Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Friday ordered all Maryland agencies to immediately implement a hiring and spending freeze, with exceptions for coronavirus-related expenses and payroll.
“In addition to defeating this invisible enemy, this killer virus, and saving thousands of lives, there is nothing more important to me than getting our economy and our people back on their feet,” the Republican governor said at a press conference.
The Maryland Department of Budget and Management will make recommendations for budget cuts that will be required for all agencies, Mr. Hogan said, noting that will include reductions in mandated spending.
He also said he won’t sign into law any legislation on his desk that includes increased spending.
Maryland has reported close to 7,000 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, with 171 residents dying in the state, which has a population of 6 million, Mr. Hogan said.
Mr. Hogan this week established strike teams to support overburdened nursing homes and long term care facilities with testing, supplies and medical care. Mr. Hogan said those teams were deployed to nine nursing homes and 15 facilities with “medically fragile children.”
The state is building a decontamination site for personal protective equipment that will be able to sanitize 80,000 respirator masks per day at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
The state also is spending $2.5 million to set up a lab with the University of Maryland School of Medicine that can conduct 20,000 coronavirus tests per day.
Mr. Hogan is also creating a registry to collect plasma from those who have recovered from the coronavirus to study for clues on how to address COVID-19.
• Sophie Kaplan can be reached at skaplan@washingtontimes.com.
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