GOVERNOR HOGAN: Good afternoon. I want to thank Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne Jones for joining us here today for this important announcement.
In the first few weeks of this legislative session, we all came together in a bipartisan way to pass the RELIEF Act of 2021, which was our emergency legislation that provided more than $1 billion in urgently needed tax relief and economic stimulus for struggling Maryland families and small businesses.
It passed with near unanimous support.
A few weeks ago, the federal government followed up with an economic stimulus measure, and before the American rescue plan even became law, our budget team began to hold a series of discussions with legislative leaders regarding the $3.9 billion that the state of Maryland expects to receive from the federal government in an effort to reach an agreement on how to allocate this funding in a way that would be most beneficial to our economic recovery.
I am pleased to announce today that we have once again reached an historic bipartisan agreement on a fiscally responsible budget accord which effectively targets relief to Marylanders most in need. $1.1 billion will go to replenish the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, keeping it solvent and stabilizing unemployment insurance rates for at least the next two calendar years. This shoring up of the unemployment system will help us to continue helping those who need it most while also ensuring that we can provide continuing tax relief for struggling businesses. $800 million will be added to our very successful Maryland emergency economic relief programs to provide for additional relief and economic stimulus to Marylanders in need. Another $600 million will go towards the safe reopening the schools, addressing pandemic-related education costs, including the long-term impacts of learning loss and to fund additional improvements to HVAC ventilation and filtration systems for safer school buildings.
$300 million will be invested in a game-changing broadband technology initiative which will enable us to finally provide the infrastructure and technical assistance to ensure that every single Marylander has access to high-speed internet in every corner of the state.
$100 million more will be added to our nationally recognized employment training and apprenticeship programs.
$100 million will go to support the dedicated state employees who have been providing essential services throughout the pandemic.
$500 million will be invested in infrastructure and transit improvements at the Department of Transportation and the Maryland Transportation Authority.
And finally $300 million will allow us to provide a critical lifeline for struggling Marylanders, including for low-income households with utility bills to temporary cash assistance program, as well as temporary disability insurance payments.
I want to very sincerely thank President Ferguson, Speaker Jones, the budget Chairs in the House and the Senate for working together with Secretary Brinkley and our entire budget team in order to reach agreement on this historic budget accord. With today’s announcement, Maryland has once again shown the nation that people from different parties can still come together, and we can put the people’s priorities first, and that we can deliver real bipartisan, common sense solutions to the serious problems that face us.
With that, I’m going to ask the Senate President and the House Speaker to come up and say a few words.
PRESIDENT FERGUSON: I always forget to take the mask off for this part.
Good afternoon. This is an exciting day. I want to start with the most important part, and that is thanking Governor Hogan and his administration, Speaker Jones and her leadership team, and our Chair of our Budget and Taxation Committee, Senator Guy Guzzone and his team. We would not be here today if it weren’t about collaboration and the spirit of getting things done on behalf of Marylanders.
Over the past year, we have all been pushed to do things very, very differently. Our norms have been upended and disrupted. The Governor spoke of the myriad of investments that are being made today, all of which are critically important to recovery.
I want to focus on one that I think exemplifies what we are really doing here today to build back stronger. As we think about this transition that all of us have faced, I want to speak to the Marylanders who felt like technology allows you to be able to continue your work, your school, your social interactions through all of this. If that happened, you should feel lucky. If you have not had to think about whether or not you can connect but that you only had to focus on the struggles of finding the right link or using the right software or making sure that your device had enough power, you’re one of the lucky ones.
But your livelihood, opportunities for learning, and safely being able to socialize should never have been about luck or zip code. For far too many Marylanders, this transition has not been easy and has not been possible. Not to any fault of individual Marylanders or lack of desire or initiative, but because the technical infrastructure, knowledge, and access was simply not available.
We also know that when we think about investing in a 21st century economy, these issues are not new, but they will have long-lasting implications. The economic forum has said that 9 out of 10 jobs by the year 2030 will require digital literacy. 65 percent of children entering grade school, like my children today, will end up working in jobs that do not exist right now. They do not exist. So the question is not how much does it cost to bridge the digital divide. The question is, how much will it cost if we don’t act right now. And who will be left out of the opportunities of today and tomorrow if we don’t have urgency around this issue.
For all of these reasons, we cannot and will not let disconnectivity exist in the state of Maryland. That’s why we are so excited to be able to announce today a substantial, a historic, a record-breaking investment in order to ensure that we have a broadband infrastructure both on the physical and human knowledge that it takes to make sure that every Marylander can be connected. These appropriations, closing this digital divide, represent just 300 million that will happen across the state of Maryland to close the digital divide and address the immediate needs while most importantly what we are doing is investing in our state’s future. The funds that are allocated for this amendment are tackling the short-term needs but taking a long-term approach. That is why we are here. We are using the support from the Biden Administration, from the U.S. Congress, to close problems today that will set us up for a stronger post-pandemic future. This entire package is incredibly positive news. It is the sign of what we can do together when we focus on solving problems. I am so proud, proud to be here today to know that today, we are taking these steps forward to ensure that Maryland is the leader that our people deserve in the 21st century economy.
Thank you all, and I’m so thrilled to be able to invite up my partner in this work, Speaker Adrienne Jones.
SPEAKER JONES: Good afternoon. Pardon me for not taking off my mask. (Inaudible).
Good afternoon. Today is another great day for bipartisanship in the state of Maryland. The Biden Administration has helped set the state on the road to recovery, with a $3.9 billion coming directly to the state of Maryland for us to help small businesses, students, and struggling Marylanders get back on their feet.
I want to thank Governor Hogan, Senator Brinkley, and Chairs McIntosh and Guzzone to my right here for their collaborative work to get us to this point where we are today.
In addition to the small businesses and unemployment help that the Governor referenced, I want to highlight a few other priorities that the General Assembly has pushed in this collaborative push. Together we will be able to invest an additional half a billion dollars in shovel-ready construction projects to get Marylanders back to work. Outdoor recreational opportunities have been a lifeline for so many during this pandemic. So I’m pleased that we are funding park and playground projects in every single county in this state. Workforce training and helping students recover from the COVID slide were also top priorities for the House Appropriations Committee in this process.
Again, I want to thank Governor Hogan and his team, as well as the budget chairs for helping to ensure that all of the federal stimulus and state fund balance are put to work in the best possible way to help Marylanders who need it right now.
Thank you.
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Thank you very much.
PRESIDENT FERGUSON: Thank you all.
In the first few weeks of this legislative session, we all came together in a bipartisan way to pass the RELIEF Act of 2021, which was our emergency legislation that provided more than $1 billion in urgently needed tax relief and economic stimulus for struggling Maryland families and small businesses.
It passed with near unanimous support.
A few weeks ago, the federal government followed up with an economic stimulus measure, and before the American rescue plan even became law, our budget team began to hold a series of discussions with legislative leaders regarding the $3.9 billion that the state of Maryland expects to receive from the federal government in an effort to reach an agreement on how to allocate this funding in a way that would be most beneficial to our economic recovery.
I am pleased to announce today that we have once again reached an historic bipartisan agreement on a fiscally responsible budget accord which effectively targets relief to Marylanders most in need. $1.1 billion will go to replenish the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, keeping it solvent and stabilizing unemployment insurance rates for at least the next two calendar years. This shoring up of the unemployment system will help us to continue helping those who need it most while also ensuring that we can provide continuing tax relief for struggling businesses. $800 million will be added to our very successful Maryland emergency economic relief programs to provide for additional relief and economic stimulus to Marylanders in need. Another $600 million will go towards the safe reopening the schools, addressing pandemic-related education costs, including the long-term impacts of learning loss and to fund additional improvements to HVAC ventilation and filtration systems for safer school buildings.
$300 million will be invested in a game-changing broadband technology initiative which will enable us to finally provide the infrastructure and technical assistance to ensure that every single Marylander has access to high-speed internet in every corner of the state.
$100 million more will be added to our nationally recognized employment training and apprenticeship programs.
$100 million will go to support the dedicated state employees who have been providing essential services throughout the pandemic.
$500 million will be invested in infrastructure and transit improvements at the Department of Transportation and the Maryland Transportation Authority.
And finally $300 million will allow us to provide a critical lifeline for struggling Marylanders, including for low-income households with utility bills to temporary cash assistance program, as well as temporary disability insurance payments.
I want to very sincerely thank President Ferguson, Speaker Jones, the budget Chairs in the House and the Senate for working together with Secretary Brinkley and our entire budget team in order to reach agreement on this historic budget accord. With today’s announcement, Maryland has once again shown the nation that people from different parties can still come together, and we can put the people’s priorities first, and that we can deliver real bipartisan, common sense solutions to the serious problems that face us.
With that, I’m going to ask the Senate President and the House Speaker to come up and say a few words.
PRESIDENT FERGUSON: I always forget to take the mask off for this part.
Good afternoon. This is an exciting day. I want to start with the most important part, and that is thanking Governor Hogan and his administration, Speaker Jones and her leadership team, and our Chair of our Budget and Taxation Committee, Senator Guy Guzzone and his team. We would not be here today if it weren’t about collaboration and the spirit of getting things done on behalf of Marylanders.
Over the past year, we have all been pushed to do things very, very differently. Our norms have been upended and disrupted. The Governor spoke of the myriad of investments that are being made today, all of which are critically important to recovery.
I want to focus on one that I think exemplifies what we are really doing here today to build back stronger. As we think about this transition that all of us have faced, I want to speak to the Marylanders who felt like technology allows you to be able to continue your work, your school, your social interactions through all of this. If that happened, you should feel lucky. If you have not had to think about whether or not you can connect but that you only had to focus on the struggles of finding the right link or using the right software or making sure that your device had enough power, you’re one of the lucky ones.
But your livelihood, opportunities for learning, and safely being able to socialize should never have been about luck or zip code. For far too many Marylanders, this transition has not been easy and has not been possible. Not to any fault of individual Marylanders or lack of desire or initiative, but because the technical infrastructure, knowledge, and access was simply not available.
We also know that when we think about investing in a 21st century economy, these issues are not new, but they will have long-lasting implications. The economic forum has said that 9 out of 10 jobs by the year 2030 will require digital literacy. 65 percent of children entering grade school, like my children today, will end up working in jobs that do not exist right now. They do not exist. So the question is not how much does it cost to bridge the digital divide. The question is, how much will it cost if we don’t act right now. And who will be left out of the opportunities of today and tomorrow if we don’t have urgency around this issue.
For all of these reasons, we cannot and will not let disconnectivity exist in the state of Maryland. That’s why we are so excited to be able to announce today a substantial, a historic, a record-breaking investment in order to ensure that we have a broadband infrastructure both on the physical and human knowledge that it takes to make sure that every Marylander can be connected. These appropriations, closing this digital divide, represent just 300 million that will happen across the state of Maryland to close the digital divide and address the immediate needs while most importantly what we are doing is investing in our state’s future. The funds that are allocated for this amendment are tackling the short-term needs but taking a long-term approach. That is why we are here. We are using the support from the Biden Administration, from the U.S. Congress, to close problems today that will set us up for a stronger post-pandemic future. This entire package is incredibly positive news. It is the sign of what we can do together when we focus on solving problems. I am so proud, proud to be here today to know that today, we are taking these steps forward to ensure that Maryland is the leader that our people deserve in the 21st century economy.
Thank you all, and I’m so thrilled to be able to invite up my partner in this work, Speaker Adrienne Jones.
SPEAKER JONES: Good afternoon. Pardon me for not taking off my mask. (Inaudible).
Good afternoon. Today is another great day for bipartisanship in the state of Maryland. The Biden Administration has helped set the state on the road to recovery, with a $3.9 billion coming directly to the state of Maryland for us to help small businesses, students, and struggling Marylanders get back on their feet.
I want to thank Governor Hogan, Senator Brinkley, and Chairs McIntosh and Guzzone to my right here for their collaborative work to get us to this point where we are today.
In addition to the small businesses and unemployment help that the Governor referenced, I want to highlight a few other priorities that the General Assembly has pushed in this collaborative push. Together we will be able to invest an additional half a billion dollars in shovel-ready construction projects to get Marylanders back to work. Outdoor recreational opportunities have been a lifeline for so many during this pandemic. So I’m pleased that we are funding park and playground projects in every single county in this state. Workforce training and helping students recover from the COVID slide were also top priorities for the House Appropriations Committee in this process.
Again, I want to thank Governor Hogan and his team, as well as the budget chairs for helping to ensure that all of the federal stimulus and state fund balance are put to work in the best possible way to help Marylanders who need it right now.
Thank you.
GOVERNOR HOGAN: Thank you very much.
PRESIDENT FERGUSON: Thank you all.