Commentary

The road to pandemic unemployment benefits in Maryland is long and fraught with difficulties. Applicants endure endless processing delays and unanswered calls, and tens of thousands of Marylanders have endured lengthy delays waiting for the Maryland Department of Labor to process their applications for benefits. If you call the claimant hotline today (667-207-6520), chances are high no one will answer your call. Even if you finally gain access to benefits, the department may demand you pay them back, threatening possible legal action via inexplicable and abruptly assessed overpayment notices.

Well done, Maryland. The state deserves a pat on the back, an atta-boy — or these woke days more appropriately an atta-person — as it proceeds to phase out its Big Top vaccination sites and take its needles directly to communities and even neighborhood hangouts. The state — our state — ranks in the top percentile of those that’ve completed the most COVID shots — more than 6.2 million and more than 3 million fully vaccinated — to be exact, eight slots ahead of neighboring Virginia and five notches ahead of the District of Columbia, to complete the DMV roundelay, and eighth by actual count among the 50 states.

At the end of May, Gov. Larry Hogan issued his last round of legislative decisions, vetoing more than 20 bills in total and letting hundreds of others go into effect without his signature, bringing to an end the state’s legislative work this year. It was a year like no other. The legislature held its full 90-day session in Annapolis during the pandemic and accomplished a great deal. Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne Jones deserve credit for establishing strict health protocols that helped avoid a COVID-19 outbreak and kept legislators, staff, media and the public safe.

At the end of May, Gov. Larry Hogan issued his last round of legislative decisions, vetoing more than 20 bills in total and letting hundreds of others go into effect without his signature, bringing to an end the state’s legislative work this year. It was a year like no other. The legislature held its full 90-day session in Annapolis during the pandemic and accomplished a great deal.

“Did you see the piece Josh Kurtz wrote about lieutenant governor picks?” my husband Bruce asked the other day [“The Paradox of Finding a Candidate for Lt. Governor,” June 1]. I hadn’t. So, of course, I immediately picked up my phone. I grimaced when I saw an awful picture of myself with Ben Jealous, Jamie Raskin and Justin Fairfax at an event almost three years and many centuries ago. I told my husband chuckling that if Josh Kurtz was that focused on Justin Fairfax, I had a much better picture with him (tucked away) that I could have shared.

Even as local governments ponder how to shower tens of millions of dollars in American Rescue Plan assistance on distressed businesses, Maryland workers eligible for enhanced unemployment payments under the same federal legislation are getting word of an early end to that extra $300. Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday announced that the enhanced payments will stop on July 3 in Maryland and that work search requirements will be reinstated. Why?