Governor Wes Moore Signs Executive Order to Provide Temporary Economic and Financial Relief to Businesses and Workers Impacted by Key Bridge Collapse

On Friday, Governor Wes Moore signed an executive order that directs $60 million to provide immediate temporary economic relief to support businesses and workers impacted by the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.

Per the news release: The executive order allows the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor to begin planning for the efficient implementation of the business and worker relief programs under the Maryland Protecting Opportunities and Regional Trade (PORT) Act; authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development to utilize existing funds to provide grants and loans to businesses; and directs state agencies to identify potential funds, and existing programs and services that may be deployed to support impacted businesses and workers to supplement the temporary economic relief programs.

“The Port of Baltimore is one of our state’s vital economic organs and the thousands of workers and businesses that depend on Port operations have been directly impacted by the Key Bridge collapse,” said Gov. Moore. “As we work as quickly – and as safely – as possible to clear the debris and open the commercial shipping channels, we are working in partnership with our partners at the local and federal levels of government, private sector, nonprofit sector, and philanthropic sector to respond to this economic crisis with the urgency that it deserves.”

The Governor’s Executive Order, authorizes $25 million to be utilized from the Rainy Day Fund and $35 million from existing agency budgets. In addition, the Executive Order:

• Directs the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor to formally establish the programs as identified by the PORT Act to allow the agencies to begin building the programs. The Executive Order stipulates that these programs cannot be formalized until the enactment of the PORT Act.
• Directs the following expenditures:
  • $15 million to the Port of Baltimore Emergency Business Assistance Program at the Department of Commerce to provide grants up to $100,000 to businesses directly impacted by the disruption of Port operations;
  • $12.5 million to the Port of Baltimore Worker Retention Program at the Department of Labor to provide grants to directly impacted businesses who are at risk of laying off employees to keep those workers on the job; and
  • $15 million to the Port of Baltimore Worker Support Program at the Department of Labor to provide temporary financial support to workers who work regularly at the Port and are ineligible for unemployment insurance benefits.
  • Directs $15 million in Neighborhood BusinessWorks program within the Department of Housing and Community Development to provide grants and low-interest loans to eligible businesses that have been impacted by a loss of revenue or an increase to costs relating to the Key Bridge collapse.
• Directs the Governor’s Office of Small, Minority, and Women Business Affairs to provide technical assistance to impacted businesses seeking state and federal business assistance.
• Directs the Department of Health and the Department of Human Services to identify services and programs that may be deployed to support displaced workers and impacted businesses.
• Directs the Maryland State Department of Education to identify services and programs – including child care programs – that may be deployed to support displaced workers.
• Directs the Department of Service and Civic Innovation to identify opportunities for Maryland Corps, the Service Year Option Program, and other DSCI programs to contribute to the recovery of the Greater Baltimore region.

For more information, see the Fact Sheet on Governor Moore’s Executive Order.