Coronavirus Relief Sends $112 Million To Anne Arundel: Expert

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Recently-passed coronavirus relief will send more than $100 million to the Anne Arundel County government. Additional payments will go to local residents and businesses.

The exact benefits differ between industries, however. One expert explained these nuances and how the stimulus directly affects Anne Arundel County.

Patch recently partnered with several local organizations to bring you their latest news. This guest contribution comes from the Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce. Here's what President and CEO Mark Kleinschmidt wrote economic aid:

"As ... vaccinations are going up[,] many businesses are becoming more optimistic that economic activity will pick up. We are on the road to recover from the COVID recession, but every business needs cash flow to move forward.

We have been fighting the economic impact of COVID-19 for a whole year. Many businesses have struggled to keep afloat and unfortunately many were forced to close their doors because cash flow just dried up. All levels of government played an important role to help large and small businesses by establishing programs to [offer] financial assistance and help reduce operating costs, both of which helped with the cash flow of a business.

After a heated political debate in Washington, the Biden Administration was able to finalize a $1.9 billion relief package to help struggling Americans, support small business and stimulate the over all economy. The bill is formally known as the American Rescue Plan of 2021 but let’s refer to it as “The ARP”.

It touched a wide range of pandemic related issues and provided funding to address them. ARP provided money for state and local governments, direct payments to taxpayers, tax credits, updates to unemployment benefits, small business assistance, funding for schools, vaccine roll out, the airline industry, housing assistance and a host of other areas.

It is virtually impossible to comprehend the magnitude of spending this amount of money but let me try and highlight the elements that are important for businesses located here in Anne Arundel County.

State and Local Government Aid

Many states were hit hard by the pandemic and saw tax revenues go down while the demand for services went up. The ARP provides $350 billion to state and local governments from this, Maryland will receive $6.2 billion, Anne Arundel [County] will receive $112 million and the City of Annapolis will ... receive $6 million. There are restrictions for the use of the money so stay tuned to see what our local elected officials plan to do.

Stimulus Checks to Citizens

Individual taxpayers making up to $75,000 will receive a stimulus check of $1,400. This payment will put additional cash into the hands of consumers who will hopefully spend it which will help stimulate further economic activity.

Expanded Unemployment Benefits

Last year the unemployment rate jumped to 13%. While it has come down from this high point, many people are still unemployed. The ARP adds an extra $300 per week payment to unemployment benefits provided by the state and these payments will last through September 6, 2021.

Financial Assistance for Small Businesses

Over 70% of chamber members have [taken] advantage of some type of financial assistance provided by the government. The most popular program was the Payroll Protection Program. The ARP adds $7.25 billion to the PPP, allows the loans to be forgivable and in many cases nontaxable. An [additional] $15 billion was made available through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program to help low-income communities and businesses with fewer than 300 employees.

Help for Restaurants and Entertainment Venues

The pandemic hit restaurants and entertainment venues exceptionally hard. Earlier relief packages did not provide specific support for these two important local industries, but the ARP contains $25 billion for restaurants and $1.25 billion for entertainment venues.

Funding for airports and airlines

The airline industry and airports were severely impacted by the economic slowdown and had to lay off and furlough employees and [ARP] contains funding for the airline industry ($14 billion) and airports ($8 billion) to help them get it back in the air. This is good news for BWI and airlines such as Southwest that [have] big operations in the area.

Housing: rental assistance

Given the spike in unemployment[,] many residents were unable to make their rental payments. On a national level, the ARP provides $27.4 billion in emergency rental housing assistance. This will not only keep people in their houses, but it will also allow landlords to continue to make loan payments which will head [off] a housing finance crisis.

While we are not out of the woods yet, the ARP will provide [much-needed] relief in the form of cash flow for local businesses. Every business should invest time to see how the ARP and many of the programs offered by the State of Maryland can help their business stay afloat and succeed.

Mark Kleinschmidt is the President and CEO of the Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce located in Annapolis, MD."

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Have a story idea? Please contact me at jacob.baumgart@patch.com with any pitches, tips or questions. Follow me on Twitter @JacobBaumgart and on Facebook @JacobBaumgartJournalist to stay up-to-date with the latest Anne Arundel County and Prince George's County news.