As Federal Coronavirus Aid Stalls, Hogan Helps Small Businesses

Jacob Baumgart
Updated ·7 min read
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ANNAPOLIS, MD — The coronavirus pandemic continues to hurt Maryland businesses, but Gov. Larry Hogan hopes to ease some of that pain. He announced Thursday that the state will commit another $250 million to its coronavirus relief efforts.

Hogan's plan matches Maryland's initial stimulus deal, bringing the state's total aid contribution to $500 million. Though Hogan believes a push was necessary, he would have rather seen it come from the federal government.

"The failure of Washington to provide additional stimulus relief … is having a devastating impact," Hogan said at a Thursday afternoon press conference. "We need both parties in Washington to stop playing politics, to end the gridlock and to get this done for the American people."

Maryland's aid package will send:

The stimulus will also set aside $100 million for the state reallocate as the pandemic continues and federal relief talks progress. Hogan hopes a second national aid package is on the horizon, but he does not think it will come before the Nov. 3 election. That's why he unveiled his strategy now.

"Even though it’s a tremendous amount of money, we can’t do it alone," Hogan said. "We still need that next stimulus package at the federal level."

The first nationwide stimulus effort came in March when Congress passed the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act. That deal delivered $10 billion to Maryland's small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program.

The initiative helped establishments pay bills, compensate employees and buy personal protective equipment. Though the effort helped 81,000 local businesses, it still wasn't enough.

Some owners didn't qualify, and others needed more help. They turned to the state for assistance, but Maryland's programs filled and developed backlogs. Hogan says his new plan will help all 11,500 restuarants waiting for benefits.

"I have directed our teams, in each agency to ensure that this much-needed funding gets out the door to our struggling citizens and small businesses as quickly as possible," Hogan said, calling for the money must be distributed by Dec. 31.

The governor also noted that some of Maryland's least-populated counties have not spent much of their relief money. He previously sent $662 million of the state's CARES Act funding to the 19 smallest counties.

About two-thirds of that money hasn't been spent, Hogan said. His reports do not specify which counties are holding onto their funds, but he encuoraged these jurisdctions to allocate the money before it expires at the year's end.

Maryland's latest aid comes entirely from the state's rainy day account. The fund usually has about $1 billion saved for emergencies. Hogan said the reserve had about 25 percent more than normal, explaining his settlement on $250 million.

State Of The Economy

Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Montgomery County and Prince George's County are the only four Maryland jurisdictions to remain in Stage 2 of coronavirus recovery. The remaining 20 counties entered the third and final stage on Sept. 4.

Days before, Hogan said that all Maryland businesses can reopen at their county's discretion. Still, jurisdictions may move at their own pace, meaning businesses must follow their local regulations.

The requirements differ in the four most strict jurisdictions. Movie theaters are open in some, while they remain closed in others. Their main holdups are tighter capacity caps on bars and restaurants.

"Saving lives continues to be our most important priority," Hogan said. "With our health metrics continuing to remain low and stable, local jurisdictions should be focused on our economic health and wellbeing as well."

Marylanders are steadily returning to work as restrictions ease. After peaking at 10.1 percent in April, the state's unemployment rate dropped in three consecutive months.

By August, 7 percent of Maryland workers were unemployed. The state took a step backward in September, however.

Now, 7.2 percent of the labor force is out of a job. In comparison, the unemployment rate was 3.3 percent in February, a month before coronavirus shutdowns began.

While Maryland still has a way to go before it reaches its pre-coronavirus economy, the state is still faring better than most of the country. The national unemployment rate sits at 7.9 percent, which is down from its recent high of 14.7 percent in April.

Unemployment rates are posted monthly, so they don't use the most recent information. The number of new unemployment claims-per-week offers a more timely overview of the economy. The freshest report comes from the week ending on Oct. 17.

That week, Maryland tallied 23,280 first-time unemployment insurance claims. In comparison, the state counted 2,090 first-time filings in the week of March 5, which was when Hogan declared a state of emergency in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Maryland's worst stint came during the week of May 2, when it saw 109,263 new claims. That number is inflated, partially because it was the first week of CARES Act unemployment programs.

The weeks sandwiching May 2 give a more accurate picture of the economy's lowest point. The last week of April saw 37,225 first-time claims, and the week after reported 65,805 new filings.

Altogether, 788,000 people have filed for unemployment insurance in the state. Maryland has responded to 93.7 percent of those claimants, and 622,091 have collected payments totaling more than $7.5 billion. About 116,000 did not qualify, and 49,000 are still in processing.

The state has regained 194,900 jobs since the pandemic began.

Coronavirus Metrics Update

Maryland counted 743 coronavirus cases Monday, bringing the state's total to 137,979 infections. The state also reported 12 more coronavirus-related deaths. The virus has killed 3,924 Marylanders to date.

The state's positivity rate has seen an uptick since it bottomed out at 2.54 percent on Sept. 24. The seven-day rolling average now sits at 3.1 percent. The weekly positivity rate topped out at 26.88 percent on April 17.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says jurisdictions should aim to keep their percent positivity below 5. Maryland has been beneath that benchmark since June 25.

"Our first goal, every day, is to save the lives of Marylanders," Hogan said. "This crisis is far from over. The fact is that COVID-19 is spreading rapidly throughout the country, and this virus certainly does not recognize state borders."

Maryland's hospitalizations have fluctuated in recent months. They hit an overall peak of 1,711 on April 30. After falling to a low of 385 on July 10, the number of hospitalized coronavirus patients spiked to 592 by Aug. 1.

Hospitalizations then marched down to a recent low of 290 on Sept. 21, but they are back on the rise. Maryland reported 458 coronavirus-related hospitalizations Monday. Hogan said he is keeping an eye on this "slight uptick."

The state also closely monitors an infections-per-capita metric called the case rate. This is the average number of new cases-per-day per 100,000 people over a rolling week.

The case rate maxed out at 18.03 on May 7 before plummeting to 5.6 on June 24. The lull didn't last long, as the case rate hopped to a recent high of 15.55 on July 31.

Another downswing dropped the case rate to 7.63 on Sept. 26, but it is already back up to 10.2. Because Maryland's case rate is above 10, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York added the state to their do-not-travel list.

"While the fall coronavirus surge appears to be spiking all across the nation, Maryland remains one of only eight states in America where new cases of COVID-19 are low and continuing to stay low," Hogan said.

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Have a story idea? Please contact me at jacob.baumgart@patch.com with any pitches, tips or questions. Follow me on Twitter @JacobBaumgart and on Facebook @JacobBaumgartJournalist to stay up-to-date with the latest Anne Arundel County and Prince George's County news.

This article originally appeared on the Annapolis Patch