-
Comptroller Offers Council Support to Extend COVID-19 Alcohol Provisions
Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot has lent his support to a County Council request that the state extend the alcohol delivery and carryout provisions allowed during the COVID-19 emergency. The council made the request, which was signed by all nine councilmembers, in a May 22 letter to Franchot (D) and Gov. Larry Hogan (R).
-
Council Seeks Applicants for Policing Advisory Commission
The County Council looking for applicants to fill its positions on the Policing Advisory Commission created late last year. The commission’s 13 members would be charged with improving council oversight of the county’s police department. In addition, it’s intended to increase the community’s trust in police.
-
Life in the Time of the Coronavirus: Voices from Silver Spring—Evan Glass
Editor’s note: This guest post and photo is from Jonna Huseman, who began the Voices project to document the lives of friends and neighbors in Silver Spring and Takoma Park and how they may have changed since the shelter in place order. It originally appeared on her blog, The Sligo Creek Photographer.
-
Council Continues to Add Funding to Assist During COVID-19 Emergency
The County Council continues to propose and appropriate funding to provide various forms of assistance to county residents during the COVID-19 emergency. The council yesterday unanimously approved a special appropriation of $2 million to be used for emergency eviction prevention and housing stabilization programs via a short-term rental subsidy program to low- and moderate-income households.
-
Council Votes to Limit Residential Rent Increases During COVID-19 Emergency
The County Council voted to limit residential rent increases during the COVID-19 health emergency and for 180 days after the emergency’s expiration. Expedited Bill 18-20, the COVID-19 Renter Relief Act, prohibits landlords from increasing rents on lease renewals more than the county’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs’ rent guidelines of 2.6 percent.
-
County to Stop Accepting COVID-19 Grant Applications
The county will stop accepting applications to a program created to provide funding assistance to business during the COVID-19 emergency. Applications to the Public Health Emergency Grant program will no longer be taken after 5 p.m. Saturday, April 25.
-
Council Approves Another $5 Million in COVID-19 Funding for Local Restaurants, Retailers
The County Council unanimously approved another $5 million in funding for the Public Health Emergency Grant program to assist local restaurants and small retail shops during the COVID-19 emergency. The special appropriation is in addition to the $5 million reserved for those businesses as part of the original $20 million appropriation that created the program.
-
County Accepting Applications for COVID-19 Emergency Grants
The county is now accepting applications from county businesses and nonprofit organizations for the Public Health Emergency Grant program established to assist them during the COVID-19 emergency. The program is designed to provide up to $75,000 in assistance to eligible entities that can demonstrate a “significant financial loss.”
-
Bill Would Prohibit Residential Rent Increases During COVID-19 Emergency
Landlords would not be permitted to increase residential rents during the COVID-19 emergency under the terms of a bill introduced yesterday by Councilmember Will Jawando (D-At Large). Expedited Bill 18-20, Landlord-Tenant Relations – Rent Stabilization During Emergencies (the COVID-18 Renter Relief Act) also would prevent rent increase notices for 30 days after the emergency ends.