Governor Hogan Announces $50.5 Million For School Construction and Economic Development Projects

Will Help Create Jobs and Support Economic Recovery as State Battles COVID-19 Pandemic
Governor Will Soon Propose Larger Economic and Stimulus Relief Package For Families and Small Businesses

ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan today announced $50.5 million for critical capital projects in the State of Maryland, including school construction and economic development projects across the state. To date, the governor has announced more than $700 million in emergency economic relief for Marylanders.

“These shovel-ready projects will help create jobs and lay the foundation for the strongest possible recovery,” said Governor Hogan. “In the coming days, we will be proposing a larger economic and stimulus relief package to provide further support to struggling Marylanders and small businesses.”

This is one of a series of economic announcements the governor has made this week. On Tuesday, the governor announced that Maryland was one of the first states to begin accepting claims and issuing payments for the extended federal pandemic unemployment programs. On Wednesday, he announced that all Maryland SNAP recipients will receive an additional 15% increase in their total benefits beginning this month, while Maryland’s Temporary Cash Assistance families will receive an additional $40 million in benefits.

The governor has approved funding for the following projects: 

$43.5 million for three Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) K-12 capital programs that provide improvements to building systems and school security:

• $30 million will go to MSDE’s Healthy School Facility Fund, which provides grants to public primary and secondary schools to address facility problems that impact the health of students, staff, and other building occupants. Eligible projects include the installation of air conditioning and heating systems, indoor air quality improvements, mold remediation, plumbing upgrades (focused on eliminating the presence of unhealthy levels of lead in drinking water), and window replacements.
• $10 million will go to MSDE’s Public School Safety Grant Program, which provides grants to local education agencies for school security improvements based on deficiencies identified through facility safety risk assessments. 
• $3.5 million will go to the Nonpublic School Security Improvements program, including grants for security and safety improvements to eligible nonpublic schools currently participating in the Maryland Nonpublic Student Textbook Program.

$7 million for two programs through the Department of Housing and Community Development that provide community-based economic development in revitalization areas and near educational and healthcare anchor institutions in blighted areas:

• $3 million will go to the Seed Community Development Anchor Institution Fund, which provides strategic investments in community enhancement projects located near educational and healthcare anchor institutions in blighted areas. The initiative aims to improve conditions in defined blighted areas located in close proximity to the state’s medical and educational institutions by encouraging these institutions to invest.
    
• $4 million will go to the National Capital Strategic Economic Development Fund, which aims to improve the economic potential of blighted areas through blight removal and redevelopment projects, primarily within the I-495 Inner Beltway. Within the program, 85% of funding is reserved for projects located in sustainable communities between I-495 and the District of Columbia.