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Tracking Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds: Maryland & Baltimore City

 February 2022 update

Maryland

Governor Larry Hogan’s proposal for the next budget year includes American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State Fiscal Recovery Fund initiatives which, when the budget was introduced in January, totaled $3.89 billion. From this, $213 million in ARPA funds remain to be allocated. Major highlights of FRF fund allocations, including capital funds, are as follows:

  • Replenishing $900 million in the Unemployment Trust Fund
  • Investing $500 million in transportation consisting mainly of roads and bridge maintenance
  • Investing $400 million toward expanding broadband access
  • $46 million in Blueprint Learning Loss to be distributed to local school districts FY23
  • $327 million for the Blueprint Fund Relief to offset unforeseen costs.
  • $599 million to offset other general fund spending to free up funds to cover the Governor’s Economic Relief Initiative ($250M).

Baltimore City

There have been no further announcements since Mayor Brandon Scott’s last announcement of the use of federal relief funds for broadband access.

The Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs published its ARPA spending report required by the U.S. Department of Treasury Jan. 31. So far, the city has committed $202 million in ARPA funds, with actual expenditures totaling $16.2 million. The breakdown includes:

  • $80 million for COVID-19 Response:
  • $6 million toward expanding broadband access and digital equity:
  • $35 million in Economic Recovery Fund grants to childcare providers, non-profits, and local businesses:
  • $50 million to implement a violence-reduction framework through addressing youth trauma, gun violence, re-entry services, and enhancing community-based organizations:
  • Workforce development: $30 million
  • Personnel and administrative expenses related to distributing direct relief funds: $10.6 million
  • ARPA project consultancy: $600,000
    • University of Baltimore: $438,000
    • Morgan State University: $162,000

The city still has $439 million available for other purposes out of the initial $641 million. Baltimore will receive the second $321 million tranche in May 2022, a year after the first.

Mayor Scott held a virtual ARPA townhall Feb. 8 answering questions and discussing ARPA-related funding. Residents and advocates relayed feedback on the types of investments critical to them, including safe neighborhoods, adequate infrastructure, and affordable housing.

In mid-February, MORP released a public dashboard where the public can view proposals, commitments, spending, and project performance at a high level glance. Each funding amount committed includes a breakdown of its spending, including which category and type of response the funds address. Users can also view proposals by topic, as shown below.

The nonprofits proposal deadline passed Dec. 31, 2021, while the deadline for city and quasi-agencies is Mar. 31, 2022.

Baltimore City Public Schools: Blueprint

A recent blog by MDCEP Research Analyst Christopher Myer outlined that Gov. Hogan’s proposed budget for the budget year starting July 1 underfunds public schools by $140 million. The proposal would undermine the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future school funding reform, with the brunt of the cuts hitting Baltimore City and Prince George’s County schools, $99 million and $27 million respectively. The Education Effort Adjustment, the Blueprint funding stream with the largest cut, is required by law to be fully funded. The Attorney General’s office is determining whether the current law requires the governor to introduce legislation to override these requirements of the Blueprint. In addition, there is still a $14 million gap in funding intended to train staff in preparation for Blueprint reforms. Legislators have this session to fund or underfund these investments.