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April 10, 2021

The Chestertown Spy

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News COVID-19 News Maryland News

Hogan Moves to Open the Vaccine ‘Floodgates,’ Expands Access to Everyone 16 and Older

April 6, 2021 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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Amid a stubborn rise in COVID-19 infections, the Hogan administration moved on Monday to expand vaccine eligibility at the state’s mass vaccination sites.

The decision means that all Marylanders age 16 and over will be eligible to sign-up for a shot at the state’s mass-vaccination sites effective on Tuesday.

People age 16 and older will be eligible to schedule appointments through all providers starting on April 12.

The actions, announced by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) at a State House news conference, advance the registration process by two weeks.

“We are literally in a race between the vaccines and these new highly transmissible variants that are driving an increase in new infections and hospitalizations, particularly among younger people in the state across the country,” Hogan said. “Getting more people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can is our absolute best defense against these variants, and it’s the best way to win this long war against this deadly virus.”

The decision to move the registration timeline forward reflects the significant increase in supply that the state expects to receive — and it underscores what officials said is an urgent need to address a rise in infections that is being driven by people under 40.

Michael Powell, a legislative analyst who tracks the pandemic, told the state Senate’s Vaccine Work Group on Monday that the rise in new cases is centered in Baltimore County, Baltimore City and Harford County.

“The data tells us that we’ve got to get young people vaccinated faster, so that we can break the back of this pandemic,” Health Secretary Dennis R. Schrader told the panel.

He said older adults “understand their risks and they’re being more careful,” while younger adults “feel like they’re indestructible often-times.”

“It’s clear that younger people are more mobile,” Schrader added. “They’re out and about.”

The newly confirmed health secretary said his agency is working with Maryland universities to get students vaccinated before they return home to their families at semester’s end.

Hogan also announced an expansion of the state’s no-appointment option.

Maryland’s first walk-up line opened Friday at the high-volume site located at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center in Salisbury. Approximately 500 people got a shot on the first day, officials said.

On Tuesday, a line at the Hagerstown Premium Outlets site will open for people who lack an appointment. The state expects to add others throughout the month.

Hogan said the state’s first experiment with the walk-up lines in Salisbury went smoothly.

“We’re expecting the same thing to happen in Hagerstown and all our other sites moving forward,” he said. “It’s still best if you register: they have all your information, you know there’s a vaccine for you, it’s very smooth.”

Those walking up to a site risk being turned away if vaccine supplies run out, Hogan said. Asked if he was worried about a crush of vaccine-seekers at the walk-up sites, Hogan said: “We’re hoping for that, actually.”

He said an initial surge in vaccine interest is expected to level off as more people are vaccinated and the state will adjust after “this opening up of the floodgates.”

This week the state expects to receive 372,000 doses from the federal government. That number does not include the approximately 100,000 additional doses that go directly to private pharmacies.

The supply is expected to increase to 457,000 doses next week — and by the beginning of May, the state is projected to receive 535,000 or more doses per week through the remainder of the summer.

The state is adding seven additional mass vaccination sites this month. Three open this week at the Greenbelt Metro Station, Montgomery College in Germantown, and the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. Two sites are scheduled to open the week of April 12 at Frederick Community College and the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. The Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen is expected to open a vaccination clinic a week later, and the state is working to open The Mall in Columbia site the same week as well.

Schrader told lawmakers that plans are being formulated for a potential need to administer booster shots as protection from the virus begins to “decay” over time.

Hogan responds to critical audit

Asked about an audit released Friday critical of the Hogan administration’s purchase of 500,000 test kits from a South Korean firm at a cost of $11.9 million, the governor dismissed the report.

Hogan called the audit “complete nonsense” and said the purchase of the kits “was probably one of the biggest accomplishments throughout this pandemic.”

The test kits, which were purchased as an emergency procurement without a formal contract, required complete replacement after a first batch failed to meet FDA requirements. Auditors were unable to conclude who within government was ultimately responsible for making the purchase.

Hogan said Monday that all of the purchased test kits were used and the Board of Public Works ultimately approved the purchase after the fact.

“The report was partisan nonsense,” Hogan said. “…I wouldn’t change a single thing. I don’t really care what those legislators have to say.”

By Bruce DePuyt and Danielle E. Gaines

Filed Under: COVID-19, Maryland News Tagged With: coronavirus, Covid-19, eligibility, Gov. Larry Hogan, Maryland, mass-vaccination sites, vaccination, vaccine

All Marylanders 16+ May Pre-register for COVID-19 Vaccine; Most Vulnerable Still Have Priority

April 2, 2021 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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All Marylanders age 16 and up are now eligible to pre-register with the state for a COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) announced on Thursday. But he cautioned that the Department of Health will continue to prioritize older adults and those with health conditions when scheduling appointments.

The expansion of the state’s pre-registration system comes as the number of vaccination options continues to grow.

For the first time, eligible Maryland residents who lack an appointment will be able to get a vaccine beginning on Friday, when the existing mass-vaccination site in Salisbury adds a “walk-up” line.

The state’s Eastern Shore mass-vax site is located at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center.

“This is Easter weekend. It’s a big weekend for Ocean City,” Hogan said at a news conference. “If you haven’t gotten a vaccine and you want one, I would say get in your car [on Friday], drive to the beach, stop in Salisbury, get everybody vaccinated and then go to Ocean City and get some Thrasher’s french fries, stay for the weekend and go to an Easter brunch on Sunday morning.”

While Hogan encouraged Marylanders to pre-register, “our plan is to continue to add additional no-appointment lines at other mass-vaccination sites as well.”

The week of April 12, mass vaccination sites will open at Frederick Community College and at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

The following week, a high-volume site will open at Ripken Stadium in Harford County; the week of April 26, a mass-vax location will open at the Mall in Columbia, in Howard County.

Hogan said the state is moving to vaccinate people as quickly as possible in part because of the rapid spread of COVID-19 variants.

He said 86% of the state’s 677 cases of variant infection are the B.1.1.7 strain, also known as the U.K. variant. Six others have also been detected.

“We are quite literally in a race between these variants and the vaccines,” he said.

Public health officials have said the variants are one reason that infection, positivity and hospitalization rates are on the rise in spite of an increase in vaccinations.

Some public health experts and political leaders have also blamed an easing on business activity and social interactions, but Hogan rejected the suggestion that his March 12 order to relax restrictions was responsible for pushing Maryland’s numbers up.

“We don’t think it had anything to do with re-openings,” he said. Hogan noted that Maryland — unlike many states — has retained its mask mandate.

‘Critics owe Redfield an apology’

Hogan also offered a vigorous defense of Dr. Robert Redfield, the former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and an unpaid adviser to the governor, from what he said were “disgusting” and politically based attacks.

Last week Redfield, who served as head of the CDC under President Trump, told CNN it was his opinion that COVID-19 “escaped” from a lab in Wuhan, China. His comments triggered angry reactions from Democrats, including several members of the General Assembly and Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D), a candidate for governor.

Hogan said it was “outrageous and disgusting” for critics to tie Redfield’s discussion of virus theory to attacks on people of Asian-American descent. “They should probably apologize to Dr. Redfield.”

“He said nothing whatsoever that was inflammatory,” the governor added. “He’s one of the most educated experts on virology in the world.”

Hogan said it was “political nonsense [to] attack him for giving his professional opinion, which I thought he did a very good job of explaining.”

Local leaders ‘need to keep up,’ Hogan says

The governor signaled that he is weary of criticism from local elected officials and health officers regarding the state’s vaccination program and its efforts to reach vulnerable residents.

He told reporters that that “many” jurisdictions have yet to comply with a February request from the state “to produce their own equity plans.”

As a result, the governor said, county health officers have been ordered to submit their plans by Monday.

According to the state Health Department, only 11 counties — Anne Arundel, Caroline, Carroll, Garrett, Howard, Kent, Prince George’s, Frederick, Somerset, St. Mary’s and Wicomico — complied with the original request.

“The state Health Department will also be providing each county with a targeted list of underserved ZIP codes and list of specific congregant facilities in their jurisdictions, which we need them to concentrate their efforts on,” the governor said.

In response to a question, Hogan brushed aside criticism that he drops major announcements on local officials without notice, necessitating a needless scramble.

“Our Health Department talks to their health officers nearly every single day,” the governor said. “We inform them just as decisions are made. … We’re trying to get them to keep up.”

In a statement provided to Maryland Matters, Ed Singer, Carroll County’s health officer and president of the Maryland Association of County Health Officers, pushed back on the idea that the state sought formal plans from the counties or set a deadline for the local health departments to respond.

“Local health departments have been working to ensure equitable distribution in our jurisdictions since we began vaccinating our citizens in late December,” he said. “We work closely with our jurisdictional governments and local community partners to identify means to reach underserved populations. While we have been planning to ensure equitable distribution, no formal request for a specific jurisdictional plan was ever made of the health officers.”

Scott: Don’t become a ‘meme’

Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott (D) on Thursday announced a new pre-registration portal for city residents seeking the COVID-19 vaccine — and he beseeched residents to exercise caution over Easter weekend.

The city’s infection and positivity rates are up significantly from four weeks ago, with 29 cases for every 100,000 residents, higher than the state and national averages, the city’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, told reporters.

In addition, hospital ICU and acute-care units are approaching 90% capacity.

She said “this new surge is different,” because people aged 20-29 and 40-49 are the most impacted.

“Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X are contributing most to the case counts here in the city,” Dzirasa said.

City residents aged 70 and over represent the lowest rate of new infections, which “indicates that vaccines work,” the health commissioner added.

Scott urged residents — young people in particular — to wear masks and limit social interactions over the holiday weekend.

“You are not invincible,” he said. “You can end up on a ventilator just like your grandmother or your grandfather.”

The city on Thursday launched a new Microsoft-based pre-registration portal — covax.baltimorecity.gov — that the duo said offered better functionality than the state’s PrepMod system.

All city residents are now eligible to pre-register and should do so, the mayor said. And he urged them to resist “COVID fatigue.”

“This is not over,” the mayor said. “Don’t become a meme of these folks who are out at these parties with no mask or having events and ending up on someone’s Instagram feed because you were irresponsible.”

The state’s pre-registration site is covidvax.maryland.gov. People who wish to pre-register by phone can call 855-634-6829.

By Bruce DePuyt

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: coronavirus, Covid-19, Gov. Larry Hogan, Maryland, pre-register, vaccination, vaccines

Md.’s Vaccine Network Able to Do 500,000+ Doses Per Week, Acting Health Secretary Says

March 23, 2021 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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Maryland has the ability to administer more than half a million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine per week — and could get even more shots into arms when the state’s allotment increases sufficiently, the state’s acting heath secretary told legislators on Monday.

A vaccination program running at that clip would significantly alter the state’s efforts to protect residents from the virus, to the point where clinics would be actively searching for arms to put shots into.

“When those doses come, we’re ready to go,” Dennis R. Schrader told the state Senate’s Vaccine Work Group. “That’s why we’ve been building the infrastructure.”

The state expects to have access to 300,000 doses by the end of the month, with more coming in April.

Schrader said that if doses arrive in the numbers the state is expecting, hospitals will be able to administer 135,000 per week, local health departments will be able to do another 115,000, and mass-vaccination sites will be capable of doing more than 100,000.

Retail pharmacies could handle a minimum of 50,000 (and most likely “a lot more”), and primary-care physicians between 35,000 and 50,000, he added.

The secretary said having capacity at that level would not only be able to respond to the public’s demand for the vaccine, “we’re going to have to go in and pull people” from the community through various forms of outreach.

Maryland has four high-volume sites operating now and a fifth is scheduled to open in Hagerstown on Thursday. Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) is expected to approve a Montgomery County site — and perhaps others — this week.

“The announcements are close,” Schrader said.

It took the state 67 days to administer its first 1 million doses, but just 27 days to administer the second million, the health chief said. On Friday, the state hit a record — 57,550 shots.

Hogan announced last week that Maryland will quickly expand vaccine eligibility in the coming weeks, to the point where all residents are eligible by April 27.

Although older residents were prioritized in the early weeks of the distribution campaign, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said “it’s the final 30% of 70-year-olds and 80-year-olds that I’m worried about,” a reference to the seniors who have yet to get vaccinated.

Schrader said the state’s new engagement with primary-care physicians will be helpful in getting doses to other “hard-to-reach” populations that haven’t been vaccinated yet.

“I’m also concerned about the 30% that’s left in the 65-and-older population,” the secretary said. “The community doctors are the pathway to getting a lot of these folks vaccinated. They’re going to have head-of-the-line privileges” in the state’s new pre-registration system.

Despite high-profile efforts by Hogan and his team to boost the vaccination rate in Prince George’s County, it remains the lowest in the state. Approximately 16% of county residents have been fully vaccinated, roughly half the percentage in Talbot County, the state’s leader.

Schrader said there are “two or three things in the pipeline” to boost the numbers in Prince George’s, but he said they “are not cooked yet.”

On Monday the state Department of Health announced an increase in the number of doses going to local health departments. Local health officials have boasted for weeks of their ability to reach people of color, people with existing health conditions, workers who have frequent contact with the public and those who live in close proximity to others.

Under the new formula, Montgomery will receive 8,000 doses per week, Prince George’s 6,900 and Baltimore County 6,300.

By Bruce DePuyt

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: coronavirus, covid, Dennis R. Schrader, doses, Gov. Larry Hogan, Maryland, vaccines

With Vaccine Supply Set to Soar, Hogan Announces Plan To Open Eligibility to All

March 19, 2021 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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All Marylanders age 16 and up will become eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of April, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) announced on Thursday.

The move from the current eligibility phase — 1C — through Phase 2 to the final stage, Phase 3, will come in steps, Hogan said.

And he cautioned that being eligible for a shot is no guarantee that residents will be able to get one immediately, as demand continues to outpace supply.

“We can’t schedule appointments for vaccines that we don’t have or that don’t yet exist,” he told reporters at a State House news conference.

The governor also stressed that people in Phase 1 who have yet to be vaccinated will continue to be prioritized by the state’s pre-registration system.

Nonetheless, he said the move to open vaccinations to everyone over the next six weeks represented a major milestone in the massive campaign that began in late December.

“Nearly 90% of the state’s 7,929 COVID deaths have been Marylanders over the age of 60. By prioritizing this age group, we will take a huge leap forward in the effort to protect our most vulnerable citizens from this virus,” Hogan said.

Phase 2A, which includes residents 60 and over, will open on March 23.

Maryland’s move to universal eligibility will occur over the next few weeks:

  • Phase 2B, residents 16 and older with an underlying health condition, effective March 30.
  • Phase 2C, residents 55 and over, as well as “essential” personnel who work in restaurants and the food industry, utility and construction workers, along with transportation, financial services and IT employees, effective April 13.
  • Phase 3, all Marylanders 16 and over, effective April 27.

Residents 60 and older can pre-register effective immediately, at covidvax.maryland.gov or by calling 1-855-634-6829.

Earlier this month, President Biden urged states to open their vaccinations to all by May 1.

Maryland recently surpassed the 2-million dose mark. Nearly 1.3 million people have received at least one shot, and 740,887 had been fully vaccinated as of Thursday.

Hogan said White House officials recently warned states to expect only “incremental” increases in vaccine supply in the next couple weeks, with the expectation that “significant” increases will follow shortly thereafter.

“If they deliver on what they say they’re going to deliver, April is going to look a heck of a lot different than March.”

State to enlist family physicians and deploy mobile units

Hogan announced others steps the state is taking to diversify its population of vaccine-recipients:

  • An undisclosed number of mobile clinics will be launched through a partnership with the University of Maryland School of Nursing. The clinics, which will function on a walk-up and drive-up basis, will focus on “hard-to-reach” communities. Each one will have the ability to administer between 60 and 160 doses per day. Staffing will be provided by the Maryland National Guard.
  • Family doctors will soon get a role in providing vaccinations under a pilot program that seeks to leverage the rapport physicians have with their patients. Hogan said physicians “will be able to call their patients directly to schedule vaccine appointments, which will minimize technological and access barriers, and reach individuals where they are.” The pilot will begin with 37 practices that have largely Black and Hispanic patients, as well as though who don’t live close to other vaccination sites. The state’s doctors have been seeking a greater role in the vaccination program.
  • The Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission will provide $12 million for hospital-based vaccination initiatives. Participating hospitals will work with local health departments, non-profits, faith-based organizations, and others to increase vaccine access, particularly in underserved areas.

By Bruce DePuyt

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: coronavirus, Covid-19, Gov. Larry Hogan, Maryland, vaccinations, vaccine plan

As ‘Big 8’ Leaders Debate Hogan’s Re-Opening Order, Top Expert Calls it ‘Premature’

March 11, 2021 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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Local leaders representing nearly 80% of Maryland’s population held a conference call on Wednesday to discuss Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s decision to lift most limits on commerce and social gatherings.

The Republican governor’s decision — announced Tuesday — came as a surprise to most, if not all, members of the so-called “Big 8,” a group that includes the leaders of the seven largest counties and Baltimore City.

Now they are trying to decide what their legal options are — and whether to heed Hogan’s call to shed the restrictions that were imposed over the last 12 months to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Two leaders announced after the meeting that they will follow the state’s lead, joining Harford County, which embraced the lifting of restrictions immediately. 

But a top public health expert called Hogan’s decision “premature.”

Joshua M. Sharfstein, vice dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said it would have been wiser to wait until the state’s vaccination program is further along and more is known about COVID-19 variants.

Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein

“There’s still a fair amount of virus in Maryland,” Sharfstein said in an interview. “That’s why some of the easing of restrictions before people are vaccinated seems premature.”

“We’re so close to getting a huge surge of vaccinations in this state and in this country,” he added. “I think it’s better to go step-by-step, rather than one gigantic leap.”

Hogan’s order lifts restrictions on dining, houses of worship, fitness centers, casinos and other venues, effective at 5 p.m. on Friday. Also Friday, the state will allow 50% capacity at larger venues like Camden Yards, conference centers, theaters, wedding halls, horse tracks, etc.

The state’s broad mask order and distancing requirements remain in effect.

The governor’s order also repeals the authority of local governments to impose stricter limits on commerce and social interaction by piggybacking on the state’s emergency powers — though they can potentially do so under their own authority.

The wording of that portion of the order confused local political leaders and the Maryland Association of Counties, and it sent county attorneys scrambling to determine what new framework might be needed.

On Tuesday, Hogan insisted that local subdivisions retained the right to keep tighter restrictions in place, but he urged them to “get in line” with the expanded freedoms.

The issue is moot in counties like Harford, where Executive Barry Glassman (R) announced immediately that he will open his economy to align with the governor’s orders on Friday.

But in the other Big 8 subdivisions, all run by Democrats, the rush to the law books has been a matter of urgency.

Montgomery County Executive Marc B. Elrich (D) panned Hogan’s action. In an interview, he said opening restaurants around the state “will trigger another spike” in infections.

“It’s a serious mistake,” Elrich (D) said. “It’s flat-out not safe. It’s the one place where masks come off. Under no scenario are restaurants a good idea.”

Hogan’s order does not allow bar patrons to stand. And it requires that restaurant tables be socially distanced.

Those mandates will blunt the impact of the governor’s action, Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman (D) predicted.

“What really protects people is the distancing requirements,” he said. “It’s going to keep restaurants well below 100% capacity, because normally their tables are much closer together.”

Pittman called it unlikely that there will be a “big public health impact” from allowing more people to dine in restaurants. He also said the impact on revenues will also be muted.

“It’s sort of a nothing-burger,” he said.

Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski Jr. (D) told reporters on Wednesday that “leaders in local government neither had a seat at the table… nor any advance notice.”

He said his team is “actively exploring” the meaning of the state’s order, the county’s “legal options,” and the latest pandemic data to determine whether it’s time to reopen.

In lifting restrictions on Tuesday, Hogan pointed to the state’s improving health metrics, including its low positivity rate, along with the expansion in the vaccination program. The governor’s new health adviser, Robert Redfield, the former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under President Trump, said he supported Hogan’s actions.

Sharfstein, the public health expert at Hopkins — and a former state Health secretary under Gov. Martin J. O’Malley (D) — said it was disappointing to read in the media that local leaders were “blindsided” by the governor’s decision.

“These decisions should be coordinated among different levels of government,” he said.

Aides to Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) and Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott (D) said they were trying to determine what power they retain and what their legal options are. Frederick County Executive Jan M. Gardner (D) is expected to discuss Hogan’s order and its impact on the county at her weekly COVID-19 briefing Thursday.

Although some counties — including Montgomery — are virtually certain to seek to maintain at least some restrictions on commerce, Pittman announced late Wednesday that Anne Arundel “will align with new state policy.”

He will sign a new executive order retaining the current limits on social gathering, 10 persons indoors and 25 persons outdoors, by Friday, his office said. 

“I don’t have much appetite, this late in the battle, to fight this one,” he said.

Pittman will insist on limited gatherings because — without them — “a lot of people will think it’s time to have parties again.”

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball III (D) announced late Wednesday that his jurisdiction will also align with the state on reopenings, effective Friday at 5 p.m. 

In a news release, Ball said that the county’s coronavirus metrics have improved significantly from a post-holiday spike.

“We will continue watching our data very closely over the next two weeks, and if aligning with the Governor’s decision is detrimental to the health and welfare of our residents, we will not hesitate to reimpose restrictions,” he said.

By Bruce DePuyt

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: coronavirus, Covid-19, Gov. Larry Hogan, Maryland, restrictions, vaccinations

State Ramps Up Vaccine Equity Plan; Hogan and Scott Spar Over Doses, Funding

March 5, 2021 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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After weeks of pressure to boost the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine into communities hit hardest by the virus, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) on Thursday announced new efforts to reach minority and low-income residents.

The campaign will give community organizations that want to host vaccination clinics the opportunity to apply for doses and support.

One such clinic, Hogan said, will open on March 16 at First Baptist Church of Glenarden, a site requested by Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D).

The site will be supported by the University of Maryland Capital Region Health. When fully operational, it will administer 900 doses a day, officials said.

Maryland National Guard Brigadier General Janeen Birckhead said other locations will be evaluated as their requests come in. The state, which will serve as a “clearinghouse,” will look at a range of statistics in the surrounding community — including vaccine disparities, household density, family incomes, vehicle access, and the percentage of seniors and single parents — in determining which applications to approve.

Birckhead leads the state’s Vaccine Equity Task Force, which Hogan formed in late January. She said the task force will assist local organizations in filling out their paperwork.

“It’s a top-down and a bottom-up approach,” Hogan told reporters at a State House news conference. “We’re trying to do everything we possibly can.”

Hogan said 60.4% of Maryland’s vaccines have gone to white residents; the state’s population is 58.5% white.

“We’re not where we need to be with the Black community or the Hispanic community,” he said. “We’re continuing to take every effort to ramp that up.”

Although the state’s three mass vaccination sites are located in majority-Black communities, residents of surrounding counties have swooped in to obtain the majority of the shots. A fourth high-volume site, in Waldorf, had a “soft launch” on Thursday, administering 500 vaccine doses. Charles County also has a majority-Black population.

In Prince George’s, only 10% of the first 32,000 doses administered at Six Flags America went to county residents. Alsobrooks, who has been reluctant to criticize the state, called that “unfair” and “outrageous.”

Like all states, Maryland has seen demand for the vaccine greatly outstrip supply.

But critics — including an array of Democratic local officials, state lawmakers, members of Congress and advocates for the disadvantaged — have accused the state of bungling its vaccine rollout.

They say the complicated system, with its layers of distribution points, favors people with flexible schedules, computer and internet access, and technological savvy.

The task force also announced Thursday that it is working to bring mobile vaccination clinics to Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore. State-owned vaccination trailers will make stops throughout the Eastern Shore.

Maryland will coordinate with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to utilize larger mobile clinics on the Eastern Shore and in Western Maryland.

“We have listened and we will assist,” Birckhead said. “We still have a way to go.”

Raskin, Trone seek mass-vaccination site in Montgomery

In a Wednesday letter to Hogan, the Montgomery County Council said the state’s distribution campaign has mirrored the epidemic itself, with people of color and low-wage residents being impacted disproportionately.

“Black residents are dying at higher rates and we’re not getting vaccinated,” said Montgomery County Council member Will Jawando (D) in a statement. “Our Latino population has also been disproportionately affected by this disease.”

“We need a statewide approach that factors in race and ethnicity. We want everyone to have access and it needs to be done in a targeted way,” he added.

Two-thirds of Montgomery’s doses have gone to white residents, who make up 43% of the population, lawmakers wrote. Black people represent 19% of the population but have received only 8% of the doses, while 9% of the county’s Latinx residents, who represent 20% of the population, have been vaccinated.

Reps. Jamie Raskin (D) and David J. Trone (D) on Thursday urged the governor to establish a mass-vaccination site in the county. In a letter, the lawmakers noted that Montgomery is the state’s largest county and has both a majority-minority population and “a significant health care workforce and a substantial elderly population over the age of 75.”

Raskin and Trone said that — although the mass-vax sites in Baltimore and Prince George’s counties are open to Montgomery County residents — “this offer seems like cold comfort when so many logistical hurdles face lower-income, working-class, immigrant, and senior residents in Montgomery who are unable to arrange transportation or get time off from work to travel to distant sites.”

Hogan, Scott spar over doses, funding

Hogan praised the Prince George’s County Health Department, which he said had improved its vaccination program following a slow start.

But he ratcheted-up a war of words with Baltimore officials.

Hogan told reporters that the city had declined to accept $8.8 million in federal funds to support its vaccination efforts, and that Baltimore had requested that doses in its control be transferred to hospitals and retail pharmacies.

“I don’t want to be criticizing the mayor in any way,” the governor said. “But he kept saying that they weren’t getting enough [doses]. And the [city] health department kept saying ‘We have way too much. Please send them somewhere else.’”

Hogan suggested that Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, who took office in December, “talk to his health department.”

A short time later, Scott went before cameras at City Hall to refute Hogan’s charges, which he called “categorically untrue.”

The mayor said doses have been redeployed to Baltimore hospitals and pharmacies as part of an “equitable and rapid” strategy to reach residents across the city. The state has approved the city’s requests, Scott added.

He also denied turning down vaccination funding, saying the city prefers to deal directly with FEMA, from whom it can seek 100% reimbursement.

“The governor is aware that this is false but continues to repeat it,” Scott alleged. “While the governor continues to go back and forth about petty politics, people are dying from the virus.”

Health Commissioner Letitia Dzirasa said the use of hospitals and pharmacies helps residents who aren’t able to negotiate an online sign-up system which she likened to “a Hunger Games-style competition.”

“It allows us to ensure our doses are going to city residents who are eligible but that have been left behind by the state’s rollout to date,” she said.

The Hogan administration’s claims about the city first surfaced on Wednesday.

Scott called them a “Jedi mind trick” and a “distraction.”

By Bruce DePuyt

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: clinics, coronavirus, Covid-19, Gov. Larry Hogan, sites, vaccine

Hogan’s State of the State: Md. More Resilient Than Ever

February 4, 2021 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) touted the state’s vaccine plan and urged state lawmakers to quickly pass his COVID-19 relief proposal in an unusual State of the State address Wednesday evening.

While normally Hogan would have delivered his annual address to a midday joint gathering of the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates, the governor live-streamed his comments. In the address, Hogan urged Marylanders to get the vaccine – but acknowledged it may be some time before everyone is vaccinated.

And as in past years, Hogan emphasized bipartisanship and cooperation in his address.

“Over this past year, as we have faced unimaginable challenges, those words were truly put to the test,” he said. “But together we rose to the challenge, and it is because of the courage, the sacrifices, and the strength of the people of Maryland that the state of our state is more resilient than it has ever been before.

Here’s what Hogan said in his seventh State of the State address:

On the state’s vaccine plan

More than 570,000 Marylanders have received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Wednesday, Hogan said, and the state is ready to vaccinate many more when the federal government allocates more doses.

“Unfortunately, right now the amount of vaccines being allocated by the federal government is just a tiny fraction of what we need,” Hogan said. “That is the hard truth not just for us in Maryland, but for every state in America.”

Hogan echoed his Acting Secretary of Health Dennis R. Schrader in saying that the state is building “infrastructure” to cope with a larger supply of the long-sought vaccine. He noted that the new single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine could soon receive federal approval – and that it’s being manufactured in Maryland.

Despite the limited supply, the state recently opened up eligibility to a much larger portion of Marylanders, leading some Democratic lawmakers to question the rapid expansion. In his rebuttal to Hogan’s address, House Majority Leader Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery) pointed out that Maryland has lagged behind other states in its vaccine rollout.

Luedtke called the state’s vaccine plan “bungled” and criticized Hogan for “abysmal communication” on vaccines.

“The single-most important thing is communication. The public is deeply confused about how to get access to the vaccine,” Luedtke said during a conversational, interview-style response, unlike the pre-filmed rebuttal speeches of the past.

Hogan acknowledged that vaccination will take time, and urged Marylanders to be patient and continue following COVID-related precautions while they await the vaccine.

“It is going to require a great deal of patience for many months while states continue to push the federal government and the manufacturers to increase the production and to drastically increase the allocations they provide to the states,” Hogan said. “In the meantime, we must continue to take the necessary precautions, which keep our families, our friends, and our neighbors healthy and safe.”

On COVID-19 relief and the economy

Hogan again urged lawmakers to pass his billion-dollar relief plan, but made no mention of an additional $520 million amendment that senators tacked onto his proposal this week.

Hogan’s RELIEF Act of 2021 consists mostly of tax cuts and money from the state’s reserves, and includes relief checks of up to $750 for families and $500 for individuals who filed for the earned income tax credit.

“I am once again calling on the legislature to pass this bill and get it to my desk as soon as possible, so that I can sign it into law, so that it can take effect immediately,” Hogan said. “There is absolutely nothing more important for the legislature to do, and Marylanders simply cannot afford to wait.”

The amended bill received preliminary approval in the Senate on Wednesday. Final debate is currently scheduled for Friday.

But the proposal might see even more additions in the House. Luedtke said there’s bipartisan agreement that relief needs to get to Maryland families and businesses fast but said the House may take a “slightly different position” than the Senate on how to best help Marylanders.

“We believe that the bill should absolutely be focused, laser-tight, on making sure Maryland middle class families and small businesses have the support they need,” Luedtke said.

Hogan touted his proposed budget as “structurally balanced with absolutely no tax increases,” and no layoffs for state employees. He said he’s also proposing more than $1 billion in tax cuts for retired Marylanders, which he said will keep “tens of thousands of Marylanders from feeling our state.”

“Now more than ever, Marylanders need to be able to keep more of their hard-earned money in their own pockets,” Hogan said.

Luedtke said the problem isn’t high taxes, but rather low taxes on wealthy Marylanders and businesses. He slammed Hogan’s veto on the proposed digital ad tax, which legislators plan to use to fund the also-vetoed Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reforms.

“It’s not that taxes are too high, it’s that we let too many people get away without paying their fair share,” he said. He noted that House and Senate leaders are set to unveil unemployment insurance reform tomorrow.

On Maryland’s recovery

Hogan said he’s issued more than 85 emergency health orders since the onset of the pandemic and noted that it was only a few days after his 2020 State of the State address that he met with other governors and federal officials in the District of Columbia to learn more about the spread of the coronavirus.

He lauded Maryland small businesses, essential workers and teachers for their actions over the past year and noted the Maryland National Guard’s role in distributing COVID-19 tests and, more recently, at the Capitol on Jan. 6. “When our democracy itself came under attack, they were first to arrive to protect our nation’s capital,” he said.

He also praised health care workers, and noted Daisy Solares, a Baltimore City resident and respiratory therapist at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He said Solares, who lost her father to COVID-19, was one of the first Marylanders to get the vaccine. She described it as a “step forward at healing,” Hogan said.

The pandemic “will not end overnight,” but Marylanders working together can “get life back to normal once again,” Hogan said.

“A better future is on the horizon where we can get back to doing the everyday things we all miss, like celebrating with friends and family at a crowded restaurant or taking our kids and grandkids to a baseball game,” he said. “A better future where our kids are thriving, our communities are safer, and our economy is booming once again. We will get there, but we must continue looking out for one another and continue working together to build that better future.”

In his response, Luedtke said the Democratic majority in the General Assembly will be focused on racial equity in the state’s pandemic recovery. He said he hopes Hogan works with the legislature as they attempt to pass police reform and pursue House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones’ (D-Baltimore County) racial justice agenda.

Luedtke said Maryland is “well-positioned” to lead the nation in economic recovery in the next few years but said an equitable recovery will be important as the state moves forward.

“The inequalities that exist in our society have been brought to light like never before,” Luedtke said.

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: Covid-19, Economy, Gov. Larry Hogan, Maryland, state of state, Taxes, vaccine

Md. to Open 6 Mass Vaccination Sites as Biden Vows More Doses for States

January 27, 2021 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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Maryland will open six mass vaccination sites beginning early next month to help boost the state’s distribution of COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) announced on Tuesday. 

The number of big-name supermarket and drug store chains offering the vaccine will also grow in the weeks ahead, Hogan said. 

In addition, the governor said the state will make new efforts to get the vaccine into minority and low-income neighborhoods, where vaccination rates have lagged. 

Despite Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and independent tallies showing that Maryland has one of the lowest vaccine use-rates in the nation, Hogan told reporters at a State House news conference that supply — not distribution — remains the biggest challenge.

“We have 100,000 doses. We have 2 million people that want to make an appointment,” Hogan said. “I know this is really frustrating.” 

The Maryland Department of Health reported on Tuesday that 396,661 of the 667,275 doses that the state has distributed to hospitals, local health departments, pharmacies, long-term care facilities and others locations, have been used. 

A Bloomberg tracker puts the state’s allocation total a bit higher (742,175) and its doses-administered tally a bit lower (372,937). According to Bloomberg, Maryland’s 50.2% use-rate is among the lowest in the nation, ahead of only five states and a smattering of territories.

Hogan said many of the state’s unused doses are being held so that people who have received their first shot can return for the second one. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses to deliver maximum protection against COVID-19.

“Those can’t be sped up,” the governor said. “They have to be held until the date that they’re allowed to be given.” 

To reach more people, Maryland will open “mass vaccination” sites at the Six Flags amusement park in Prince George’s County and the Baltimore Convention Center no later than Feb. 5.

M&T Bank Stadium, also in Baltimore, will also serve as a mass vaccination site. Locations on the Eastern Shore, in Western Maryland and Southern Maryland will be announced soon, Hogan said. 

Maryland’s six new large vaccination sites will operate on an appointment-only basis.

To increase the state’s reach into neighborhoods, Hogan said 22 Giant supermarkets in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties and greater Baltimore, three Martin’s locations and 10 Walmarts on the Eastern Shore and in Western Maryland have all begun offering vaccinations this week. 

Sixteen Safeway and Rite-Aid locations will begin doing so next week.

“We are utilizing data and modeling to prioritize under-served areas and places where there is the greatest need,” Hogan said. 

The Democrats in Maryland’s congressional delegation — both U.S. senators and seven of eight members of the U.S. House — criticized the state’s track record just before Hogan spoke.

“A robust vaccination strategy is critical to our efforts to defeat COVID-19 in Maryland. But according to the CDC, Maryland’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution system ranks as one of the worst-performing statewide efforts in the country,” the lawmakers wrote. 

“Early data also suggests that Maryland has immunized communities of color at significantly lower rates. These issues must be addressed by the State at once.”

Rep. Andrew P. Harris (R), a physician, did not sign the letter.

Federal government sending more doses to states 

Amid frustrations at the slow pace of the national COVID-19 vaccination effort, President Biden said Tuesday that his administration is boosting the number of doses sent to states each week and will be giving state officials more certainty on the number of doses they can expect in future shipments.

Starting next week, a minimum of 10 million vaccine doses per week will be distributed across states, tribes and territories. That’s an increase from 8.6 million doses per week, and a volume that administration officials say they will maintain for each of at least the next three weeks.

States then will continue to receive allocation estimates three weeks in advance, a shift from the week-ahead figures that the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed had offered to state officials.

“Until now, we’ve had to guess how much vaccine to get for the next week, and that’s what the governors had to do, how much am I getting next week?” Biden said Tuesday afternoon as he announced the policy changes. “This is unacceptable. Lives are at stake here.”

The administration also is working to purchase an additional 200 million vaccine doses — 100 million doses each of the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the only two that so far have cleared the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency authorization process.

Those purchases would bring the total of vaccine doses expected to be delivered in the U.S. by this summer to 600 million, or enough to vaccinate 300 million Americans with the two-dose vaccines.

Governors were briefed on the upcoming changes Tuesday during a call with Biden’s COVID-19 response coordinator, Jeff Zients.

“We appreciate the administration stating that it will provide states with slightly higher allocations for the next few weeks, but we are going to need much more supply,” Hogan said.

One of Biden’s first efforts since taking office last week has been attempting to overhaul the disjointed federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s required more mask-wearing, directed officials to fill gaps in supplies, announced a national strategy to standardize the state-by-state vaccine approach under the Trump administration, and called on Congress to provide more money for the national undertaking.

Incomplete and lagging data has clouded the picture of the vaccine administration campaign. While states have begged for more doses as vaccination appointments are quickly snatched up, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also shows a gap between the vaccine doses delivered to states and those that have been administered.

Of the more than 44 million doses that the CDC says have been delivered, only 23.5 million have gone into the arms of Americans so far. More than 20 million people have gotten their first doses, and roughly 3.5 million have gotten both doses.

Biden has said he wants to see 100 million doses administered during his first 100 days. The U.S. is on pace to meet that goal, and he’s suggested the administration may aim to reach 1.5 million doses per day, up from the current 1 million doses per day.

Hogan said Maryland’s private sector partnerships, coordination with local health departments and use of National Guard personnel are part of the state’s efforts to vaccinate “much higher volumes” of people.

“As soon as the state receives higher allocation from the federal government, our infrastructure will already be in place,” he said. 

But Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman (D) faulted Hogan’s reliance on the private sector, saying local governments are more efficient.

“Maryland statistics show that local health departments are getting shots in arms more efficiently than pharmacy chains and hospitals, but the state is shifting allocations toward the less efficient providers,” he told Maryland Matters. “I don’t get it.”

The governor said hospitals that have fallen under 75% of utilization “are not being prioritized for additional allocations and will not receive allocations until they demonstrate that they can pick up the pace.” 

By Bruce DePuyt of Maryland Matters and Laura Olson of  States Newsroom

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: clinics, coronavirus, Covid-19, Gov. Larry Hogan, president joe biden, vaccinations, vaccine

More Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccines by Monday, Hogan Says

January 15, 2021 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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Teachers, child-care workers, people 75 and older, and members of various high-risk groups will become eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) announced.

In expanding from Phase 1A into Phase 1B of the state’s vaccination campaign, an additional 860,000 people will be allowed access to the vaccine, according to the Maryland Department of Health’s website.

But Hogan, speaking at a news conference Thursday evening, cautioned that Maryland is currently using more doses each day than it is receiving from the federal government — and unless the flow increases soon, the state will run out.

“On Monday, Jan. 18, eligible groups will be expanded statewide to include all Marylanders 75 and over, as well as anyone of any age, living in assisted living or independent living facilities, and developmental disabilities and behavioral health group homes,” he said.

In addition to K-12 teachers, support staff and child-care providers, Phase 1B includes high-risk incarcerated individuals and elected officials.

Under state activation of Part B of the federal government’s contract with CVS and Walgreens, residents of assisted living and all other long-term care facilities will be able to get vaccinated by those pharmacies, Hogan said.

The state is setting up a new website, covidvax.maryland.gov, where people can get information about vaccination opportunities in their communities and sign up. Vaccinations will be by appointment only.

As of Thursday, Maryland had vaccinated 2.95 of every 100 residents, a rate below neighboring Delaware (3.18%), Pennsylvania (3.01%), D.C. (4.68%) and West Virginia (6.54%), according to a Bloomberg tracking site.

Maryland has used approximately a third of the 547,000 doses it has received. Only ten states and Puerto Rico have made use of a smaller percentage of its on-hand supply.

To help boost the state’s efforts, Hogan announced a pilot program at 10 Wal-Marts and 22 Giant supermarkets to administer vaccines beginning on Jan. 25.

Hogan said the state’s rollout has been hampered by logistical hurdles and a refusal by some nursing home residents and others to get vaccinated. He said that no doses will go to waste.

He and Rona Kramer, Maryland’s Secretary of Aging, stressed that the vaccines have been thoroughly vetted and are safe and effective. People with older relatives or friends were urged to help them locate a vaccination clinic in their area.

“There is no need for anyone in a long-term care facility to leave the facility in order to obtain the vaccine,” she said. “The vaccines will come to you through the CVS or Walgreens’ vaccination teams.”

Although Maryland is preparing to expand into Phase 1B of its vaccination campaign, efforts to reach people in Phase 1A — health-care workers, first responders, nursing home residents and staff, and others deemed at risk — will continue, Hogan said.

The state will continue to assist in any way possible, he added, and he again urged residents to be patient.

“The number of people just in Phase 1 of our plan is 1.5 million people, and they need two doses, so that’s three million doses,” he said. “This is going to take a long time, a great deal of patience and a lot more vaccines.”

By Bruce DePuyt

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: coronavirus, Covid-19, Gov. Larry Hogan, Maryland, vaccination, vaccines

Promises to Work Together — But Also Glaring Differences — as Unprecedented Session Begins

January 14, 2021 by Maryland Matters Leave a Comment

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On the first day of the Maryland General Assembly’s 442th session, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) and Democratic leaders of the legislature pledged to work collaboratively on shared priorities — economic relief for needy residents, boosting distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, and aid for struggling businesses chief among them. 

But the outlines of differing policy preferences and timetables for action emerged even before lawmakers formally convened at midday Wednesday in Annapolis. 

In a live-streamed Wednesday interview with The Daily Record, Hogan (R) urged the Assembly to take up his recently-unveiled $1 billion relief plan immediately. Moments later, the leaders of the state Senate and House of Delegates signaled they would spend at least the first couple weeks of the session crafting their own multi-pronged package. 

Similarly, lawmakers said they intended to make good on a long-held pledge to override Hogan’s veto of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a bill to dramatically boost education spending, despite the governor’s assertion that doing so would be “one of the biggest mistakes” the legislature has ever made. 

The promises to work together — and the early outlines of disagreement — occurred on an opening day like none in state history. 

The Senate floor as seen from one of the galleries above. Photo by Danielle E. Gaines, Maryland Matters

The joviality that accompanies opening day sessions was gone. There were no squirming babies in the House or Senate chamber, fidgeting children hoping to escape fancy clothes, or spouses. There was no back-slapping and there were no receptions. 

Forearm-grabbing lobbyists were almost nowhere to be seen, and the galleries were empty, except for a small number of socially-distanced journalists. 

The hearty laugh and larger-than-life presence of Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., whose history-shaping 50-year run as a legislator ended in December, was also absent. 

In the Senate, lawmakers sat at desks that had plexiglass partitions with swinging half-doors. Staff also sat in isolation booths that had been constructed over the interim. The proceedings were live-streamed to a public that was otherwise shut out of the State House. 

Around State Circle, security was tighter than normal, a response to online threats of violence against state capitols in the wake of last week’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

Newly re-elected Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City), fighting back emotion, called this session “something very, very different.” But he said lawmakers have the potential to “change destiny.” 

“Over the next 90 days, we have an unbelievable opportunity to truly change destiny,” he said. “It’s going to take very, very tough conversations. It’s going to take creative problem-solving, long hours, and working across the aisle in ways and spaces and formats that you have never used before.” 

House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), like Ferguson, was reelected unanimously.

Before Jones spoke, House Majority Leader Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery) read the invocation on behalf of Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg (D-Baltimore City), who traditionally delivers the prayer on the opening day of the legislative session, but was one of more than 40 House members who did not attend the opening ceremony.

“Since we last met, some words have new meanings: ‘Zoom,’ ‘House annex,’ ‘virtual hearing,’” Luedtke read. “Some phrases have not changed: ’propose,’ ‘persuade,’ ‘count to 71,’ ‘the rule of law.’”

“Some issues have come to the forefront, like our commitment to racial and economic justice” Luedtke continued. “As we work together to address these and other challenges in the days ahead, may we remain committed to the people who sent us here to make policy on their behalf.”

Following her swearing-in, Jones thanked the chamber.

“I’m going to spare you of a speech, I just want to thank each and every one of you and we’ve got the people’s business to do, so let’s get started,” Jones said to applause.

The pandemic yielded some unusual seating arrangements in the House chamber: Del. Tony Bridges (D-Baltimore City) sat in a tall chair — no desk — in a back corner, while 14 of his colleagues were spaced out in the public gallery above.

A limited number of House lawmakers — enough for a quorum to start the session and make necessary rule changes — were on hand for opening day.

At one point during the short House floor session, a small group of Republican delegates assembled outside, wanting to take part in the proceedings. House aides arranged for them to come through the chamber in a single-file line and raise a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on the rule changes.

“We were told not to show up, but we were upset about that, so we wanted to be recognized that we were here to do our job,” Del. April Rose (R-Carroll) said.

The changes to the rules will allow roughly half of the House chamber to sit in an annex created in the House office building. The make-up of the seating arrangement was drawn by lottery and Republicans are present in both chambers at the same ratio.

While members in the annex will be able to vote on and debate measures on the floor in real time, via video, there will be something of a hierarchy in that auxiliary room, with Speaker Pro Tem Sheree Sample-Hughes (D-Lower Shore) presiding and committee vice chairs sitting in the front row. Lawmakers who want to speak will not be able to do so from their desks, but will go to a protected area that looks a little like an old phone booth.

House Speaker Pro Tem Sheree Sample-Hughes (D-Lower Shore) will preside over the “chamber annex” in the weeks ahead. Photo by Danielle E. Gaines, Maryland Matters

Even as dramatic measures are being taken to keep members safe and socially distanced as the coronavirus continues to rage, state officials are also mindful of the heightened security threat in Annapolis.

“The confluence of events in which we are operating – the pandemic, the threats on democracy, the health precautions that we have to take – it doesn’t feel like anything I ever imagined,” Ferguson told reporters virtually after the first floor session had ended. 

Hogan, who faulted federal security officials for a “terrible lack of preparation” in the lead-up to last week’s riot in Washington, D.C., said “we’re taking every precaution we can to make sure that that does not happen here in our State House.” 

“While we’re not expecting that kind of a situation, we’re prepared for whatever eventuality might come up, and we’re going to try to keep people safe,” Hogan said during The Daily Record’s “Eye on Annapolis” Summit, which is held annually on the first day of session. “We’re going to keep everybody from causing any trouble.” 

Dueling relief plans 

Hogan’s $1 billion relief plan would use a mix of targeted tax cuts and taps a portion of the state’s rainy day fund to aid struggling families and small businesses. It would offer stimulus checks to Marylanders who qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit in 2019 or 2020. The payouts would amount to $450 for individuals and $750 for families, with no application needed.

Hogan’s stimulus package would provide $180 million in tax relief for unemployed residents by repealing all state and local income taxes on unemployment benefits. It would also allow small businesses to keep up to $12,000 in sales tax over the next four months, amounting to $300 million statewide.

Legislative leaders have yet to release their full relief plans, but they have signaled that they are looking for more robust spending, and also want to help renters on the verge of eviction, homeowners on the verge of foreclosure, and Marylanders struggling to pay their utility bills.

They have also committed to enact police reform, ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants and repeal the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights. 

In the wake of the ongoing public health, governmental, social justice and economic crises the state and nation are facing, the governor said “our normal big legislative package has been slimmed down to a very focused agenda.” 

“Our most important piece of legislation is the relief act,” he added. “That’s really the only thing I care about, frankly. … If the legislature passed the budget, passed some relief, I’d call it a huge success and call it a day.” 

Jones and Ferguson said they had not seen Hogan’s proposal, and they shrugged off his request to pass it on opening day. “We have a relief package and we’re going to prioritize that,” the speaker said. 

“Marylanders are hurting in ways that are unimaginable,” Ferguson added. “We all share the urgency to make sure that we help the most vulnerable Marylanders to be able to get through this crisis.” 

The Senate leader said proposals to improve the state’s beleaguered unemployment insurance system would be part of the legislature’s recovery package. 

Lawmakers prepare to override Hogan veto

Legislative leaders are determined to override Hogan’s veto of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a measure to pump an additional $4 billion into the state’s public schools system, partially funded by a new tax on digital downloads. 

In his morning interview, Hogan acknowledged that the Democratic-led Assembly has the numbers to overturn him — but he warned that doing so would fly in the face of public opinion. 

“The legislature does have the power to override those vetoes, [but] I think it would be one of the biggest mistakes they ever made,” Hogan said. 

“We have provided record funding into education six years in a row,” Hogan said, “and our budget [for next year] is going to put more money than the legislative formulas call for.” 

Supporters of the education legislation made their presence felt in Annapolis Wednesday with a small rally featuring 20 cardboard cutouts of Maryland public school students.

The groups Progressive Maryland and Working Families sent a billboard truck to downtown Annapolis to rally for more funding for COVID-19 relief efforts. The truck carried videotaped messages of Marylanders who have seen their livelihoods jeopardized by the pandemic.

With restaurants, hotels and stores largely quiet, the truck playing the video messages was one of the few overt signs that the General Assembly is back in session for the first time since lawmakers cut short the 2020 session last March. 

“It looks like a ghost town here in Annapolis,” Hogan said. 

By Bruce DePuyt, Danielle E. Gaines, Josh Kurtz, Hannah Gaskill, and Bennett Leckrone

Filed Under: Maryland News Tagged With: Covid-19, Education, general assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, legislative session, Maryland, opening day, relief

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