During a press conference this afternoon Governor Hogan announced an additional $70 million to be used for emergency response initiatives to battle COVID-19. Federal CARES funding is being released to fund these initiatives.
The $70 million is being allocated as follows:
- $20 million to continue to build and maintain the state’s strategic stockpile of PPE
- $15 million for the Maryland Department of Labor to ramp up the call center, staffing, customer service management software, and the fraud detection program
- $10 million for the Rental Housing Assistance Program to cover rent payments for low-income tenants who have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis
- $10 million for the acquisition of syringes and other necessary vaccination supplies
- $10 million for Maryland food banks as part of Maryland Unites Initiative
- $2 million in emergency supplemental funds for foster care providers to use for staffing, housing, case management, transportation, and cleaning supplies
- $2 million for the Maryland Department of Human Services to increase call handling capacity by adding weekend hours for SNAP benefit and energy assistance
- $1 million for a wastewater sampling program run by the Maryland Department of Health and Maryland Department of Environment to help detect COVID-19 in vulnerable populations including public housing and correctional facilities across the state
Governor’s Press Release
Slides from the Press Conference
More coverage can be found in The Baltimore Sun.
