This past week the Maryland General Assembly took the extraordinary step to end the legislative session early; a measure we haven’t taken since the outbreak of the Civil War. We made the decision to adjourn after fulfilling our constitutional duty of passing a balanced budget and after passing critical legislation aimed at assisting Marylanders during the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic. I firmly believe this was the right decision to preserve the health and safety of our members, staff, and constituents.
I’m writing you today to provide you with a brief update of the situation here in Maryland and to highlight some of the steps your government has taken to ensure ever member of our community is best positioned to persevere during this time of great challenge. I have also provided you with several resources you might find of import in the coming weeks.
Resources for Employees and Small Businesses
The Governor has declared a state of emergency which will have a significant effect on employees and small businesses across our state. Before we adjourned the General Assembly passed the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Protection Act of 2020 (SB1080/HB1663), emergency legislation aimed at assisting employees and small businesses during this crisis. The bill prohibits an employer from terminating an employee solely because the employee has been required to isolate or quarantine.
The Maryland Department of Commerce is administering low-interest loans and grants to qualifying small business with under 50 employees. Click here for more information.
Resources for Employees
Sick Leave: Under the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act, an employer with 15 or more employees (with specified exceptions) must have a sick and safe leave policy under which an employee earns at least 1 hour of paid sick and safe leave, at the same rate as the employee normally earns, for every 30 hours an employee works. An employer with 14 or fewer employees, based on the average monthly number of employees during the preceding year, must at least have a sick and safe leave policy that provides an employee with at least 1 hour of unpaid sick and safe leave for every 30 hours an employee works. An employer must allow an employee to use earned sick and safe leave to care for or treat the employee’s mental or physical illness, injury, or condition.
Unemployment Insurance (UI): The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Protection Act of 2020 ensures that our State is ready to extend unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to workers who are temporarily out of work or quarantined due to COVID–19 by expanding the employees able to apply for unemployment insurance to employees who:
-
- 1) are not able to attend work because their work has temporarily ceased operations due to COVID-19;
- 2) are quarantined due to COVID-19 exposure; and,
- 3) leave employment
Click here to find the steps to apply for UI.
Resources for Small Businesses
Should your business or employment be affected by COVID-19, please visit Maryland’s dedicated site for COVID-19’s effects on employees and employers.
COVID-19 Update
You can see a current count of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Maryland here. The leadership of the General Assembly also has established the Joint COVID-19 Response Legislative Workgroup, of which I will serve as a member. Please click here for a comprehensive list of updated information on COVID-19’s effect on our state government.
Governor Hogan has also issued several executive orders aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19 in Maryland:
- Postponing Maryland’s April 28, 2020 Primary Election to June 2, 2020.
- Closing all bars, restaurants, movie theaters, and gyms (drive-thru and carryout will still be allowed).
- Closing of all shopping malls.
- Limiting public gatherings to ten people or less.
- Reopening closed hospitals (adding up to 6,000 hospital beds).
- Expediting licensing for retired, inactive, or out-of-state health practitioners.
- Activating 1,000 members of the National Guard.
- Preventing utilities companies from shutting off service or charging late fees.
- Banning evictions of tenants.
- Closing all Maryland public schools
- Schools will be closed from Monday, March 16, through Friday, March 27, 2020.
- To find out more information about how you and your student can stay connected to the classroom during this period, please read the Montgomery County Public School’s COVID-19 update here.
- During the school closure, students up to 18 years old may access Montgomery County Public School’s meals service for breakfast and lunch in several locations, including Montgomery Blair High School. Click here for a longer list of details and locations. Click here for a map of locations near you.
As always, if there is any way I can assist you please contact my office at will.smith@senate.state.md.us.