer goods"; and on September 8, 2021, "weakness in auto sales was widely ascribed to low inventories amidst the ongoing microchip shortage."109 The Census Bureau found in the week ending July 18, 2021 that 38.8 percent of small businesses reported domestic supplier delays, 59.8 percent in retail, and 15.9 percent foreign supplier delays.110 Foreign orders, including the Mexican decrees, the Ontario closure, the Canadian entry prohibition, the Taiwanese alerts and the Malaysian and Japanese emergency measures that closed semiconductor packaging plants, are facts and circumstances recorded by category.111
The standing duties
Beneath the emergency orders lay a fourth layer that bound every dealer and repair shop on every day of the six quarters: the standing statutes that commanded every person to prevent and control communicable disease and every employer to furnish a safe and healthful workplace, the offenses that punished disobedience of health and emergency orders, and the liability shields that protected only the business that complied with governmental standards, guidance and protocols. Each is an order from an appropriate governmental authority, because a statute that commands conduct is an order. This section states the layer for eight States, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Colorado, Ohio, New Jersey and Illinois; the fifty-one-jurisdiction table is at Nothing was voluntary.112
The orders' own conditions
The reopening orders did not restore the showroom; they permitted it on conditions, and the verbs are commands. Texas: "Every business establishment in Texas shall operate at no more than 50 percent of the total listed occupancy of the establishment," and "Every person in Texas shall wear a face covering over the nose and mouth when inside a commercial entity." California: from November 30, 2020, "Employers shall establish, implement, and maintain an effective, written COVID-19 Prevention Program." New York: "Each employer shall reduce the in-person workforce at any work locations by 50%." Florida: retail "may operate up to fifty (50) percent of their building occupancy." Ohio: no retailer "shall be open for business or operate unless in compliance with this Order." New Jersey: every employer with an on-site workforce "is required to abide by the following requirements, at minimum." Colorado and Illinois laid the same commands on every workplace ("shall take," "must ensure").113 Where an order later converted its protocols to recommendations, as Texas did from March 10, 2021 and California and Illinois in June 2021, this analysis says so, and the compulsion thereafter rests on the statutes, the shields and the federal layer.114
The standing statutes
Each of the eight States had, before March 2020 and through September 30, 2021, a communicable-disease control act that commanded obedience to control measures and punished refusal. Texas states the duty on the person: "The state has a duty to protect the public health. Each person shall act responsibly to prevent and control communicable disease" (Ex. DUT-TX-001), punishes refusal to perform or allow control measures as a Class B misdemeanor and disobedience during an area quarantine as "a felony of the third degree," and makes violation of a Governor's order an offense of up to $1,000 and 180 days (Exs. DUT-TX-005, DUT-TX-006, DUT-TX-012). Ohio has bound every person "having charge of a ... place of public accommodation, amusement, resort, or trade" since 1974 not to "negligently fail to take reasonable measures to protect the public from exposure to the contagion," and punishes violation of any Director's order as a second-degree misdemeanor (Exs. DUT-OH-007, DUT-OH-004, DUT-OH-005). Colorado, California and Florida made disobedience of a health or emergency order a misdemeanor recited in every order (Exs. DUT-CO-003, DUT-CA-003, DUT-CA-007, DUT-FL-001, DUT-FL-008); New York attached its Public Health Law penalties to every business restriction (Exs. DUT-NY-001, DUT-NY-002); New Jersey's orders were "binding upon each and every person within this State" on pain of six months or $1,000 (Ex. DUT-NJ-006); and Illinois's rule 690.50 made a business that failed to require face coverings guilty of a Class A misdemeanor (Exs. DUT-IL-004, DUT-IL-014).115
Every employer in the eight States also owed a safe-workplace duty stated in a statute. Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act bound every private employer: "Each employer ... shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees" (Ex. DUT-FED-001). Texas adds Labor Code section 411.103, which commands "all other actions reasonably necessary to make the employment and place of employment safe" (Ex. DUT-TX-013); California, Labor Code sections 6400 to 6402 and the COVID-19 emergency standard (Ex. DUT-CA-009); New York, Labor Law section 200 and, from September 6, 2021, the HERO Act (Exs. DUT-NY-013, DUT-NY-014); Ohio, R.C. 4101.11 (Ex. DUT-OH-013); New Jersey, N.J.S.A. 34:6A-3 (Ex. DUT-NJ-009); in Colorado, Florida and Illinois the federal clause alone supplied the private employer's duty.116 OSHA told every employer in March 2020 that the clause "requires employers to provide their employees with a workplace free from recognized hazards," and cited employers under it from September 2020 and, by December 31, 2020, from 300 inspections.117
The liability shields
The legislatures fixed the standard of care in statutes that protected only the business that met it. Texas protects a business unless the claimant proves it "knowingly failed to implement or comply with government-promulgated standards, guidance, or protocols intended to lower the likelihood of exposure to the disease," for every action commenced on or after March 13, 2020 (Ex. DUT-TX-015); Florida immunizes only a defendant that "made a good faith effort to substantially comply with authoritative or controlling government-issued health standards or guidance" (Ex. DUT-FL-012); Illinois conditioned the rebuttal of its workers' compensation presumption on the same compliance (Ex. DUT-IL-005). Ohio's H.B. 606 set a culpability floor without a compliance clause and provided that "A government order, recommendation, or guideline shall neither create nor be construed as creating a duty of care" (Ex. DUT-OH-020), so Ohio's compulsion stands in R.C. 3701.352, 3701.81(C) and 4101.11 and in the orders' own conditions. California, Colorado, New York and New Jersey enacted no business shield: the New York and New Jersey immunities reached health-care providers only, California's Evidence Code presumes want of due care from violation of "a statute, ordinance, or regulation of a public entity," and Colorado left every dealer under its premises-liability standard (Exs. DUT-CA-013, DUT-CO-014). In each form the premise is the same: compliance with governmental health standards is what a business owed.118 A recommendation is recorded here as a recommendation, compulsory only through the instrument that made it so; a dealer that capped its showroom, screened its technicians and sanitized its loaners under these instruments was not choosing; it was complying.119