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June 21, 2021

The Talbot Spy

The nonprofit e-newspaper for the Talbot County Community

News Maryland News

Hogan Announces End of COVID-19 State of Emergency in Maryland

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Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) announced the forthcoming end of the Maryland public health emergency on Tuesday — one year, 3 months and 10 days since the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed have reached the state.

“With all of this amazing progress and thanks, in large part, to the hard work, sacrifices and the vigilance of the people in Maryland, we have finally reached the light at the end of that long tunnel,” Hogan said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

On March 5, 2020, Hogan announced three positive cases of COVID-19, initiating the beginning of the state of emergency.

After 461,392 positive cases, 9,742 deaths and 18 executive renewals, the state of emergency will officially end July 1, doing away with suspended state regulations and mask mandates.

Private business owners and other facilities reserve the right to require patrons to be masked inside of their establishments.

“But there will not be any legal mandate from the state for wearing masks at any location anywhere in the state,” said Hogan, who added that masking will not be required at public schools, summer camps and childcare facilities.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether local school systems will be able to maintain stricter mask requirements.

The governor also announced Tuesday that the state will be extending a 45-day grace period for residents to update documents, like driver’s licenses, and the eviction moratorium.

Both of these grace periods will end on Aug. 15.

“Every single day since that day, last March, together, we have faced immense and unprecedented challenges,” Hogan said. “We’ve been through so much over the past 15 months. But just look at how far we’ve come together to reach this hopeful point.”

Hogan reflected on the state’s success in creating an infrastructure to fight the virus, from reopening closed hospitals to standing up a network of thousands of contact tracers to slow the virus’ spread.

According to the Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard, more than 3.1 million Marylanders have been fully vaccinated.

More than 6.5 million doses have been administered, “not only meeting but exceeding our goal of reaching 70% of all adults [at least partially] vaccinated by Memorial Day,” Hogan said.

While he announced the end of the state of emergency, Hogan implored unvaccinated Marylanders to get the vaccine, stressing that as things return to normal people are still at risk of contracting the virus and its variants.

“At this point, there’s simply no excuse for not getting vaccinated,” he said. “Vaccines are safe, they’re effective and they’re readily available everywhere.”

By Hannah Gaskill

Redistricting Commission Urged To Adopt Single-Member Delegate Districts At First Public Hearing

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Eastern Shore residents urged the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission to adopt single-member legislative districts at a virtual hearing Wednesday evening, with some charging that the state’s current hybrid model is unfair for voters.

The executive order from Gov Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) that created the commission requires that, to the extent practicable, commissioners include single-member delegate districts in the proposed maps. The state’s current House of Delegates districts vary between single-member and multi-member districts, a system that some Eastern Shore residents oppose.

Bill Satterfield, a Wicomico County resident, urged members of the commission to adopt single-member districts. He said the state’s current system means that some voters have greater power in the legislature compared to others.

“Everybody should have one vote for one person,” Satterfield said.

Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-Lower Shore) likewise urged members of the commission to move toward single-member districts. Carozza herself was elected in a single member House district, District 38C in Wicomico County, before being elected to the Senate.

“I can speak to the effectiveness of serving my constituents in that capacity,” Carozza said.

Muir Boda, a Salisbury City Council member, said multi-member districts often confuse residents over who to contact on legislative issues.

Carozza also urged commissioners to keep the Eastern Shore whole in the redistricting process. The entire region is currently included in Maryland’s 1st Congressional District, which is home to the lone Republican member of Maryland’s congressional delegation, Rep. Andrew P. Harris.

Boda urged commissioners to create “contiguous” districts that keep communities together. He noted the vast difference between Ocean City on the Lower Shore and Taneytown in Carroll County, and said the commission may want to consider creating a district that would include parts of Southern Maryland along with the Eastern Shore.

Community outreach was another prominent topic at the meeting, with some residents urging commission members to better publicize future rounds of public hearings. Demba Ndiaye said he received notice of the meeting just days before it was going to take place.

“This commission, at this time, needs to focus more on outreach and communication to get more people involved in this process,” Ndiaye said.

Moonyene Jackson-Amis, a Talbot County resident, urged the commission to do more intensive outreach to communities on the topic of single-member and multi-member districts. She said each community will be impacted differently by how districts are drawn.

“I don’t know really what the impact would actually be for the population that I’m most concerned about,” Jackson-Amis said. “We need more representation from the African American community.”

Kathleen Hetherington (I), the president of Howard Community College and one of the commission’s co-chairs, said Wednesday that more public hearings will take place as the commission draws up maps.

The multi-partisan commission is tasked with drawing up congressional and state legislative maps for Hogan to submit to the General Assembly, and is currently holding a round of public hearings before the release of 2020 Census redistricting data. The maps that Hogan submits will ultimately be subject to approval and revision by the General Assembly.

By Bennett Leckrone

Wes Moore Launches Bid for Governor With Vow to Eliminate Racial Wealth Disparities

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Wes Moore launched his highly anticipated bid for governor Monday, blending his personal and inspiring life story with a full-throated call for a more equitable Maryland.

Moore, the 42-year-old military veteran, best-selling author and former CEO of an anti-poverty organization, formally joined the Democratic primary race by releasing a campaign video that’s heavy on biography and his desire to close the wealth gap in Maryland.

“One thing has become clear to me: Opportunity is readily available to some and dangerously absent to others,” Moore says in the campaign ad.

In an interview, Moore said that even though he’s seeking the Democratic nomination against seasoned Maryland officeholders and potentially two former members of President Obama’s cabinet, he believes that after holding leadership positions in the military, in business, and with a high-profile philanthropy, he has the right experience to prevail in the primary and the general election — and to achieve his ambitious policy goals.

“There is nobody who is more experienced to tackle the challenges of today and lead a forward-facing conversation about the future,” he said.

Moore, who rose from poverty to become the CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, a New York-based philanthropic organization that distributed $600 million during Moore’s tenure, has resisted entreaties to run for public office before. But he said he was moved to do so this time because of the unequal devastation in Maryland wrought by COVID-19.

“Coming out of the pandemic we have got to focus in this state on closing the wealth gap in a way that we haven’t before,” the Baltimore resident said, adding that he planned on “being very deliberate about using the power of the second floor [of the State House] in Annapolis.”

Moore said his ultimate priority as governor would be to make Maryland the first state to “eliminate the racial wealth gap.” He noted that despite great pockets of affluence in Maryland, 45% of children live in poverty.

“This should not be allowed to stand,” he said.

With that goal in mind, Moore said that on the campaign trail he plans to emphasize issues like education, economic opportunity, wages and workforce development, entrepreneurship, equitable loan and investment programs, public transportation, and affordable housing.

Moore knows a thing or two about emerging from poverty and achieving great success. It’s long been part of his narrative as he’s made his way through a business career, his philanthropic work and becoming a best-selling author. Now he’ll attempt to use his biography as a potent political weapon.

A recent poll on the nine-candidate Democratic primary field found Moore in fifth place, with 2% of the vote. Significantly, he was unknown to 76% of the likely Democratic primary voters surveyed.

But Moore said that since he began traveling the state to explore a run for governor earlier this year, he discovered that through the coverage of his career and the books he’s written on the criminal justice system, poverty, and the aftermath of Freddie Gray’s death in Baltimore, voters seemed to know his story. “On name recognition, people’s acknowledgement and knowledge of our work is bigger than people think,” he said.

The campaign’s two minute and 48 second introductory video of Moore reinforces his narrative and aims to show that the candidate is equally fluent and effective in the halls of power and on city streets. The ad was produced by SKDK, a leading national Democratic media firm, and except for a brief segment where a man is talking in a barbershop that Moore is visiting, the candidate narrates throughout the entire piece.

“My name is Wes Moore,” he says as the ad begins. “When I was 3, I watched my dad die in our home. By 11, I felt the feeling of handcuffs on my wrists. My life could have gone a different way. But I was lucky. I had a mom who believed in me before I believed in myself. Kids like me, we didn’t think there was a world where anything was possible. We liked to say that my mom wore sweaters so we could wear coats.”

The video features footage of actors playing a young Moore and his mother, and there are frequently split-screen images of run-down areas and desirable neighborhoods. Some of the most arresting images come when figures on one side of the screen appear on the other, to make points about Moore’s background and success story or about the challenges facing the state. One features a woman cleaning a window on the left side of the screen who then appears on the right side in a white lab coat, completing a complex mathematical equation on a whiteboard.

“I believe no matter what roads you start down, you deserve a path to success,” Moore says in the ad. “Unlike most who run for office, I know what it’s like to struggle, and I know what it’s like to achieve dreams my parents couldn’t even have imagined.”

Moore joins a crowded Democratic primary field that already includes former Prince George’s County executive Rushern L. Baker III, former Clinton administration official Jon Baron, state Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot, former state attorney general Douglas F. Gansler, former Obama administration official Ashwani Jain, former U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Jr., and Baltimore tech entrepreneur Michael Rosenbaum. Former Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez is also pondering the race.

Moore has assembled a seasoned team of campaign staffers and advisers that includes several with prior Maryland experience.

“We’re going to have the best team in the field,” Moore said. “It’s a team that knows how to win.”

Moore declined to say what his campaign’s fundraising goals are, but said, “I have a full degree of confidence that we’re going to raise what we need to be successful. It has already started and it’s already exciting.”

By Josh Kurtz

New Law Will Close ‘Loophole’ in Appeals of Autopsy Findings

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Rev. Marguerite Morris fought for her daughter, Katherine Sarah Morris, for nearly a decade.

Katherine died in 2012 after charcoal grills were lit in her car. Marguerite Morris said she was a “victim of marital fraud, and worth $100,000 dead.”

Katherine’s manner of death was ruled a suicide. The cause: carbon monoxide toxicity.

Marguerite said there was no investigation.

“Katherine’s death certificate was signed on May 6, 2012,” she said before the House Health and Government Operations Committee in February. “She died May 6, 2012. Her death was ruled a suicide on May 6, 2012.”

Marguerite Morris submitted a request to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner asking that her daughter’s manner of death be changed to undetermined to allow for an investigation. But her request — and subsequent appeal — was denied.

She took the state to court three times and was finally granted an administrative hearing in 2020. But even then, she said, the state tried to put a halt to the proceedings, citing a decades-old inconsistency in the law.

A bill sponsored by Del. J. Sandra Bartlett (D-Anne Arundel), will fix that inconsistency.

Beginning Oct. 1, families can file an appeal to the secretary of the Department of Health if the chief medical examiner denies their request to change the manner of death on their loved one’s autopsy report.

The bill was enacted without a signature from Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) last weekend. Prior to its passage, Maryland law allowed only the cause of death to be appealed if requests were denied.

“I would … like to emphasize that the cause of death is not the manner,” Morris said. “The cause is scientific, and the manner is evidentiary.”

One successful appeal

The cause of death is a specific event, like asphyxiation or heart disease, that causes a person to die. Medical examiners can rule a manner of death as an accident, suicide, homicide, natural causes or undetermined.

After the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner files its conclusions on the cause and manner of death, families have a 60-day window to request that they be corrected if they feel there are inconsistencies.

Homicide rulings are not able to be disputed.

Should the chief medical examiner rebuff the request, under Bartlett’s bill, families can appeal to the secretary of the health department, who can grant an administrative hearing.

If an administrative law judge determines that the cause or manner of death should be changed and the secretary of health declines to do so, families can appeal to the circuit court.

Dr. David Fowler was the chief medical examiner at the time of Katherine’s death. He served as acting chief medical examiner in 2001 before taking the position permanently in 2002.

He left the role in 2019.

According to Maryland Department of Health spokesman Charles Gischlar, 22 appeals to have the cause or manner of death on an autopsy report changed were filed from 2001 to 2019. Only one appeal was successful.

Fowler, a controversial figure, is currently a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Anton Black, a 19-year-old who died in police custody in 2018 in Greensboro. Black’s manner of death was ruled an accident.

Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D), who announced in April that his office plans to audit in-custody death determinations made under Fowler, has received criticism for representing him in the lawsuit filed by Black’s family.

In a phone interview, Sonia Kumar, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Maryland, said that Black’s family did not submit a request to change the findings of Anton’s autopsy report, and she’s unaware how the ability to do so is communicated to the bereaved.

“My guess is that a lot of families aren’t even made aware of it,” Kumar said.

“A loophole”

Government agencies have been aware of the inconsistency in appeals since the law was enacted in 1992.

In a May 1992 letter to Gov. William Donald Schaefer (D), former Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. (D) suggested that these “apparent inconsistencies be resolved next session in clarifying legislation.”

But they weren’t until Bartlett successfully sponsored the bill this year.

Marguerite Morris said that the state has used the inconsistency against her.

“It was about a word that was missing that the state was using as a loophole” to deny me an administrative hearing, she said during a phone interview Tuesday.

But Morris has seen success in 2021: An administrative law judge issued the opinion that Katherine’s manner of death be changed from suicide to undetermined in March.

The state is appealing this ruling at a hearing later this month.

Morris was also relieved to learn that Hogan will allow the law to go into effect without his signature.

“I’m glad to hear that, that was really, really good news to hear,” she said. “That law that is now being enacted … will help other families.”

But her fight isn’t over. Morris said that she hopes to work with legislators during the 2022 session to have the 60-day time limit on requests to change autopsy reports repealed.

“It’s just so unfair because you just don’t have answers that quickly,” she said.

Kumar agrees.

“There’s this way in which, to me, it feels unreasonable to put the burden on the family — particularly in such a short time period,” she said. “They may be disturbed by the [Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s] conclusion but may not be aware how far-reaching the consequences are of those … conclusions.”

By Hannah Gaskill

Democrats Slam Hogan’s Decision to End Expanded Unemployment Benefits, Look to Block Action

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Alarmed at the prospect that needy families will be hurt by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s decision to end supplemental unemployment benefits in early July, members of the General Assembly scrambled on Wednesday to blunt — and perhaps block — his action.

Legislative leaders sought advice from Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) about a possible special session — and a powerful committee chairman said he will introduce legislation to advance the effective date of Maryland’s $15-per-hour minimum wage law.

The flurry of activity was set in motion by Hogan’s decision to end the $300-per-week supplemental unemployment insurance benefit that some Marylanders have been collecting, effective July 3.

The state will also stop providing a $100-per-week payment that “mixed earners” — typically gig workers who have multiple sources of wage income — have been receiving.

In addition, people who have been out of work for more than 26 weeks will see their benefits end.

Congress approved enhanced payments last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In announcing his actions, Hogan pointed to the state’s improving economy and the surge in the state’s supply of vaccines. Even though 70% of adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the governor said many employers are having trouble finding workers.

Two dozen Republican governors have taken similar steps, with many arguing that jobless benefits create a disincentive to seek work.

More than 175,000 Marylanders receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance — which expanded eligibility to the self-employed, independent contractors and gig workers — and those receiving payments after extended periods out of work — more than 86,000 people as of May 8 — would lose benefits entirely under Hogan’s action.

All Marylanders receiving unemployment would stop receiving an enhanced $300 payment. As of May 15, there were 42,895 continued unemployment claims in the state; an additional 8,625 new claims were filed in the week ending May 22.

In a letter to Hogan, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and Unemployment Insurance Oversight Committee co-chairwoman Kathy Klausmeier (D-Baltimore County) wrote, “Solving problems requires more than buying into partisan narratives that ignore the very real plight of countless Marylanders facing complex futures.”

The lawmakers urged the governor to reconsider his actions and look at ways to incentivize people back into the labor force, such as those adopted by Colorado.

If Hogan fails to alter his position on supplemental unemployment benefits, the leaders wrote, ”our chamber will be forced to consider all other tools at our disposal to ensure our state’s prosperity.”

The fiscal year 2022 budget was approved by the General Assembly earlier this year — and lawmakers were unclear on Wednesday whether they have the power to force Hogan to reverse his stance. Lawmakers adjourned in April and are not scheduled to return to Annapolis until January.

Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D) urged lawmakers to consider an emergency special session to insist that Hogan keep the payments flowing.

In an interview, Frosh said it would be a challenge for lawmakers to find a way to block Hogan immediately.

“It’s going to be tough to get it done right away, but it may be possible,” he said. “We’ll see.”

A former legislator from Montgomery County, Frosh hammered Hogan for ending federally-funded benefits at a time when many out-of-work residents have yet to find new jobs.

“The fact is, if you’re looking to help the economy and help businesses, the best thing you can do is put money in the hands of low-income families, because it goes right back out the door,” he said. “They spend it.”

Frosh called the supplemental payments “a lifeline for folks who are unemployed” — and he said GOP claims that benefits discourage job-seeking are “fallacious.”

Although the unemployment rate has dropped since the height of the pandemic, the attorney general said many jobs don’t pay enough for people to make ends meet, a claim echoed by Del. Dereck E. Davis (D-Prince George’s), the chairman of the Economic Matters Committee.

Davis told Maryland Matters he will introduce legislation in January to move up the effective date of Maryland’s $15-an-hour minimum wage law by 2 1/2 years.

Under his proposal, employers with 15 or more workers would be required to pay at least $15/hour effective on July 1, 2022, instead of January 1, 2025.

Employers with fewer than 15 employees would have to boost pay starting on July 1, 2023, instead of January 1, 2026.

“I don’t think we need to take away the benefits. I think we need to increase the wages,” Davis said. “It’s simple economics.”

Davis said he was motivated to offer the legislation in response to Hogan’s actions on Tuesday.

Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Darryl Barnes (D-Prince George’s) will co-sponsor the measure, which has the support of Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County).

“If this is strictly dollars and cents, what that tells me is that they’re not paying enough,” Davis said.

Senate Minority Leader Bryan W. Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel) said Davis’s proposal buttresses his belief that the General Assembly is lurching to the left.

“It’s a constant attack on small business, without the balance,” he said. “This is just another way they can redistribute wealth. … Thank God we have Hogan in office to provide a little balance to the legislature.”

Davis said he will pre-file his bill — and he intends to hold a hearing on it at 2 p.m. on the first day of the 2022 session.

The state’s top fiscal officers also hammered Hogan for ending supplemental benefits.

Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp (D) said the move will cause the most harm to single women with children or older dependents, who will now live in “greater misery.”

Franchot, a candidate for governor, noted that the supplemental federal benefits are set to expire on Sept. 6. He said pandemic-era stimulus payments to individuals and businesses have helped the state’s economy weather the pandemic because they are “economic multipliers.”

“We’re giving up, voluntarily, $1.5 billion in additional economic stimulus,” he said. “And it’s not even our money. It’s coming from Washington.”

“This is about compassion for those who are suffering through no fault of their own,” Franchot added. “The end of the pandemic is in sight. We owe them a bridge to it.”

Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore and Harford counties) applauded Hogan’s action.

“With so many businesses unable to fully operate because they cannot find workers, it makes sense,” she said. “There are ‘help wanted’ signs everywhere. Americans are logical. If you pay them to stay home, they will. It’s time to get people back in the labor market and working for a brighter future for themselves and their families.”

An organization representing small business owners also said it welcomed Hogan’s decision.

“Small business owners have been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis. While they are seeing their sales grow amidst a steady economic recovery, a record 44% of owners reported job openings that could not be filled in NFIB’s latest jobs report,” said Mike O’Halloran, the head of NFIB-Maryland.

“The Governor is right to call this a ‘critical problem.’ Now that capacity restrictions and closings are behind us, we’re hopeful these jobs will quickly be filled as the summer is unofficially underway.”

Even if lawmakers don’t return to Annapolis, they hope to pressure him to allow benefits to flow an additional month — until early August — to give jobless Marylanders more time to find work.

“It’s not like he’s saving the state money by doing this,” Montgomery County Executive Marc B. Elrich (D) said.

Late on Wednesday, the nine Democratic members of Maryland’s congressional delegation issued a statement urging Hogan to reconsider cutting off the benefits.

“…The governor unnecessarily bowed to partisan pressure and ignored the needs of struggling workers and families. We urge the governor to reconsider this decision, which will cost our state money in the long run — and wastes federal resources we fought hard to secure,” the lawmakers wrote. “Marylanders are anxious to get back to work, but this pandemic is not over and many unemployed Marylanders are still suffering.”

By Bruce DePuyt and Danielle E. Gaines

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

Gansler Launches Gubernatorial Campaign With Call to Legalize Marijuana

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Former state Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) launched a second bid for governor on Tuesday with an embrace of “progressive” policies aimed at addressing long-simmering inequalities.

He also said the time has come for Maryland to legalize and tax marijuana.

A former two-term A.G. who served eight years as Montgomery County State’s Attorney, Gansler lost the 2014 gubernatorial primary to then-Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D).

He has been out of politics for seven years, serving as an attorney in private practice in Washington, D.C. One of his current clients, an international consortium of road-building companies, is suing the Maryland Department of Transportation.

Gansler said his loss in the 2014 primary was “really tough. I had never lost an election before. It was like getting a bucket of ice water poured over my head. It was a very humbling experience.”

The prep school and Yale-educated former prosecutor rubbed some people the wrong way early in his career. Many considered him too brash.

But Gansler said his defeat “made me a better person. … It’s made me a better listener.”

If elected, he will seek the legalization and taxation of recreational marijuana. He also said it’s important that the state expunge the records of people who’ve been convicted only of recreational use.

“Look, it’s time,” Gansler said. “It will allow us to regulate the product for safety [and] educate people on how to consume it responsibly.”

He enters an increasingly crowded Democratic primary field that includes Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot, former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, entrepreneur Mike Rosenbaum, former U.S. Secretary of Education John King, philanthropist Jon Baron, and Ashwani Jain, who served in the Obama White House.

Gansler said that as attorney general, his staff worked with every agency in the state, giving him a working knowledge of government that the political newcomers in the field lack.

“People are thirsting for experience, somebody who has a progressive record of getting things done,” he said. “And I would argue that that’s unique to my candidacy in this race.”

Gansler entered the 2014 race having won back-to-back statewide races with 61% and 98% of the vote. But his campaign for governor was tripped up by multiple controversies, including one involving a photograph of him at a party that one of his underage sons attended in Dewey Beach, Del.

Political science professor Mileah Kromer said Gansler will have twin challenges — re-establishing his political persona and dealing with issues from his last race, like the “red Solo cup” flap.

“It’s not starting from scratch, in terms of name recognition,” the Goucher College of Maryland pollster said. “He’s not coming out of nowhere. But he’s going to have the same sort of uphill battle as everybody else to reintroduce himself to voters.”

Gansler raised $224,300 in the filing period that ended on Jan. 13. He reported $428,241 cash on hand.

During the same period, Franchot (D) raised $770,631. His war chest stood at a formidable $2,216,592.

Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz is running in the Republican primary, as is Robin Ficker.

By Bruce DePuyt

Maryland Opens Vaccination to Residents 12 and Older Starting Today

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A federal advisory panel is recommending that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine be administered to adolescents between 12 and 15 years old, making it the first shot available to those under 16.

The green light granted Wednesday afternoon by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel is expected to be affirmed swiftly by the agency’s top officials.

The Food and Drug Administration also gave its authorization this week, and many states have waited to expand vaccinations until the CDC signed off. Several, including Georgia, did begin vaccinating the younger age group immediately after Monday’s FDA authorization, while other states began scheduling appointments so they could begin putting shots in arms as soon as the CDC took action.

In Maryland, vaccinations for children 12 to 15 years old opened today. Eleven of the state’s mass vaccination sites and hundreds of pharmacy locations will be ready to administer the Pfizer vaccine to adolescents accompanied by a guardian. Residents can search for vaccination sites offering the Pfizer doses at covidvax.maryland.gov.

The latest federal recommendation will open COVID-19 vaccinations to 17 million American teens, according to Kaiser Family Foundation data. With vaccine demand waning among U.S. adults, public health experts say vaccinating children will prove critical to reaching sufficient levels of immunity throughout the country.

“Especially as we race now against the the ongoing spread of these new variants that are more infectious, it is more important than ever to get everyone vaccinated,” said Dr. Jinlene Chan, Maryland’s deputy secretary for health services.

While children who have tested positive for the coronavirus have typically reported milder symptoms than adults, some have developed complications, including a rare, dangerous inflammatory syndrome.

One advisory panel member, Dr. Katherine Poehling, a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., described a teenager with COVID-19 who had a heart attack.

The teen survived, but Poehling added that the effects of the disease “will have long-lasting impacts.”

Children also account for a growing share of the overall number of COVID-19 infections as more and more adults become vaccinated.

During April, adolescents between 12 and 17 made up 9% of cases, a share that’s now larger than that of individuals 65 and older, CDC officials said during Wednesday’s advisory panel meeting.

“The proportion — as we have seen even here in Maryland — of children and teens who are getting infected with COVID-19 has been increasing. And this has increased because in part at least of how well we have done and vaccinating adults,” Chan said. “So now our attention shifts so that we can focus on vaccinating younger children.”

Since the pandemic began, there have been more than 1.5 million cases reported among children between 12 and 17. The age group has accounted for more than 13,000 hospitalizations, at a rate higher than during 2009’s H1N1 flu pandemic.

There have only been 127 deaths among children aged 12 to 17, though CDC experts noted that the tally would rank among the top 10 causes of death for that age group.

Since the start of the pandemic in Maryland, nine children younger than 19 have died of confirmed COVID-19 cases; more than 70,000 children and teens have tested positive for the virus.

Previously, those 16 and older could receive the Pfizer shot under the emergency use authorization issued in December. The other two COVID-19 shots authorized in the U.S. can be used in patients 18 and older. Pfizer and Moderna are studying vaccine use in children as young as six months.

Data from Pfizer’s clinical trial showed the two-shot vaccine to be highly effective among kids 12 to 15, with no COVID-19 infections reported among the vaccine group seven days after the second shot and 16 cases among those who received a placebo.

Symptoms are similar to those among adults who received the Pfizer vaccine: pain at the injection site, along with fatigue, headaches, chills and muscle pain. Those symptoms were typically reported to be mild to moderate.

In outlining the costs and benefits of the vaccine during Wednesday’s hearing, CDC officials said the new vaccine eligibility could play a role in helping adolescents catch up on routine vaccinations against other diseases that were delayed due to the pandemic.

That vaccine catch-up process will be helped by another change recommended Wednesday: allowing doctors to give other vaccines at the same appointment as a COVID-19 shot.

That was initially discouraged, but the latest recommendations say the data available so far does not suggest that a 14-day wait time is needed between the COVID-19 shot and other vaccines.

Public polling suggests that some parents are ready and even eager to bring their teens in to be vaccinated, while others may need some convincing.

A Kaiser survey last month found that parents’ intentions for vaccinating their children largely line up with their intentions for vaccinating themselves, with 29% of parents saying they would get their child vaccinated “right away” and 32% saying they would wait awhile to see how the vaccine is working.

Another 15% said they will only get their child vaccinated if their school requires it, and 19% said they definitely will not vaccinate their child against COVID-19.

Chan encouraged families to ask questions and seek out information about adolescent vaccination from trusted sources, especially their pediatricians and family doctors.

She’s been discussing vaccination with her son, who is a young teen, and the importance of getting vaccinated so he can return to summer camp and other activities with friends. “This is really what we are vaccinating for: to get back to a normal that our kids and our families deserve,” Chan said.

By Laura Olson and Danielle E. Gaines

Hogan Lifts Most Remaining COVID-19 Restrictions, Effective Saturday

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In the latest sign that the state is emerging from a pandemic that has upended everyday life for more than a year, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) on Wednesday eased most of the remaining restrictions on public gatherings and commerce.

As a result, restaurants can return to 100% capacity both indoors and outdoors, effective on Saturday.

State restrictions on indoor entertainment venues, conventions and other businesses are also being lifted. And restrictions on outdoor professional sports, entertainment and arts venues are also being pulled.

“Effectively, as of Saturday, every business in Maryland will be able to open at 100%, with no restrictions,” Hogan told reporters outside Government House.

As of Wednesday, two-thirds of the state’s adult population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and more than 2.4 million Marylanders have been fully vaccinated.

The state’s test-positivity rate is a 2.74%, its lowest level since September. Hospital bed usage has been falling for almost a month. And the state has a plentiful supply of vaccine, with walk-up opportunities available at scores of locations, including mass-vaccination sites and pharmacies.

“The Maryland Chamber of Commerce is thrilled businesses can fully open their doors and bring Marylanders back to work with these eased restrictions,” Chamber Vice President Andrew Griffin said in an email.

“We align with the governor in following CDC recommendations and encourage the public to get vaccinated so Maryland can continue along the path of economic recovery.”

The only restriction that Hogan is retaining is the mandate to wear masks inside businesses. That requirement will be lifted when Maryland reaches the federal goal of 70% adults receiving at least one dose of a vaccine, he said.

“President Biden set the goal of trying to get things back to normal by the Fourth of July; here in Maryland, our plan is to get everything back to normal by Memorial Day,” the governor said.

Hogan said people who have yet to get vaccinated were slowing the state’s return to full economic activity and social interaction — and putting themselves and their loved ones at risk.

Anne Arundel and Harford counties announced immediately that they will lift restrictions in line with Hogan’s order.

“After consulting with our Health Officer, we have decided to follow the State’s lead,” Anne Arundel Executive Steuart Pittman (D) said in a statement.

“We believe that our low case rates will continue through the summer, but the only effective way to prevent a fall surge in cases will be a summer surge in vaccinations.”

Prince George’s County announced a hybrid approach, some businesses allowed to reopen at 100% capacity and others at 50%.

The governor’s actions mean sports teams can return to full capacity if they choose to, but it does not require them to do so.

In a May 4 letter to season-ticket holders, Ravens president Dick Cass wrote, “[W]e are optimistic that we will have a full stadium of fans this season.”

“We will continue to work diligently with state and local agencies to prepare to host fans safely,” he added. “To achieve our goal of a full stadium, we encourage everyone in our community to get vaccinated and continue following the best practices recommended by public health authorities.

The Orioles are expected to announce a stadium policy next week. It could not immediately be learned on Wednesday how the Washington Football Team will respond.

The governor said Maryland’s NFL teams “are both very anxious to be at 100% in the fall.”

The annual Preakness Stakes, which will be run on Saturday, was authorized to go to 50% capacity but opted for 10%. Hogan said he did not expect the Maryland Jockey Club, which owns Pimlico Race Course, to change its policy on short notice.

“Next year, hopefully, we’ll have it full again,” he said.

The cruise terminal in Baltimore will reopen soon, Hogan said. The CDC is working with the nation’s ports and the industry on protocols allowing passengers to cruise again.

The governor said the state Department of Labor will petition the federal government to reinstate a work-search requirement for people receiving unemployment insurance benefits.

Those requirements were suspended early in the pandemic, as business owners shed workers and job opportunities were scarce.

But now, some employers — in Ocean City and elsewhere — report having difficulty finding workers, Hogan said.

“It’s not just anecdotal. There are some people that have made the decision to stay home and to collect unemployment rather than returning to work,” he said. “We hear that every day from hundreds of people.”

The Maryland Center on Economic Policy, a progressive advocacy organization, called the reinstatement of work-search requirements “an additional obstacle for people who are out of work and an additional administrative burden” for the agency that administers benefits.

“It is premature to begin reinstating work search requirements for people relying on unemployment payments, putting at risk the economic support that has been keeping families afloat,” said Kali Schumitz, the center’s director of communications, in a statement.

“While the situation is rapidly evolving, data suggest that there are still far more job-seekers than available jobs.”

Asked whether he would join other GOP-led states in cutting expanded unemployment benefits, Hogan said Maryland would not.

“There are some people who really have been trying to find work and do need those benefits and Maryland’s cost of living is higher than a lot of those other states,” Hogan said. “At this point, we think we’re taking the steps that we need to take.”

By Bruce DePuyt

Mirroring National Trend, Maryland’s “Trump Counties” Are Slower to Get Vaccinated

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In a recently produced video circulating on social media, Rep. Andrew P. Harris (R-Md.) urges people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Joined by nine other Republican physician-legislators, Harris tells viewers that the development of safe and effective vaccines provides the country “a clear path to the eradication of the pandemic.”

“The FDA did not skip any steps,” he adds.

Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.) said getting vaccinated will bring an end to “the government’s restrictions on our freedoms.”

Harris — a Trump loyalist and an anesthesiologist — has drawn praise for appearing in the video and for posting photos of himself administering vaccines at clinics in his district.

The video’s message comes at a crucial time. With polls consistently showing that as many as 40% of Republicans don’t intend to get a shot, public health experts across the country are worried that herd immunity is at risk.

A Maryland Matters analysis found vaccination patterns in the state that mirror the nation’s.

The six least-vaccinated jurisdictions in Maryland — and nine of the bottom 12 — were won by Donald Trump in 2020.

Of the three jurisdictions carried by Democrat Joe Biden that have below-average vaccination rates — Baltimore City and Prince George’s and Charles counties — all are majority-Black.

At the top end of the spectrum, six of the eight most-vaccinated counties in Maryland were won by Biden.

For purposes of this analysis, Maryland Matters counted every resident who has had at least one dose of any of the vaccines being offered.

There are many factors that determine who gets vaccinated who doesn’t, health experts caution. For months, access to the vaccine has been limited, though appointments now are plentiful.

Many vaccine-seekers lacked the ability to spend hours online, prowling the Web for an appointment, nor did they have the flexible schedules needed to get to a vaccination site. Access to transportation has been another challenge.

The Maryland Department of Health and the state’s Vaccine Equity Task Force have spent many weeks trying to overcome these and other barriers, expanding distribution sites, bringing vaccines into under-served communities, working with faith and community groups, tailoring messages, enlisting family physicians and “trusted voices,” and more.

While those efforts have boosted the state’s vaccination rate overall and closed some of the gaps that set off alarm bells during the early months of the rollout, data confirm that African-Americans and Republicans are less likely to be vaccinated than non-Black Democrats and members of other racial groups.

“A lot of it has to do with your political ideology and who you’re listening to, where you get your facts from, and who you trust,” said Ed Singer, Carroll County’s chief health officer and head of the Maryland Association of County Health Officers. “Let’s be honest about it.”

Singer said vaccination rates in minority communities have risen as people observe friends and family members getting vaccinated without complication.

“When they saw that it was fine [and] nobody was having issues with it, it really helped,” he said.

Rep. Harris’s press secretary did not respond to a request for comment submitted last week. But Joshua M. Sharfstein, Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, praised him for appearing in a pro-vaccination video.

“We shouldn’t overdo the politics of it in Maryland,” he said, “because we have a Republican governor and we have Republican legislators who are very supportive of vaccines.”

Vaccination advocates are fighting a daily battle against high-profile media personalities — Tucker Carlson of Fox and others — who have offered messaging that contradicts public-health guidance.

A focus group empaneled by pollster Frank Luntz found that GOP resistance to the vaccine remains entrenched, particularly among men.

Jerome Adams, a former U.S. surgeon general writing in his private capacity as a University of Virginia scholar, urged Trump to put his influence with the Republican base to good use.

“A lot of people who are reluctant to get the shot trust the former president,” Adams wrote last week in a Washington Post op-ed. “So I’m calling on him to loudly and proudly tell his supporters that he got vaccinated and they should too.”

True to form, the former president’s recent public statements have been about himself. Nonetheless, he could help drown out the noise from right-wing media if he chose to, analysts say.

“The effort to try to mark not getting vaccinated as a badge of honor is unwise and dangerous,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington. “But it’s still going on.”

“People don’t like being told what to do,” he acknowledged. “But modern collective life does not give a person the opportunity to be completely an island.”

The red-blue gap starts to widen

At the beginning of the vaccination campaign, Maryland counties that have more Republican voters outpaced Democratic-leaning counties narrowly, but the trend reversed in March.

(Editor’s Note: If viewing on mobile, turn phone 90 degrees to better view graphic.)

The Maryland Matters analysis also found that the gap between Democratic counties and Republican counties is growing.

For the seven-day period that ended April 30, the five counties with the highest percentage of registered Republicans saw their vaccination rate grow by an average of 0.27% per day.

By contrast, the five counties with the highest percentage of registered Democrats increased at a more robust rate of 0.44% per day.

If that trend persists, the red-blue divide will continue to widen.

It’s unclear why such strong pockets of resistance to the vaccine exist. Health experts who have studied the data on the vaccines’ effectiveness and relative lack of serious side effects don’t yet have firm answers.

“I think that there’s been a polarization around trust in government,” said Sharfstein, “so when they hear that this is something that can save their lives, they don’t necessarily believe that.”

The “Doc Caucus” video in which Rep. Harris appears doesn’t explicitly reference herd immunity, but lawmakers hint at it.

“I look forward to the freedom that I, along with my loved ones, will regain once the vast majority of Americans are vaccinated,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) says.

According to JHU’s Dr. Sharfstein, it’s too early to know whether the country’s ability to reach herd immunity status is being threatened by those who are refusing to get a shot.

Singer — the health chief in Carroll — remains optimistic, however, saying, “It just may take us longer to get there than what I would like.”

“The vaccine is available now and we can get there quickly — within a month or two, I think. But it may take three or four months because it’s going to take longer for some people to make the decision to get vaccinated.”

By Bruce DePuyt and Brenda Wintrode