Axios PM: New Ohio polling — N.Y. extends eviction moratorium

Presented By Comcast

Axios PM

By Mike Allen ·Sep 28, 2020

Good afternoon: Today's PM — edited by Justin Green — is 482 words, a 2-minute read.

🚨 Situational awareness: The federal government will distribute 150 million rapid, point-of-care coronavirus tests to states over the next few weeks, including to K-12 schools and vulnerable communities like nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Go deeper.

📺 Tonight on "Axios on HBO" (11 pm ET/PT):

Jonathan Swan asks Bob Woodward a question he's never been asked (See a clip) ... Dion Rabouin interviews Andre Perry of Brookings about paths toward reparations for Black Americans ... In back-to-back segments, Planned Parenthood president Alexis McGill Johnson and Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser contemplate a post-Roe-v.-Wade world.

1 big thing: Businesses face "take home" COVID-19 lawsuits

Illustration of a gavel hovering above a sick person in a hospital bed

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

New peril for employers: Wrongful death "take home" lawsuits from the coronavirus, using the prior examples of asbestos.

Why it matters: Employers enjoy legal protections and liability caps under workers' compensation laws, but these lawsuits could skirt those protections, Reuters reports.

How it works: Plaintiffs will need to both prove that businesses were negligent on safety and that employees spread the virus to their family members. Some examples, per Reuters...

Lawsuit 1: The daughter of Ricardo Ugalde sued his employer, a packing plant in Illinois, alleging they placed workers "shoulder to shoulder" in April, without additional safety protections. Ugalde's wife died of COVID-19.
Lawsuit 2: The wife of Servando Reynoso sued his employer, an electrical components manufacturer, alleging she contracted the virus (and suffered organ damage) while caring for him after he got sick. His employer says staff wore gloves and masks before COVID-19.

The bottom line: A worst-case liability scenario for employers has damages running as high as $21 billion if the U.S. reaches 300,000 coronavirus deaths, Reuters reports.

2. Pic du jour

Photo: Kent Nishimura/L.A. Times via Getty Images

The Shady Fire has reached Santa Rosa, California.

Live updates (Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

Photo: Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images

A message from Comcast

Comcast announces multi-year effort to accelerate internet adoption

Comcast is working with its network of nonprofit partners to roll out more than 1,000 WiFi-connected Lift Zones in community centers.

Why it's important: In this uncertain school year, internet adoption is critical to support low-income student's participation in distance education.

Bonus: Poll du jour

Data: SurveyMonkey survey of 3,092 Ohio voters, Sept. 1-25, 2020; Note: COVID-19 was a write-in option; Chart: Axios Visuals

President Trump leads Joe Biden 51%–47% among likely Ohio voters overall — but he holds a whopping 74%–24% lead with those who say flagging jobs and economy is their top issue, according to new SurveyMonkey-Tableau data for Axios.

Why it matters: Ohioans are more worried about their jobs than about the coronavirus — and that's Trump's best chance to cling to a narrow lead in this state he won handily in 2016, Margaret Talev reports.

Go deeper (plus methodology)

3. Catch up quick

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the N.Y. Times report that President Trump has hundreds of millions of dollars in debt coming due within the next four years raises a "national security question." Go deeper.
New York will extend its coronavirus-related eviction moratorium until 2021, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today. Go deeper.
Cindy McCain has joined the board of Joe Biden's presidential transition team. Go deeper.
"Axios Re:Cap" focuses on what is and isn't surprising about the Trump tax revelations with Francine McKenna, an independent financial journalist and certified public accountant. Listen here.

4. 1 fun thing: Coming culture

Cover: Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings via AP

A sampling of this week's culture fare, via the AP.

Music: Mariah Carey has pulled from her vault to compile a new album called "The Rarities." Made up of songs recorded from 1990 and 2020, the album features previously unreleased songs and rare B-sides. Releases tomorrow.
Movies: A Gloria Steinem biopic titled "The Glorias," played by four different actresses (Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Lulu Wilson, Ryan Kiera Armstrong) across four stages of her life. Debuts Wednesday on Amazon Prime.
TV: Lily Collins stars as a marketing executive who's transferred to Paris to revamp a newly acquired company's social media strategy. "Emily in Paris" debuts Friday on Netflix.
Bonus TV: "South Park" has an hourlong coronavirus special debuting Wednesday on Comedy Central.