PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Maryland Lawmakers Approve COVID-19 Relief Package William J. Ford WI Staff Writer As the Biden administration continues to pursue a COVID-19 relief package for millions of Americans, lawmakers in Maryland crossed the finish line on behalf of residents and business owners Friday. Both members in the House and Senate approved the more than $1 billion stimulus and economic legislation slated to provide tax relief
for small businesses and support for nonprofit organizations. Most important, low-income residents have been promised to receive stimulus checks from the state this month. “We provided relief that Marylanders need to make it through the rest of this unbelievable crisis so that 2021 can be the year of true recovery and rebuilding,” Senate President Bill Ferguson said during a virtual press briefing. “It was a lot
5 Members of the House of Delegates nearly voted unanimously Feb. 12 on a more than $1 billion COVID-19 relief package Feb. 12. The emergency bill will allow some Marylanders to receive stimulus checks this month. (William J. Ford/The Washington Informers)
work. Compromise is always hard but where we landed is a place where we are targeting resources for Maryland’s most vulnerable.” The compromise nearly failed when the House of Delegates sought to add a controversial provision for the inclusion of immigrant workers which several senators vigorously
opposed. But Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne Jones agreed to drop it from the legislation, the RELIEF Act first presented by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. The House voted in favor of the legislation, 128-1, while the Senate approved it unanimously, 45-0. “This is a clear message to Mary-
Maryland Legislators Scheduled to Receive COVID-19 Vaccine Data in the Coming Days William J. Ford WI Staff Writer Maryland lawmakers plan to receive vaccine distribution data
among all 24 jurisdictions this week to assess how many are provided to health departments, pharmacies and other providers. More importantly, if vaccines
5 Robert Gaskin, 73, received a COVID-19 vaccine in his right arm at a vaccination clinic Feb. 12 at Reid Temple AME Church in Glenn Dale. (William J. Ford/The Washington Informer)
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are allocated equally. A Senate vaccine work group received a sneak peek Monday, Feb. 15 from at least jurisdictions during a weekly presentation from acting Health Secretary Dennis Schrader. “How long will it take to get the rest of the jurisdictions?” said Sen. Clarence Lam, a Democrat who represents parts of Baltimore and Howard counties. By the end of the week, Schrader said. In the meantime, the senators received a two-week summary in Baltimore City and Prince George’s, Montgomery and Howard counties. Some of the breakdown Schrader said based on the needs of each jurisdiction are as follows: • Montgomery County: 22,875 (11,375 to local hospitals; 9,000 to the health department; 2,000 pharmacies). • Prince George’s County: 19,600 (7,300 health department; 3,900 local hospitals; 4,000 pharmacies;
3,400 Kaiser Permanente; 1,000 to mass vaccination site at Six Flags America). • Baltimore City: 10,350 (4,000 health department; 3,050 local hospitals; 2,000 pharmacies; 1,300 federally qualified health center and health care provider). • Howard County: 5,200 (3,400 health department; 1,200 pharmacies; 600 hospital). The summary notes the number of vaccines distributed to each pharmacy and hospital. With the exception of the 1,000 vaccines from Pfizer at the Six Flags and 975 to Holy Cross hospitals in Silver Spring and Germantown, the rest came from Moderna. Prince George’s accounts for the highest number of confirmed cases in the state, but with the lowest vaccine distribution of first doses at only 7 percent. The majority Black jurisdiction of 909,000 account for 15 percent of the state’s overall population.
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landers everywhere . . . relief is on its way,” said Sen. Craig Zucker (D-Montgomery County). “Not next year. Not in the next month but now. We put partisanship aside.” Senate Minority Whip Michael J. Hough agreed. “It’s good to come together in a bipartisan moment,” said the Republican senator who represents portions of Frederick and Carroll counties. “There was some haggling in the House chamber. It’s not a perfect bill. Compromises are never perfect. This is a good bill overall.” Del. Rick Impallaria, a Republican who represents portions of Baltimore and Harford counties, represented the only no vote. The legislation goes into effect when the governor signs it into law. A Hogan spokesman did not respond to an email for comment. The emergency legislation would provide stimulus checks up to $450 for individuals, up to $750 for families benefiting an estimated 400,000 people. It would be based on those who qualified for earned income tax credit in 2019 and those eligible in 2020. About $300 million would come from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to help cover the lion’s share of the disbursed funds. The rest of the money would come from other reserves such as a local income tax and retirement program in the fiscal year budgets for 2021 and 2022. An estimated 55,000 businesses would receive a sales tax credit of up to $3,000 for
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