As the last troops withdrew from Kabul Airport, the U.S. ended its two-decade long war in Afghanistan with the Taliban, unfortunately, back in power. It is a moment for Afghans, home or abroad, that causes a great deal of grief. In the span of nearly three weeks, the U.S. evacuated roughly 123,000 Afghan civilians, about 5,000 U.S. citizens, with upwards of 80,000 eligible for resettlement in the U.S. either through the Special Immigrant Visas (SIV-visa) or Priority-2 visas. These are special visas for those who’ve aided the U.S. in its efforts in Afghanistan and those who may be potential targets for Taliban retribution. With Maryland receiving 180 Afghan refugees so far and likely more to come, it’s imperative that we live up to our history of welcoming and supporting families fleeing dangerous situations in their home countries. More important, we must reject the anti-refugee sentiment growing among top lawmakers and…

Families across Maryland will have an easier time putting healthy food on the table starting this October, thanks to a long-overdue reform to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps). The Biden administration in mid-August unveiled the first comprehensive reexamination since the 1970s of the dietary standards that determine the program’s benefit levels. The updated standards will help thousands of families across Maryland put food on the table, with especially significant benefits for children, Marylanders of color, and Marylanders with disabilities. The reform is expected to increase Marylanders’ total annual benefits by nearly $350 million, bringing a potential economic boost of $500 million or more. For decades, the federal government has used a backwards process for updating the SNAP benefit levels: Benefit levels are based on the so-called Thrifty Food Plan, a theoretical weekly grocery list intended to meet nutritional requirements at minimal cost. This plan…

When Maryland’s Board of Public Works meets Wednesday, August 11, 2021, the body should vote to halt Gov. Hogan’s misguided proposal to add toll lanes to the Capital Beltway and I-270. The proposal will worsen racial inequity in Maryland’s transportation system, do little to reduce congestion, and undermine efforts to control the growing climate disaster. Instead, the state should strengthen investments in public transportation, including improving existing infrastructure and expanding transit options.  The Board of Public Works plans to vote Wednesday on whether to advance Gov. Hogan’s highway expansion plan to its next step. The plan would create a contract between the state and Accelerate Maryland Partners, a group of private companies, to build new lanes on the Capital Beltway and I-270 with tolls linked to the amount of traffic at any given time. This plan would deepen the state’s already-lopsided focus on roadbuilding over public transportation and would thereby …

Despite ongoing, short-term attempts from federal and state officials to fend off a huge spike in evictions, hundreds of thousands of Marylanders are still living with the threat of an impending eviction. The CDC announced earlier this month that it would extend the federal moratorium on evictions through Oct. 3 after the previous moratorium expired at the beginning of August. However, even this latest extension will not be enough to protect struggling Marylanders, or the millions of other Americans that are still facing financial challenges and will suddenly have a massive rental bill due in just a few weeks. Even before the pandemic, housing instability was a major problem in our state. As hardworking Marylanders know firsthand, wages just haven’t kept up with skyrocketing rent and housing prices. Now almost one-third of householdsin our state spend more than 30% of their income just to cover housing costs. This makes it…

The Maryland Center on Economic Policy is launching a new project to increase public awareness and understanding of Baltimore City’s budget. As the largest city in the state, and a city facing significant challenges related to economic and racial inequity, it is vital that city residents have good information about the choices their elected officials are making. Budget decisions can help or hinder children’s education, economic security for families and communities, and public health and safety. The significant federal funds coming to Baltimore City to help prevent evictions, protect public health, and support other community needs helped shape the current city budget, which went into effect July 1. In introducing the proposed $4.33 billion budget, Mayor Brandon Scott outlined several priorities including youth services, public safety, community health and wellness, neighborhood development and responsible stewardship of city resources. In addition, Mayor Scott established an office to manage the historic federal…

Maryland’s job market isn’t done recovering from the coronavirus recession, despite recent progress. Nearly 200,000 Maryland workers are still unemployed, meaning that they are actively seeking a job but unable to find one. Our economy’s continued weakness underscores the need to support struggling Marylanders rather than pull the rug out from under them. In this context, it’s good news that a court on July 3 temporarily blocked Gov. Hogan’s bid to prematurely cut off unemployment benefits for many out-of-work Marylanders. Benefits for unemployed workers—and our economy’s continued recovery—now depend on the outcome to a challenge of the decision’s legality. Maryland’s Job Market Is Not Done Recovering 190,000 Maryland workers were unemployed in May (the most recent data available), meaning that they were actively looking for a job but unable to find one. Maryland’s unemployment rate stood at 6.1% (seasonally adjusted), down slightly from its level of 6.2% in February through…

The 2021 legislative session opened amid a once-in-a-lifetime public health and economic crisis, and had potential to bring major improvements for Maryland workers. Several pieces of important, beneficial legislation did move forward, but lawmakers did too little to help working Marylanders weather the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen our economy in the long run. When the General Assembly next convenes—either next year or during a special session—legislators should build on this session’s victories and make up for lost time in making Maryland a great place to work. Maryland Essential Workers’ Protection Act The legislature passed this year’s cornerstone worker protection bill—the Maryland Workers’ Protection Act—on the final day of session. This bill strengthens safety protections for essential workers and puts in place a framework for workers to take paid time off to deal with the impacts of a public health emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic. However, lawmakers stripped out many of…

There are still nearly 200,000 Marylanders who are out of work and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in the state still has a way to go. The April state employment data reinforces the need to continue expanded unemployment benefits and other economic supports to ensure out-of-work Marylanders can still afford the basics. This week, Governor Hogan said he plans to end Maryland’s participation in federal pandemic unemployment programs July 3. These programs have been a vital lifeline to hundreds of thousands of Marylanders throughout the pandemic and have prevented the recession from becoming worse. Ending the state’s participation before these programs expire in September essentially means taking available federal relief funds out of unemployed Marylanders pockets. The governor should reverse this decision. Maryland’s unemployment rate in April 2021 was 6.2%, unchanged from March. While below the peak of 9% one year ago, there are still far more people out…

Today’s Tax Day – the federal tax filing deadline – comes after a series of expansions of working family tax credits that will provide critical financial support to low- and moderate-income Marylanders as the state continues to recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes will help hundreds of thousands of Marylanders afford their basic household expenses and are a first step toward a more equitable tax system. The Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit have a long history of reducing the number of children living in poverty. Recent federal and state expansions of the credits will build on that success by increasing the value of the credits and addressing structures that have excluded certain groups from receiving the credits. We know that people will still be struggling to get by on low incomes when the pandemic is fully under control. Policymakers at the federal…

Despite ongoing, short-term attempts to fend off a huge spike in evictions, hundreds of thousands of Marylanders are still living with the threat of an impending eviction as the Maryland General Assembly adjourned without passing emergency eviction prevention legislation. The CDC had extended the federal moratorium on evictions until June 30, however Governor Hogan’s decision to allow eviction filings to continue rendered the CDC’s order an affirmative defense in court rather than its intended purpose, which was to prevent landlords from filing while the order was an effect. As a result, there are currently 120,000-180,000 pending eviction cases across the state of Maryland. Despite Maryland being set to receive more than $800 million for rental assistance from the federal government, landlords can evict without accessing this money and are currently allowed to take housing assistance funds for back rent owed and still evict their tenants. For state-administered funds, they have…