MRA’s Updates from Annapolis

Roadmap to Recovery
Governor Larry Hogan announced his “Maryland Strong: Roadmap to Recovery” plan today. The plan details broad measures deemed important to re-opening the economy in Maryland. These measures include the establishment of a series of industry-focused task forces, and MRA’s president Cailey Locklair has been chosen to serve on the Retail-Tourism Task Force.

Next Thursday will mark a month since the official stay-at-home order closed all non-essential businesses. Since then, countless businesses have been forced to lay off employees, take out loans, and watched as their savings evaporated. According to a recent survey conducted by our partners at National Federation of Independent Businesses, half of small businesses wont be able to survive more than a month or two under current conditions. Governor Hogan expressed that he hopes that Maryland can take steps to re-open the economy in May, though any action will be dependent on the progression of COVID-19 in the state. MRA will be pushing hard to reopen businesses safely as soon as possible.

You can view the Roadmap to Recovery here.

Maryland State Taxes
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Comptroller Franchot extended the deadline to file business and personal taxes in Maryland to July 15. There has been some confusion as to whether businesses who have not filed their taxes with the Comptroller will be able to access State COVID-19 funding; representative from the Office of the Comptroller are assuring the public that any such roadblocks to funding are not related to the taxes collected by the Comptroller, and that business taxes may continue to be filed up until the July 15 deadline.

A graphic from the Office of the Comptroller regarding new tax deadlines is available here.