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Annapolis Omnibus COVID-19 Response
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Annapolis Omnibus COVID-19 Response Legislation

Introduced by: Alderman DaJuan Gay, Ward 6

Written & Researched by: Richard DeShay Elliott

        The COVID-19 virus has spread to pandemic levels across the globe, being categorized as such by the World Health Organization on March 11th and forcing Maryland to be placed under a State of Emergency on March 15th. The United States has the most cases of any country in the world, and at time of writing, Maryland has nearly 1,000 cases while Anne Arundel County has 88[1]. Simultaneously, we are experiencing the most rapid economic downturn in American history. 3,283,000 Americans filed for unemployment claims in the last week, nearly 5 times as many as the worst week of the Great Recession[2]. There were 4,517 unemployment claims in just Anne Arundel County during the same period, more than twice as many as the whole state of Maryland in the week prior[3]. This threatens not just working people’s incomes, but their health insurance and housing as well.

        This disastrous combination of a global pandemic and a global economic downturn necessitates urgency to prevent financial ruin for the families of our City. The federally-provided one-time payment of $1200 per adult and $500 per child is not enough to sustain an individual, when one bedroom apartments in Annapolis rent for $1329 a month on average and two bedroom apartment rents average $1660[4]. While federal efforts have put a 60-day moratorium on foreclosures and evictions for those with mortgages, renters are still unprotected[5].

  1. Housing & Utilities
  1. Banking
  1. Labor
  1. City Services
  1. Youth
  1. Seniors
  1. Business Operation
  1. Parking, Towing, and Transit
  1. Healthcare Providers
  1. Election Update
  1. Recommendations to the Anne Arundel County Council & County Executive


[1] https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/

[2] https://www.npr.org/2020/03/26/821580191/unemployment-claims-expected-to-shatter-records 

[3] https://www.wbaltv.com/article/maryland-unemployment-insurance-claims-jump-over-38000-in-one-week/31939363 

[4] https://www.rentjungle.com/average-rent-in-annapolis-md-rent-trends/

[5] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/20/mortgage-relief-coronavirus/

[6] https://jacobinmag.com/2020/03/coronavirus-housing-security-rent-freeze-eviction 

[7] https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-cuomo-cancel-rent-coronavirus-20200325-pt3tnza2c5asvi3zllzvfhlh3a-story.html