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June 20, 2021

The Talbot Spy

The nonprofit e-newspaper for the Talbot County Community

News Maryland News

Foxwell, Franchot’s Former Top Adviser, Launching Communications Firm

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Len Foxwell, the veteran political strategist who until recently was the longtime top adviser to Maryland Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D), is setting up his own communications shop.

Foxwell on Thursday is set to announce the creation of Tred Avon Strategies ― a firm named after the Tred Avon River, a tributary of the Choptank on the Eastern Shore, where Foxwell grew up and lives.

“As the founder, principal and only full-time employee of this new firm, I’m excited about the chance to put my 25 years of experience at the highest levels of Maryland politics and government to work on behalf of my clients,” Foxwell says in a Facebook post that’s due to go live Thursday morning. “Whether you are a business owner trying to survive the most volatile economy of our lifetime, an aspirant for political office, or a community advocate who is fighting for meaningful change, I’ll be there for every step of your journey.”

Foxwell will work out of the Annapolis office of Capitol Strategies, LLC, the lobbying firm at One State Circle, across the street from the State House. His firm will have an administrative relationship with Capitol Strategies but will otherwise be an independent entity.

One of the partners at Capitol Strategies is Sushant Sidh, Foxwell’s brother-in-law. Foxwell in his Facebook message refers to Sidh and Capitol Strategies’ other principal, David Carroll, as his “strategic partners.”

Foxwell was asked to resign as Franchot’s chief of staff earlier this fall, following the former’s admission of a personal indiscretion. He had been the comptroller’s top aide since 2008 and had been advising Franchot ― formally or informally ― for almost two decades.

Foxwell has been an integral part of Franchot’s political rise, and the comptroller earlier this week announced that he had hired the Baltimore-based consulting firm Tidemore Strategies to be his principal advisers for his 2022 gubernatorial campaign.

But Foxwell also became a lightning rod for controversy in recent years, with provocative social media posts that attacked Democratic leaders and conservative Republicans.

Foxwell’s career began well before his time with Franchot. He served in a variety of political and policy roles under former Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D); worked on the gubernatorial campaign of former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D); was community and government relations director for Salisbury University, his alma mater; and was director of government relations for the Greater Washington Board of Trade. He also teaches a communications course at Johns Hopkins University.

Foxwell has also offered informal advice to scores of politicians, including Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), community groups and business entities ― especially the state’s craft brewery industry, which Foxwell and Franchot have fiercely championed.

Tred Avon Strategies’ new website features testimonials from state Sen. Mary L. Washington (D-Baltimore City), Salisbury Mayor Jacob Day, and Julie Verratti, co-owner of Denizens Brewing Co., which has tap rooms in Silver Spring and Riverdale.

Foxwell is hanging his shingle at the start of a consequential election cycle in Maryland and his services could be quite sought after.

In an interview, Foxwell said he had signed up a few clients but wasn’t prepared to name them yet.

“I’m going to allow them to announce our relationship on their own timeframe,” he said.

By Josh Kurtz

Critics Say Hogan Should Have Acknowledged Problems With Korean Test Kits

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One day after the state’s top health official acknowledged problems with the first COVID-19 test kits that Maryland purchased from South Korea, a chorus of critics said Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) could have headed off controversy by simply acknowledging problems with the test kits when they arose.

Instead, Democratic state lawmakers and the state’s comptroller said on Thursday that the governor’s stubborn defense of the tests created an environment of suspicion.

In testimony before the Board of Public Works on Wednesday, acting Maryland Health Secretary Dennis R. Schrader said nearly all of the 500,000 tests that Seoul-based LabGenomics sold to the state for $9.5 million last spring were returned to the manufacturer unused.

The Washington Post reported on Nov. 20 that the tests could not easily be used because the instructions and materials they came with did not match those given emergency authorization by the Food and Drug Administration.

Schrader also called the tests “clunky.” 

The first batch of test kits were replaced, but only after the state forked over an additional $2.5 million. 

Although he told WBAL-TV (Channel 11) investigative reporter Jayne Miller about the swap during a phone interview in July, Hogan has vigorously rejected even the suggestion of a problem with the tests. As recently as last month he told MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, “They worked great. They were using them all over the country. We were using them.”

Schrader’s comments, elicited during questioning from Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D) at the Board of Public Works meeting Wednesday, were seen as undercutting the governor’s steadfast defense of a purchase he and his wife Yumi Hogan spent weeks negotiating. 

“I’m concerned about the fact that there was a lack of transparency and accountability and openness as far as describing what exactly happened to the tests,” Franchot said in an interview. 

“And I would support the legislature and other folks continuing to review and audit exactly what happened to the first batch of 500,000 tests.”

An announced candidate for governor in 2022, Franchot serves alongside Hogan and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp (D) on the three-person Board of Public Works. 

Hogan’s purchase of the South Korean tests in April made international headlines, drew criticism from President Trump and is featured prominently in the governor’s new memoir, “Still Standing: Surviving Cancer, Riots, a Global Pandemic, and the Toxic Politics That Divide America.”

The book describes the challenges he and other governors faced battling both the pandemic and a White House whose response has been widely panned.

Franchot and the other critics who spoke out on Thursday said they had great sympathy for the panicky environment officials in Maryland and other states found themselves in as they clawed for supplies, tests and ventilators. 

But they said it would have been far better if Hogan had been more candid about the issues that arose with the first set of test kits.

The Senate’s only physician, Sen. Clarence K. Lam (D-Howard), said the administration could have “moved past” the issue “fairly quickly” if the obstacles had been disclosed in real time.

“People would have given them some leeway back in May had they had been forthright with some of the challenges they had with trying to procure these tests,” Lam said. “I think this is another case of where the coverup is worse than the crime.”  

Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George’s), the chairman of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, said, “We’re in a period where there’s a lot of trial and error. There is no simple playbook for this. So if someone tries something and it doesn’t work, I think we have to give them some space for that.” 

But he said the whole episode has been marked by a failure to disclose important information. 

“The governor was on TV — national TV and local TV — lauding this great success of these Korean tests and how they were going to save lives — and it was a sham,” Pinsky said. 

Pinsky’s panel held a public hearing over the summer after concerns began to surface about the South Korean tests and a controversial PPE contract the state entered into with Blue Flame LLC, a newly-formed firm with ties to two Republican political operatives. 

Lawmakers were largely dissatisfied with the responses they received from the head of the Department of General Services, which handled the procurement on behalf of the Department of Health. 

But it is unclear what action, if any, legislators will take.

The Office of Legislative Audits, which is conducting a review of the emergency purchases the state has made since the pandemic began, told lawmakers this week that it too has struggled to get information from DGS and the Health department.

In a Dec. 1 letter to Pinsky and Del. Shane E. Pendergrass (D-Howard), the head of the Health and Government Operations Committee, auditor Gregory Hook said OLA “has experienced some difficulty in obtaining timely information from certain State agencies that we deem necessary for our examination.” 

Hook also said he and his staff were “somewhat taken aback” when information OLA requested about the test kits popped up in the Washington Post story. Auditors had requested the same material weeks earlier but had not received it, he wrote. 

Schrader offered a different take on Wednesday, telling the board “we’ve answered a lot of these questions in detail.”

“We’ve given them all of our records, so there’s been a full disclosure on this process,” he added.

Franchot and others also questioned why the state had to pay extra to get tests that functioned properly.

“I still am confused as to why — when a bad product was provided to us, or a product that was not as advertised — in order to swap it out, we had to pay an extra $2.5 million,” he said. 

Schrader said it was “a very legitimate question” and that he is trying to piece together what happened. 

“We were under pressure, and we were negotiating with the manufacturer, and the manufacturer was not willing to just replace the tests,” he said. “They felt they were entitled to some remuneration.” 

Lam said he had no clue what Schrader meant when he called the tests “clunky.”

“Either they work or they don’t,” he said. 

The Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. 

While Hook, the auditor, expressed hope that agency officials would step up their cooperation with his office’s review, Lam said he is concerned “the pandemic will end by the time this audit is over, and then they’ll move on. I think that’s disturbing.”

By Bruce DePuyt

Hogan Announces Second $250 Million Business Relief Plan

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Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) on Wednesday pulled $250 million from the state’s rainy day fund, intending to keep small businesses open during the COVID-19 pandemic through help with rent, employee salaries, upgrades and other efforts.

During a State House press conference, Hogan said the state’s economic and health recoveries depend on everyday Marylanders continuing to follow safety guidance, while he also pushed some of Maryland’s larger counties to reopen businesses further.

The governor also chided the rate that smaller counties have spent federal stimulus money; only about one-third of $362 million in CARES Act funding directed to 19 counties in the state has been spent so far, with a deadline of Dec. 31.

Hogan said the new state funding would also be required to be spent by the end of the year, and suggested that counties use their unspent federal stimulus money to create matching grants.

“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.

The governor’s relief plan announced Wednesday includes:

  • $50 million for the Maryland Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Fund; the new infusion brings total state spending for fund to $145 million since March and will clear a backlog of all applications that have been submitted.
  • $50 million in new relief for restaurants, which can be used to help them buy improvements including HVAC filtration, outdoor dining amenities, technology upgrades to help with carryout and delivery orders, protective equipment for employees, or to help with rent. This money will go to counties, which will distribute it to qualifying restaurants.
  • $20 million for grants from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development to help businesses and entertainment venues in the state’s “Main Street Maryland” and “Baltimore Main Streets” programs.
  • $20 million to the COVID-19 Layoff Aversion Fund. This program already disbursed $20 million through the Maryland Department of Labor, and has saved 9,000 jobs, Hogan said.
  • Additional funding includes $5 million to the Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority, $2 million for local tourism efforts, and $3 million for arts organizations and artists.

Another $100 million is set aside as an “emergency response fund,” which would allow the state to immediately direct money to areas of economic concern in the future, Hogan said.

The spending will be “critical to the thousands of struggling restaurants, small businesses and main streets across the state who are attempting to weather this crisis,” the governor said.

“Equally important to their survival will be all 24 jurisdictions finally moving into stage three of the Maryland strong roadmap to recovery plan,” Hogan said. State law allows counties to reopen at a pace slower than the statewide recommendations, depending on local health concerns.

Some of Maryland’s larger jurisdictions, where COVID-19 case rates have been higher, continue to limit certain businesses, including indoor dining.

“They had particular situations on the ground that caused them to go a little slower, which they thought was prudent,” Hogan said. But now, he said he believes health metrics in the counties warrant wider reopening efforts.

“We’re trying to get the schools open, we’re trying to get the businesses open,” Hogan said.

Overall, Maryland’s economy is rebounding faster than other states, but more help is still needed for small businesses, Hogan said.

“Our economy is doing better than the country and most almost all the states in America, but it’s still really bad. It’s not it’s not a great situation for all these hardworking, struggling folks,” he said.

The governor continued to call on federal lawmakers to get moving on a second round of nationwide stimulus relief.

“We need both parties in Washington to stop playing politics to end the gridlock and to get this done for the American people,” Hogan said. “Our small business community and our struggling Marylanders who depend on them for their jobs cannot afford to wait any longer.”

Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D), who has been instigating for a state-level small business stimulus, including at Wednesday’s Board of Public Works meeting chaired by Hogan, said after the announcement that the proposal was insufficient.

Franchot, a likely candidate for governor in 2022, has suggested an infusion of at least $500 million, either from 2020 surplus funds, the state’s rainy day fund, or through borrowing.

“Today’s announcement by Governor Hogan is a good start, but it’s simply not enough,” Franchot said. “Contrary to the Governor’s analysis of our fiscal posture, we are in a position to do more without taking another penny from the Rainy Day Fund.”

Franchot also noted that $100 million of Hogan’s proposal is not yet earmarked for relief.

“Just two years ago, the State of Maryland was willing to pony up $8.6 Billion to lure Amazon’s East Coast headquarters. Surely, we can do better than letting tens of thousands of small businesses, nonprofits, and Main Street communities fight over scraps,” Franchot said in a statement.

Hogan said during the press conference that his administration landed on the $250 million figure because it would leave the state’s rainy day fund with about $1 billion, which has been the state’s longtime recommended reserve level.

Hogan also cautioned Wednesday that the state is monitoring a small uptick in coronavirus-related hospitalizations in the past week and that small gatherings and parties continue to be the number one source of new cases in the state.

“We can’t let our guard down and we should remain vigilant ― even when we are in close contact with the people that we know and love,” Hogan said. “Outdoor activity continues to be much safer than indoor activity, and frequent hand washing remains a critically important tool. Following these simple guidelines will keep us firmly on the road to recovery and help us slow the spread, prevent the surge and keep Maryland open for business.”

By Danielle E. Gaines

Franchot Urges Hogan to Help Md. Small Businesses

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Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot urges Gov. Larry Hogan to provide additional COVID-19 relief to small businesses in the state. Franchot, who made the request Wednesday morning during the Maryland Board of Public Works meetings, wants the state to provide $500 million to help small businesses.

Hogan said the state has provided $250 million for small businesses and passed through billions in federal funds to aid businesses and those who are unemployed.

The governor said he would be announcing additional measures to benefit small businesses on Thursday.

Both men agreed that Congress needs to put aside party differences and pass a federal stimulus package to help citizens and businesses.

Franchot is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2022; Hogan is term limited and has been the subject of speculation about a future presidential bid.

Franchot: In-Person Instruction Is a ‘Huge Medical Experiment’

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With a new academic year starting, and local school systems wrestling with how best to educate children amid a public health crisis, Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D) came out this week squarely for remote instruction, urging county leaders not to give in to “pressure” to bring students back to the classroom.

In urging caution, Franchot, an announced candidate for governor in 2022, is aligning himself with the state’s powerful teachers’ unions. His views are in stark contrast with those held by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), a frequent ally.

“I happen to have very strong concerns about in-person K-thru-12 and even higher ed institutions,” Franchot said on Wednesday, during the freewheeling opening moments of the Board of Public Works’ twice-monthly meeting. 

“Let’s be honest about what young people do. They get together in groups,” he added. “I just think we’re being prematurely rushed — I hope we’re not — in the face of a virus which is far from contained nationally.”

Over the last two weeks, Hogan has pushed local school systems to incorporate at least some in-person instruction into their fall calendars, saying Maryland’s COVID-19 metrics have sufficiently improved for them to do so. Some local leaders and the Maryland State Education Association said his statements would have had more value weeks earlier, when plans for the 2020-21 school year were being formulated.

And as if to buttress Franchot’s argument, the University of Maryland College Park announced this week that it was canceling all fall athletics. 

Franchot didn’t accuse Hogan of applying untoward pressure, instead blaming national leaders. “I want to applaud the majority of county school boards that have chosen to heed the advice of experts and follow science, and not cave in under pressure from folks down the road in Washington who want to downplay the gravity of this disease,” he said.  

Observers suggested that Franchot is positioning himself to be a contender for the coveted teachers’ union endorsement two years from now when he seeks the seat Hogan will vacate because of term limits. 

“He’s got a platform and he’s trying to use it to form as much of an alliance as he can with folks he thinks he’s going to want supporting him down the road,” said former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D), who ran for governor in 2018.

Franchot has clashed repeatedly with Democrats in the General Assembly on a wide range of issues during his lengthy tenure as comptroller. Baker, a former state delegate, sees repair work taking place.

“The relationship between Franchot and the Democratic Party has been strained,” he said. “So now he’s looking for an opportunity to walk back some of those things or make up for it.” 

Another Democrat who ran for governor suspects Franchot and his team have glimpsed polling on the ongoing debate about in-person instruction.

“He must have done polling in Montgomery, for sure, and maybe Prince George’s, where parents want their kids home,” said the Democrat, who declined to be quoted by name. “So he must have access to information — polling information and that kind of data — that totally supports what he’s saying.” 

Franchot’s discourse on the perils of bringing students back to the classroom went on for several moments, as a stone-faced Hogan and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp (D), the other members of the Board of Public Works, listened.

Franchot said any school that opens its doors now is engaging in a “huge medical experiment.” 

“I would be very concerned if a family member of mine was forced to teach in-person, given the widespread existence of the virus as we head particularly into the flu season,” he said. 

Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, the state’s largest school districts, have said it will be January at the earliest before traditional teaching resumes.

“I for one would not be personally comfortable sending my kids to school in this environment,” Franchot said. “I would wait and try to do it virtually until January when the picture will be clearer as far as what the virus’s impacts on young people is.”

Senate President Emeritus Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) said each county is “very much unique” and therefore entitled to make its own decisions. He believes a “hybrid” approach — a mix of in-person and virtual instruction — “is probably the best we can hope for” given the current state of the pandemic. 

Because local superintendents and boards have been working with their teachers and PTA’s for weeks in preparation for the start of school, Miller said it’s “way too late” for Franchot, or other state leaders, to offer meaningful advice.

“For him to opine at this point in time is as bad as what the governor did two weeks ago,” he said. “The plans are in place. School has started. And we need to move forward and let each board of education and each county move forward at its own pace.” 

By Bruce DePuyt

Citing Estimated $2.8B Revenue Loss, Hogan Freezes State Budgets, Hiring

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Budgets are frozen and new employees aren’t being hired, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) said Friday afternoon, moments after the state’s comptroller painted a grim picture of the Maryland’s financial future in light of dramatic revenue losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the space of three months, state revenues are estimated to contract by about $2.8 billion, according to new estimates released Friday by Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D) and the Bureau of Revenue Estimates.

Both income tax revenues and sales tax revenues are expected to fall by almost $1 billion before June 30, according to the new predictions. Other smaller pots of revenue, like lottery sales and court fees, have also contracted.

The losses since March and estimated through the end of June amount to about 15% of the state’s overall annual revenues.

The state has never before seen such a steep decline in revenues so close to the end of a fiscal year, officials said.

“The stay-at-home order as well as social distancing are absolutely creating the steepest economic nosedive in modern history,” Andrew Schaufele, director of Maryland’s Bureau of Revenue Estimates, said during a virtual news conference on Friday. “But in their absence, the final economic impacts would be far greater and playing out over a much longer period of time.”

The state will continue to meet payroll expenses and allow necessary increased spending to respond to the novel coronavirus, Hogan said. But his Department of Budget and Management will soon make recommendations for budget cuts, which will be required in all state agencies.

The state will also be tapping into and “spending much of, perhaps all of” the $6-billion-plus Rainy Day Fund to cope with revenue losses, Hogan said.

The state’s three-member Board of Public Works ― which includes Hogan, Franchot and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp (D) ― is empowered to cut the state’s budget in real-time.

Franchot said the process of trimming the state’s budget by more than $1 billion during the Great Recession was likely easier than the fiscal stress the board will soon be forced to reckon with during the pandemic.

“That period, as awful as it was ― and it was just horrendously painful ― is going to be like a picnic compared to what we’re going to go through with this coronavirus impact on our state budget,” Franchot said.

Hogan noted that the fiscal estimates released Friday were a “worst-case” scenario that he hoped would not come to fruition.

“Hopefully we will not have to make the kind of cuts [the comptroller] was envisioning,” Hogan said later in the afternoon.

With much of the private sector shut down in Maryland to stop the spread of COVID-19, the state is grappling with never-before-seen figures when it comes to losses in tax revenue and employment.

In a matter of weeks, the state’s new unemployment filings have increased by nearly 5,200%, with more than 235,000 people filing new unemployment claims in just the last three weeks.

“We’ve never seen such a decline. Never,” Schaufele said.

By contrast, it took about 10 months during the Great Recession for the state to see 240,000 job losses.

Even with the sobering numbers, there are some things that may blunt the impact to Maryland’s economy.

While state income tax withholdings are expected to drop by 22%, Schaufele said it was a testament to the strength of the state’s workforce and close ties to the government that the number is not larger.

Maryland will see some financial relief from a federal stimulus package, about $4.9 billion, but that funding is generally intended to enhance safety net programs and cover new expenses, not backfill lost revenues.

The lost revenues and economic downturn will almost certainly have an impact on Democrats’ top priority this year ― a decade-long multi-billion-dollar effort to reform the state’s education system.

That bill, along with more than 650 others passed during the 2020 General Assembly session, were formally sent to Hogan’s office for consideration earlier this week. While his office has not yet reviewed the bills, Hogan said Friday “that it is very unlikely that any bills that require increased spending will be signed into law.”

In response, state Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) agreed with Hogan that “we will be forced to make hard choices about priorities and values. COVID-19 has changed the world and it has changed Maryland.”

But without specifically referring to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the ambitious education spending and reform plan that the legislature passed last month, Ferguson suggested that it would be wrong for state leaders not to look ahead and bolster the state’s education system.

“This crisis will end, and the cost of containing this crisis cannot be the foreclosure on hope for a better future,” Ferguson said. “Now, more than ever, our decisions about who we are and what we believe about every individual’s God-given potential must continue to be our guide.”

Public health will dictate ‘return to normalcy’

The estimated revenue losses released Friday assume that a stay-at-home order remains in place at least through June 30.

In recent interviews, Hogan and the state’s public health professionals have expressed reluctance to begin lifting social-distancing measures too early, fearing that could cause a new spike in the number of COVID-19 diagnoses in the state.

As of Friday morning, there were 6,968 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state, and 171 Marylanders have died since mid-March.

All officials have said advice from public health experts will dictate the end of measures intended to stop the spread of the virus.

“To be clear, the timeline and pace for when we return to normalcy should and must be dictated by our public health experts, and must be influenced by the health dangers this virus may continue to pose to our citizens,” Franchot said.

By Danielle E. Gaines

All Md. Comptroller Branch Offices Closed; Taxpayer Assistance Still Available Via Email, Phone

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Comptroller Peter Franchot has announced that all of the agency’s branch offices throughout the state would close at 4:30 p.m. Thursday and will remain closed until further notice.

With increasing cases of COVID-19 reported throughout Maryland, Franchot made the decision to close the remaining branch offices to protect the health of employees and members of the public. Most of the branch offices remained open earlier this week to assist walk-in taxpayers during the busy tax season.

“We want to take every precaution to keep our employees, their families and citizens as safe as possible from the spread of this disease,” Comptroller Franchot said. “Taxpayers have many options to complete their tax returns. They can still file electronically and have their questions answered via phone or email. We have extended nearly every deadline for payment of state taxes to help families facing employment challenges and to keep cash flowing in our economy, as well as to reduce the volume of assistance provided by our taxpayer services agents.”

Taxpayers are urged to file their Maryland state income tax returns electronically, including the use of direct deposit for refunds. Taxpayers also can email their questions to taxhelp@marylandtaxes.gov or call 1-800-MD-TAXES for help weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. (extended hours during tax season remain in effect).

In recent days, as citizens and small business owners cope with the state of emergency, Comptroller Franchot announced several deadline extensions for income, corporate and business tax payments. They are as follows:

April 15 – Filing deadline for federal income tax or to file a federal extension. No separate Maryland extension is necessary if you file a federal extension.

June 1 – Returns and payments are due for Maryland business-related taxes not collected in March, April and May including sales and use tax, withholding tax, and admissions & amusement tax, alcohol tax, tobacco tax, and motor fuel tax, as well as tire recycling fee and bay restoration fee returns.

July 15 – Deadline for Maryland individual, corporate, pass through entity, and fiduciary income tax payments, as well as March quarterly estimated payments.

October 15 – Deadline for filing Maryland income tax returns if a federal extension was filed.

Comptroller Urges $500 Million in Small Business Relief From State’s Rainy Day Fund

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Comptroller Peter Franchot is calling for Governor Larry Hogan and the Maryland General Assembly to dip into the state’s Rainy Day Fund to provide a minimum of $500 million for small businesses that will be critically affected by the worsening COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s called a rainy day fund and in about two weeks, it’s going to be raining harder than we have ever seen in the State of Maryland for these small businesses,” Franchot said.

The comptroller has spoken with numerous small business owners who have already reported they are starting to feel the impacts from the pandemic, and it will only become more pronounced in the coming days, weeks and potentially months ahead.

The following is Comptroller Franchot’s full statement:

“Maryland’s local, independent businesses are the lifeblood of our state’s economy and the pillars of their communities. Having spoken directly with more small business owners over these past few days than I can count, I can assure you that, in the absence of extraordinary action, far too many of them are going to go under as a result of the economic devastation created by the coronavirus pandemic.

“The actions that have been proposed to date simply aren’t enough. To survive the next 45-60 days, these businesses need cash to pay their employees, their vendors, their landlords and the banks. I believe it is imperative that the State of Maryland borrow, AT A MINIMUM, $500 million from the State’s Rainy Day Fund and push it out the door as quickly as humanly possible to these business owners. Because, quite honestly, they don’t even know how they’re going to survive the next few days without customers or cash flow.

“In that same vein, I also believe that Congress must act now to enact its own federal stimulus relief package for these small businesses. I cannot overemphasize that SBA loans are not nearly sufficient here — these businesses don’t need loans – they need cash on the barrelhead, as they say, simply to get through the coming days and weeks.

“I don’t want to hear that we cannot afford it. In the years that I’ve served as your Comptroller, I’ve seen our state and federal governments shovel cash to the big banks, to our automakers, to the airlines, to Amazon and to gambling casinos. You will never, ever convince me that we cannot and should not stand up now and make a life altering investment in those local businesses that employ our neighbors and families, support other small businesses and put their names on every charitable and civic cause in their communities.

“The loss that is suffered every time a small business closes in a community is severe and far-ranging. The decimation of our small business sector in the State of Maryland and in the United States would, I believe, catapult us into the worst economic climate since the 1930s.”