In plain terms: some letters say that a governor's "declaration of emergency" is not an order. A declaration that only recites the emergency and hands out authority is the legal foundation for the orders that followed, and The COVID Project treats it that way. But a proclamation that itself closes stores, imposes a curfew, quarantines travelers or forbids gatherings is an order whatever its title. Iowa's disaster proclamations closed retail stores and directed every employer to enable remote work. Hawaii's proclamations quarantined every arriving passenger. Puerto Rico's executive order of March 15, 2020 imposed the first stay-at-home order and curfew in the United States. Wyoming's statewide public health orders, issued under its emergency executive order, made violation a misdemeanor. The Notice's own list of governmental orders includes "[a] State's emergency proclamation that residents must shelter in place." The question is what the document commands, not what it is called.
"A declaration of emergency is not an order (Q&A-10)."
Form language of the Service's letters and Forms 886-A on the suspension prong
A proclamation that commands is an order
A bare declaration of emergency, one that recites the emergency and confers authority without itself limiting commerce, travel or group meetings, is the predicate of the orders issued under it. The Library records such declarations (Texas's Disaster Proclamation of March 13, 2020, Ex. TX-001; West Virginia's Proclamation of March 16, 2020, Ex. WV-001) as the source of the authority the orders exercised and, in the third quarter of 2021, as the instruments under which that quarter's orders issued. This analysis claims nothing more for them.1
A proclamation that carries an operative clause limiting commerce, travel or group meetings is an order whatever its caption. Iowa's Proclamations of Disaster Emergency closed the State's enclosed malls and its toy, music, movie, tobacco and gaming stores from April 7, 2020 (Ex. SEC-07-021) and, from November 11, 2020, ordered that "[a]ll employers shall evaluate whether any more of their employees can feasibly work remotely" and take steps to enable it, alongside a statewide indoor mask requirement (Proclamations of Disaster Emergency of November 10 and November 16, 2020). Hawaii's Second Supplementary Proclamation of March 21, 2020 quarantined every person arriving in the State (Ex. HI-003), and the Governor's Twenty-First Proclamation of June 7, 2021 and Emergency Proclamation of August 5, 2021 required face coverings statewide, continued the Safe Travels arrival quarantine and made every county's rules subject to the Governor's approval, each enforced as a misdemeanor under Haw. Rev. Stat. § 127A-29. Wyoming's Executive Order 2020-2 of March 13, 2020 declared the emergency (Ex. WY-001), and the numbered Statewide Public Health Orders issued under it closed the State's restaurants, bars, theaters, gyms, child-care facilities and schools, forbade gatherings of ten or more and closed its salons and barber shops, each enforced by criminal prosecution under Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 35-1-105 and 35-1-106, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment of up to one year (Ex. WY-004; Ex. WY-005; Ex. WY-006). Puerto Rico's Administrative Bulletin No. OE-2020-023 of March 15, 2020 provided that "a curfew is hereby ORDERED for all citizens, starting today at 9 p.m.," closed all governmental and private-sector operations other than "essential services" from 6:00 p.m. that day, and carried a penalty under Act No. 20-2017 of imprisonment up to six months or a fine up to $5,000; it was the first territorial stay-at-home order in the United States (Ex. AGY-TERRITORIES-002; Ex. LAW-201).2
The Notice's own Q&A-10 lists "[a] State's emergency proclamation that residents must shelter in place for a specified period" among the governmental orders that satisfy the Suspension Clause, and adds that "[w]hether orders, proclamations or decrees are governmental orders is determined without regard to the level of enforcement of the governmental order." The ground cites Q&A-10 for the proposition that a declaration is not an order. Q&A-10 says that a proclamation which commands is one.3
The Service's ground answers a caption, not a text. The instruments in the Library command in terms, each with an operative verb, an issuing authority and a sanction, and an order does not cease to be an order because its title says "proclamation."
Read the document, not its title. If the proclamation your State's governor signed only declared an emergency and gave officials power, it is the foundation of the orders that followed, and you cite it for that. If the proclamation itself closed businesses, set a curfew, quarantined travelers, capped gatherings or told employers what to do, it is an order under the statute and under the Notice's own list, and you cite it for what it commanded. The Library records the operative words of each instrument so that you can quote them.