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September 19, 2021

The Talbot Spy

The nonprofit e-newspaper for the Talbot County Community

News Maryland News

Judge: Md. Must Continue Enhanced Federal Unemployment Benefits; Hogan Administration Won’t Appeal

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A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge issued a ruling on Tuesday that will maintain Maryland’s participation in enhanced federal unemployment benefits.

Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill issued a preliminary injunction shortly before 10 a.m. requiring the Hogan administration to continue offering federally funded expanded unemployment benefits.

Gov. Larry Hogan

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) had sought to end Maryland’s participation in the federal programs on July 3, but two lawsuits filed by unemployed workers led Fletcher-Hill to issue, last weekend, a temporary restraining order which maintained the federal unemployed benefits until the end of the day Tuesday.

At issue are the federal unemployment programs that maintain benefits for those who have been unemployed for more than 26 weeks and offer $300 payments to workers who, historically, have not been eligible for benefits — such as independent contractors, self-employed and gig workers.

Although these federal programs are slated to expire on Sept. 6, at least 25 states led by Republican governors are halting enhanced unemployment benefits early, blaming the federal programs for a shortage of workers.

But lawmakers and advocates for unemployed workers said ending the program early would harm struggling workers and the state’s economy by foregoing an estimated $1.5 billion in federal funding for the expanded unemployment benefits.

Fletcher-Hill agreed that the plaintiffs showed they would suffer “significant personal hardship” if the benefits terminated early.

“Plaintiffs have been strained economically and emotionally by the pandemic. In its global scope and in the anxiety that almost all people experience over the threat of disease, the impact of the pandemic has been universal,” Fletcher-Hill wrote. “But the brief stories of these Plaintiffs reminds the Court that the impact of the pandemic has been cruelly uneven.”

Fletcher-Hill’s opinion hinged, in part, on a law passed by the Maryland General Assembly during the 2021 legislative session.

That bill required the Hogan administration to “expand access to unemployment benefits or reduce bureaucratic hurdles to prompt approval of unemployment benefits” and to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Labor to the fullest extent possible.

“We saw last year that the Hogan administration was not going out of its way to ensure that people who earned unemployment benefits got them,” said Sen. James Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s), a sponsor of the bill, after the judge’s injunction. “…We knew there was the danger that they wouldn’t take advantage of the economic support for Maryland that the federal government could provide.”

The benefits have been the focus of multiple hearings since early this month.

By the time a hearing on the preliminary injunction was scheduled Monday, only a few weeks of the state’s participation in the program were still disputed.

During testimony on Monday, Maryland Labor Secretary Tiffany P. Robinson said the state would maintain benefits through at least mid-August because of required reporting deadlines by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Tuesday’s injunction was the latest in a string of court defeats for the Hogan administration.

Over the Independence Day weekend, Fletcher-Hill issued the temporary restraining order, which Hogan unsuccessfully appealed.

In a statement, Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci said the administration fundamentally disagreed with the judge’s decision but will not appeal the injunction.

“While we firmly believe the law is on our side, actual adjudication of the case would extend beyond the end of the federal programs, foregoing the possibility of pursuing the matter further,” he wrote, noting that half of states have moved to end the programs early.

In the statement, the governor’s office maintained that the program was hindering economic recovery efforts in Maryland, a point of national debate.

“This lawsuit is hurting our small businesses, jeopardizing our economic recovery, and will cause significant job loss,” Ricci wrote.

Beginning next week, work search requirements for federal program beneficiaries will go into effect, and claimants will have to search for work using the Maryland Workforce Exchange, according to the governor’s office.

Read the preliminary injunction.

Read the full opinion.

By Danielle E. Gaines

Democratic Lawmakers Optimistic as Md. Court of Appeals Declines to Hear Unemployment Case

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The legal battle over Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s decision to pull the plug on supplemental unemployment benefits is expected to return to a Baltimore City courtroom in the next two weeks.

Two state lawmakers who crafted unemployment insurance legislation this year said on Monday they expect attorneys for uninsured Marylanders to prevail — and for the court to reverse Hogan’s order that benefits end two months early.

Although the administration has maintained that it was within its rights to end a supplemental $300-per-week federal payment at the beginning of July, the lawmakers said a plain reading of state law suggests otherwise.

Sen. Jim Rosapepe

“It’s pretty clear — from [pre-existing] law and the 2021 law — that the legislature wants the state to maximize help for its unemployed workers,” said Sen. James C. Rosapepe (D-Prince George’s). “That means making the rules and taking the money that the federal government allows Maryland to use to help people.”

Rosapepe and Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-Montgomery) sponsored legislation this year — Senate Bill 893 and House Bill 1002 — to prevent the state from leaving money on the table.

The circuit court ruling that temporarily blocks the state from ending benefits 60 days early quoted from the legislation, noting “…the General Assembly’s pandemic-specific interest in requiring that the Maryland Labor Secretary review federal regulations and guidance to identify ways to ‘expand access to unemployment benefits.’”

“That provision… reinforces the desirability, expressed by the General Assembly, of seeking all forms of federal assistance,” the court wrote.

The federal supplemental unemployment benefits are due to expire in early September.

Gov. Larry Hogan

Hogan has repeatedly said he was justified in ending them early because employers are having a difficult time filling vacant positions, a phenomenon he has blamed on the checks that unemployed workers are receiving.

“There are record numbers of jobs available, and this program is making it harder to fill them, and hurting our restaurants and small businesses,” said the governor’s communications director, Mike Ricci, in a statement on Monday.

“The White House and the U.S. Secretary of Labor agree that governors can take this action, and most already have. We are confident the courts will ultimately rule in favor of our fight to get more Marylanders back to work and continue a booming economic recovery.”

Two dozen governors, almost all Republicans, have acted as Hogan has.

Early on Monday, Court of Appeals Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera issued an order declining the Hogan administration’s request to hear the case.

The case will return to Baltimore City Circuit Court, which is expected to hold a hearing on a longer-term preliminary injunction before the temporary restraining order expires on July 13.

On Saturday, as required by the restraining order, the Hogan administration sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Labor rescinding its notice to end participation in the expanded federal unemployment insurance programs. At the same time, Labor Secretary Tiffany P. Robinson said the state’s rescission letter would serve as notice that the state intends to seek an end to its participation in the unemployment programs on July 14, the day after the Circuit Court’s current order expires.

Rosapepe said Hogan was not only legally wrong to curtail benefits, he was wrong as a matter of policy.

Ending benefits in July rather than September, he said, would cost the state an estimated $1.5 billion in federal aid, with no state match required.

Out-of-work Marylanders would be certain to spend that money immediately on food, rent and other essentials, he maintained, boosting the state’s economy. “It helps everybody,” he said.

Rosapepe said he and Charkoudian were motivated to craft legislation this year after learning that the White House intended to supplement unemployment benefits that were due to expire in March — and to maintain eligibility for newly eligible “gig” workers.

The House version of their bill passed the House on a party-line vote, 95-40, on March 18.

The Senate version was approved unanimously, 45-0, the following day.

“The law, the facts, the intention, the context, all say the same thing, that the legislature intended to make sure these folks are protected — and that the state is protected,” Rosapepe said.

By Bruce DePuyt and Danielle E. Gaines

Talbot Officials Ask Court to Dismiss Lawsuit Seeking Removal of Confederate Monument

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Talbot County officials want a federal lawsuit seeking removal of the Confederate monument from the county courthouse grounds dismissed, according to Wednesday court filings.

The Maryland Office of the Public Defender and the Talbot County NAACP filed a lawsuit in May seeking the removal of the monument from the grounds of the Talbot County courthouse lawn in Easton. Plaintiffs and advocates argue that the statue’s presence is racist and unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs say the presence of the monument on the courthouse lawn violates the U.S. Constitution’s 14th amendment, which guarantees due process and equal protection of laws. The lawsuit charges that the monument’s location is “facially discriminatory.”

But in a Wednesday motion to dismiss the case and a memorandum supporting that motion, attorneys for the county argue that the plaintiffs “have failed to state any claim upon which relief may be granted.”

“The Complaint alleges no specific example where any client of either Ms. Petticolas or the OPD was deprived of due process or equal protection due to the presence of the Talbot Boys statue on the Courthouse lawn,” the memorandum reads.

Attorneys for the county argue that the plaintiffs haven’t done enough to prove that the statue’s presence is discriminatory. The memorandum charges that plaintiffs “failed to identify any occasion that, because of the mere presence of the Talbot Boys statue, any Plaintiff or other member of the public was denied access to the Circuit Court or prevented in any way from petitioning the County for redress.”

The county, in the memorandum, also argues that the statue issue is a “political question.”

“The County respectfully submits that the issues raised by the Complaint are inherently local and not ones calling for the intervention of a federal court.

“This is so because the question of when, or where, Confederate symbology transgresses into an area of unlawfulness transcends judicial determination, just as does fashioning manageable judicial standards for resolution.”

The county’s attorneys further argue that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction in the case.

“The law governing this Complaint establishes Plaintiffs lack standing to bring any of the claims asserted,” the memorandum in support of the county’s motion to dismiss reads. “And, even if standing were not an issue, Plaintiffs have failed to state any claim upon which relief may be granted. For these reasons, the Complaint should be dismissed in its entirety.”

The memorandum also argues that all claims are barred by limitations, noting that the limitations period on all civil claims is, at most, three years:

“The Complaint alleges that Ms. Petticolas has ‘been obliged to pass by’ the statue for fourteen (14) years. The OPD’s alleged injuries are coextensive, at least, with the injuries alleged by Ms. Petticolas.

“Mr. Potter allegedly has been ‘directly involved with removal of the statue since 2015’ and became aware of its meaning when he was first involved with advocating for a statue of Frederick Douglass. The NAACP has been ‘for years’ speaking out against and advocating for removal of the statue, and its injuries must be, at least, coextensive with Mr. Potters.

“There can be no bona fide dispute that if Plaintiffs incurred an actionable injury, a point not conceded, the cause of action accrued when Plaintiffs first observed the statue as an offensive symbol, which, on the face of the Complaint occurred for all Plaintiffs well before the limitations period for Complaint began to run.”

Advocates have been lobbying for removal of the Talbot Boys statue from the courthouse lawn in Easton for years. Talbot County Council members rejected a proposal to move the statue last year, although rallies to remove the monument have continued.

Read the full memorandum here:

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By Bennett Leckrone

John Griep contributed to this article.

Hogan Joins GOP Governors in Ending Supplemental Unemployment Aid

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Maryland will join two dozen other Republican-led states whose governors have decided to end enhanced unemployment benefits, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. announced late Tuesday.

The move, which takes effect on July 3, will end the $300 supplemental weekly payment that some out-of-work residents have been receiving under the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program.

Hogan’s decisions will end unemployment insurance checks at 26 weeks.

A pandemic-era change extended them to 39 weeks, but that will expire early next month.

Hogan’s move also ends a $100-per-week payment available to “mixed earners” — typically gig workers who have multiple sources of income.

In making the announcement, Hogan (R) cited Maryland’s improving economy, the increased availability of COVID-19 vaccines, and the growing number of “Help Wanted” signs springing up around the state.

The moves come as Republican leaders express the concern that unemployment assistance is keeping some workers from seeking new jobs.

“While these federal programs provided important temporary relief, vaccines and jobs are now in good supply,” said Hogan, a potential 2024 candidate for president, in a statement.

“And we have a critical problem where businesses across our state are trying to hire more people, but many are facing severe worker shortages. After 12 consecutive months of job growth, we look forward to getting more Marylanders back to work.”

Democrats said Hogan’s decision will harm working families.

“There have been many thoughtful decisions made by Governor Hogan during this pandemic. This is not one of them,” said Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) in a statement.

“This rash and rushed decision will hurt Marylanders who have been hit the hardest during the pandemic, having lost jobs through no fault of their own. It feeds into a hard right-wing narrative that denies human dignity, puts profits over people, and puts politics over sound economic research.”

Del. Dereck Davis (D-Prince George’s) said the state should have kept the commitment it made to keep enhanced benefits in place through August — particularly in light of difficulties that the Maryland Department of Labor had getting checks to some applicants.

“It’s easy to make the claim that folks are taking advantage or folks don’t want to work,” Davis said. “I think people do want to work.”

Many of the 24 Republican governors who decided to end supplement benefits in May said the aid served as a crutch. But research distributed by the economics team at JPMorgan Chase last week cast doubt on that theory.

The move to cut federal unemployment benefits seems “tied to politics, not economics,” those economists concluded, according to CNBC.

“While some of these states have tight labor markets and strong earnings growth, many of them do not,” researchers wrote.

Last month, Hogan — a business tycoon before entering politics — hinted that the state would soon curtail supplemental benefits.

“We’re hearing over and over again about businesses not able to staff up because people won’t come back to work,” he told reporters on May 14.

Davis, who chairs the House Committee on Economic Matters, said many of the people who are still out of work are struggling with child care issues, sick parents and other concerns.

He accused the state of “pulling the rug” from people who are in need, despite a commitment to continue passing on federal assistance to unemployed Marylanders through the summer.

“We could have waited. Another two months wasn’t going to kill us,” he said.

According to the statement issued by Hogan’s office, Maryland has “prioritized” the reopening of child care centers. “As of today, 92% of licensed providers in Maryland are open and operating.”

Since March 2020, the State of Maryland has paid out more than $12.3 billion in unemployment benefits to 730,759 recipients, resolving more than 97% of claims, the statement added.

In addition to ending the pass-through of supplemental federal benefits, Maryland has reinstated the requirement that aid recipients engage in three “reemployment activities” each week, beginning on July 4.

Those who fail to do so may become ineligible for future benefits.

Out-of-work Marylanders can submit a job application through the state’s workforce exchange, complete an American Job Center workshop, or attend a job fair.

Additional employment opportunities and services can be found at labor.maryland.gov/employment.

By Bruce DePuyt