Posted on 08/08/24
| News Source: FOX45
At the Board of Public Works meeting on Wednesday morning, Maryland leaders approved over $1.5 billion for 100 initiatives and projects throughout Maryland.
Annapolis, MD - Aug. 8, 2024 - Governor Moore began the meeting by recognizing the efforts of the Department of Labor when it came to assisting the Key Bridge collapse victims and their families.
He also acknowledged the Port of Baltimore workers affected by the aftermath of the bridge collapse that occurred on March 26th.
State officials say since April, the Worker Support Program provided $16 million to 3,300 workers impacted by the port’s closure.
The program also issued 1,191 claims processed during regular unemployment insurance, for a total of $3.3 million.
Department of Labor Deputy Secretary Jason Perkins-Cohen said "38,000 individual checks were issued," and the program assisted port workers and their families within 24 days.
However, Comptroller Lierman and Treasurer Davis expressed concerns during the public works meeting about the emergency procurement modification used for the Worker Support Program.
“I appreciate the challenging situation that the department found itself in and would just ask in the future that we make sure that we’re crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s with the (Maryland) Attorney General before doing this type of substitution,” Comptroller Lierman said. Comptroller Lierman also echoed the governor and treasurer’s comments on how the state’s response to the bridge collapse, and the work of her agency to process approximately 40,000 payments valued around $55 million through port support programs.
“It was a real case study in how government can work well for people and seeing all of the different agencies work together was really inspiring,” Comptroller Lierman added. “On our end, we had team members pulled from other 9 to 5 work they need to do to step up as well to do this work.”
The next meeting of the Board of Public Works is August 28th.