Embedded Files
From: Leigh M. Walker <lmwalker@eclipse.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 4, 2020 6:00 PM
To: FP Board <fullboard@folkproject.org>
Subject: ST July report
The Swingin' Tern report for July:
No dances last month.
Doug Heacock has been corresponding with the performers to set up distributions from the fund for canceled performances. Doug's efforts and the generous contributions from our dancers will allow payment of most of what performers would have earned from dances that haven't happened but for which they were previously booked.
We have also been communicating regularly with the First Church, whose parish house we use for the dance. Several of our members have made contributions to the church, which is also greatly appreciated.
Leigh Walker
Swingin' Tern
From: Leigh M. Walker <lmwalker@eclipse.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 4, 2020 5:52 PM
To: FP Board <fullboard@folkproject.org>
Subject: PCD's appreciation of FP's efforts
Hello all,
My friend Larry Koplik is a longtime board member at the Princeton dance (PCD), having a role similar to mine. A while ago I sent him the link to FP's page about Bill S863, and various Princeton people joined in the effort. He writes what's below in appreciation of FP.
Leigh
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Re: Bill S863 stuff
From: Larry Koplik
Date: Tue, August 4, 2020 2:06 am
To: "Leigh M. Walker" <lmwalker@eclipse.net>
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PCD really appreciates the active role the Folk Project has taken to protect all of our interests.
Larry
From: Leigh M. Walker <lmwalker@eclipse.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 2, 2020 5:31 PM
To: FP Board <fullboard@folkproject.org>
Subject: [Fwd: RE: Need to amend Bill S863]
FP Board:
Ed Jones, an important ST volunteer, has had an exchange similar to what Paul has described. Below you can see how he responded to Senator Sweeney.
Leigh
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: RE: Need to amend Bill S863
From: "Edmund H Jones" <Edmund.Jones@shu.edu>
Date: Fri, July 31, 2020 8:30 pm
To: "Sweeney, Sen. D.O." <SenSweeney@njleg.org>
Cc: "Michelle Coryell (mcoryell@njlegdistrict3.com)"
<mcoryell@njlegdistrict3.com>
"Harris, Ashley" <aharris@njlegdistrict3.com>
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Thanks for this detailed response, Sen. Sweeney. Very helpful.
Although I it somewhat reassuring that you write "I would like to reiterate that no matter the profession or occupation, this bill would not change whether someone is classified as an independent contractor or an employee," based upon the ABC test, in fact Standard B does not apply to the nonprofit world of contradancing. According to the Palladini law website, Standard B means that The service performed by the worker is not part of the company's usual course of business (in other words, the worker's output is not an advertised business service) or the work is conducted outside the business premises. A common example is a remote worker who uses their own computer, Internet connection, and other resources.
The service provided by the contracted workers is the live music that we in the contradance community dance to. This live music is not just part of the our usual course of business; without it, there would be no business; that is, there would be no dancing.
Because of the problem in satisfying Standard B, your reassurance, while well-intended, isn't convincing. The ABC standard could clearly be used against us.
Thanks again for your response.
Ed Jones
From: Sweeney, Sen. D.O. <SenSweeney@njleg.org>
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2020 6:34 PM
To: Edmund H Jones <Edmund.Jones@shu.edu>
Cc: Michelle Coryell (mcoryell@njlegdistrict3.com) <mcoryell@njlegdistrict3.com>; Harris, Ashley <aharris@njlegdistrict3.com>
Subject: RE: Need to amend Bill S863
Dear Mr. Jones:
Thank you for contacting my office regarding Senate bill 863.
The legislation has its foundation in the New Jersey State Supreme Court Case decision of Hargrove v. Sleepy's from 2015, which opined on the enforcement of regulation dating back to 1995. In that decision, the Court determined the State of New Jersey's application of the ABC test from the Unemployment Compensation law would be used to determine whether someone is an independent contractor or an employee in the case of a misclassification dispute. This legislation will simply codify that test as it is currently applied by the courts and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The bill, therefore, will not change whether you are classified as an independent contractor or an employee.
Concerns about this legislation changing current conditions are unfounded; rather, the legislation serves to clarify statutes that the courts have determined were vague, and it does not add or detract from their meaning.
Challenges to the State's independent contractor laws have been made and settled in court, and this legislation codifies the outcome of those decisions which have been based on the intent of the existing statutes.
I would like to reiterate that no matter the profession or occupation, this bill would not change whether someone is classified as an independent contractor or an employee.
Thank you again for contacting my office on this legislation.
Sincerely,
Steve Sweeney
Senate President
From: Edmund H Jones [mailto:Edmund.Jones@shu.edu]
Sent: Monday, July 27, 2020 12:49 PM
To: Sweeney, Sen. D.O.; Madden, Sen. D.O.; Lagana, Sen. D.O.; Bucco, Sen.
D.O.; Greenstein, Sen. D.O.; Testa, Sen. D. O.
Subject: Need to amend Bill S863
Dear Senators Sweeney, Madden, Lagana, Bucco, Greenstein, and Testa,
I am opposed to Bill S863 unless it is amended to include a common sense exemption for performing musicians to be treated as independent contractors even when the presenting organization's sole purpose is entertainment. Without this exemption, the bill will cause severe damage to New Jersey's nonprofit concert presenters, performing musicians, and the public they serve - culturally and economically.
An ardent supporter of the Folk Project, New Jersey's premier acoustic music and dance organization,
Ed Jones
75B Maplewood, NJ
** WARNING: This email originated from outside of Seton Hall University.
Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. **
From: Allan Kugel <kugel@connect.rutgers.edu>
Sent: Sunday, August 2, 2020 3:28 PM
To: Leigh M. Walker <lmwalker@eclipse.net>; FP Board <fullboard@folkproject.org>
Subject: Re: [Fwd: Rapid virus test status]
This sound promising, if it could be shown to work well in practice. Perhaps it'll be real-world tested (and the bugs worked out) in some Texas or Florida or California "spit-easy" bars before we need to try trusting such tests to protect our dancers. But if they work, it would be great!
-Allan
________________________________________
From: Leigh M. Walker <lmwalker@eclipse.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 2, 2020 1:36 PM
To: FP Board <fullboard@folkproject.org>
Subject: [Fwd: Rapid virus test status]
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Rapid virus test status
From: "Leigh M. Walker" <lmwalker@eclipse.net>
Date: Sun, August 2, 2020 1:35 pm
To: Swingin' Tern Folks
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Hello all,
Until now, the FDA has been unwilling to approve rapid tests because they are less accurate, that is, the rapid tests show in a few minutes only whether someone is infectious and not whether that person has the virus.
For a contra dance -- or for any gathering, actually -- the rapid tests showing whether someone is infectious would be useful. The possible cost of a few dollars vs. nearly $50- $100 per test would also help make widespread testing more practical. Frequent testing would be much easier with much faster results. You can imagine many ways these tests could be useful.
I have now read in a few places that the FDA is considering approval of these tests. Here's one:
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1288531049589297152
If you think about it, this is both another reason to be optimistic and not to have a dance on August 15. Things could change quickly, and this might not come to fruition, but impressive people are working hard in many areas.
Leigh
From: Leigh M. Walker <lmwalker@eclipse.net>
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2020 7:26 PM
To: FP Board <fullboard@folkproject.org>
Subject: [Fwd: ST -- No August 15 contra dance]
As the board knows, Swingin' Tern has discussed the possibility of a non-public outdoors dance with many precautions on August 15. Almost as soon as we started discussing it in May, the dramatic improvements in NJ's virus results slowed substantially.
Recently the daily number of tested infections in NJ has risen. We'd planned to make a decision about now on whether to go ahead with the dance, and given the current situation, the decision has turned into a formality.
For those who are interested, included in my email below is some data concerning NJ, nearby states and the USA, as well as some other relevant discussion.
Leigh Walker
Swingin' Tern
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: ST -- No August 15 contra dance
From: "Leigh M. Walker" <lmwalker@eclipse.net>
Date: Fri, July 31, 2020 7:15 pm
To: "Swingin' Tern Folks" <swingintern@folkproject.org>
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Hello all,
I hope you and your families and friends are all well.
This is an update about the coronavirus and the potential August 15 dance.
Below my close is some of the data which are referred to in the body of the email.
In my opinion, we should not pursue having a dance on August 15. As expected, NJ's death and infection rates have declined dramatically since we started discussing this in late May, and the conditions we'd planned for an outdoor dance emphasized safety. However, in late May the IHME was estimating that by early August there would be no coronavirus deaths and roughly two new infections across the state on a typical day -- and projecting forward, possibly no new infections by August 15. But as of July 30, in NJ almost 20 people a day are dying from the virus and there are over 400 positive tests per day, reflecting what are likely thousands of actual infections every day.
On the good side, average daily deaths declined almost 95% from May 3 to July 23. Also, hospitalizations have declined over 90%. Unfortunately, the seven-day average of new cases, which stood at 174 on July 24, has risen to 421 as of July 30.
If you have a different viewpoint, please write to explain your perspective. I'd welcome reading it.
I think what's important is that we continue to be optimistic and keep contra dancing in our hearts and minds. We want to be flexible and follow what actually happens. And we want to be respectful of other people's viewpoints during a challenging time for many people.
Morris County, where our dance is, is a fairly typical NJ county. Our dancers come from many different counties, plus NY and PA, and similar to what's happened across the world, the spread of the virus has varied greatly in different parts of the state. The areas near New York City were hit hardest and earliest, and much later the outlying and rural counties were hit at their hardest.
Unfortunately in several countries with greatly varying approaches, the virus declined to nothing or almost but has increased greatly in recent weeks. Something we obviously want to avoid here.
As for how things might develop, just this past Wednesday a group at Yale posted a draft of an article (https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.26.20162420v1.full.pdf).
I haven't finished reading it, but the conclusion is "general considerations of persistent heterogeneity in addition to overdispersion act to limit the scale of pandemics," which is promising. Among other things, this means that a second of third wave will probably have much less impact. I think the persistent homogeneity is something many people suspected from the start and am glad it's possible to model it in a way that fits reality.
In any event, many surprises are still possible. Come what may, we will keep working to keep our dance alive.
Best,
Leigh
Note that there are irregular reporting delays that affect the data.
Partly as a consequence of that, there are individual numbers in the data I believe are inaccurate. However, the overall trends are believable, and I think they are reliable for our purposes.
New deaths Seven-day averages
30-Mar 30-Apr 30-May 30-Jun 30-Jul
Total: 372 1947 983 575 1042
New Jersey 27 257 79 35 19
New York 166 417 102 28 14
Pennsylvania 6 122 60 25 15
Other USA 173 1150 742 487 994
Note: Rounded numbers may make totals differ from sum of components.
Seven-day average new cases
30-Mar 30-Apr 30-May 30-Jun 30-Jul
Total: 16774 29821 21430 43075 66192
New Jersey 2111 2661 886 306 421
New York 6426 6037 1328 743 752
Pennsylvania 501 1564 665 563 957
Other USA 7735 19560 18551 41463 64061
Note: Rounded numbers may make totals differ from sum of components.
Active cases (000) Seven-day averages
30-Mar 30-Apr 30-May 30-Jun 30-Jul
Total: 114 821 1155 1382 2140
New Jersey 10 103 132 119 46
New York 45 233 280 296 120
Pennsylvania 2 41 25 16 25
Other USA 57 443 718 951 1949
Note: Rounded numbers may make totals differ from sum of components.
Thousands of tests, previous seven days
30-Jun 30-Jul Change
New Jersey 139 200 44%
New York 414 452 9%
Pennsylvania 77 114 49%
USA Other 4016 5203 30%
USA Total 4645 5969 28%
NJ Hospitalizations due to coronavirus:
4/30/2020 5892
5/30/2020 2452
6/30/2020 1080
7/30/2020 695
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