In the latest Weekly Wright Report:
Relief Programs for Businesses and Workers Affected by the Key Bridge Collapse
By: Andrew M. Glick
The Francis Scott Key Bridge fell on March 26, 2024 after being struck by the nearly 1,000-foot cargo ship, MV Dali, which lost power shortly after leaving the Port of Baltimore. The downing of the bridge and the Dali remaining in the channel are blocking cargo traffic in and out of the Patapsco River and disrupting daily operations at the Port. The Army Corps of Engineers expects to reopen and restore full access to the 700-foot-wide by 50-foot-deep main channel by the end of May. In the meantime, the economic impact of the bridge’s collapse on Baltimore, the state of Maryland, and the country as a whole is immense.
The Port yields an annual economic impact of $70 billion and supports thousands of businesses and workers. The Port accounts for approximately $3.3 billion in annual personal income for individuals. According to the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, the Port generates more than 15,000 jobs, including W-2 employees, labor union workers and 1099 contractors. There are nearly 140,000 additional jobs affected to some extent by the Port’s activities.
As a result of the catastrophe, many employees and contractors are out of work and businesses are struggling to continue operations. With businesses losing revenue and workers going without pay, Maryland has implemented several relief programs to financially support workers and businesses affected by the incident.
Maryland Protecting Opportunities and Regional Trade (“PORT”) Act
Under the PORT Act, the Department of Labor has established temporary relief programs to provide assistance to individual workers, while the Department of Commerce and Department of Housing and Community Development has established temporary relief programs to provide assistance to businesses, trade associations, and companies. The Act has allocated $60 million from state reserves and various departmental budgets for assistance to businesses and individuals at the Port. The Act requires an individual, business, trade association, or company that is compensated through indemnification or other similar means for the same purpose for which assistance is provided under the applicable program to repay any monetary assistance received within six months after receipt of the nonprogram compensation.
Port of Baltimore Worker Support Program
The Worker Support Program provides temporary cash assistance to eligible workers who have lost income and work hours due to the reduction in Port operations following the bridge collapse. The $15 million program established through the PORT Act will be administered by the Department of Labor. The program is not a loan, rather, it’s a monthly allotment of cash. Applications should be submitted within 60 days of April 22, and the program will end when all funds are distributed.
The program will provide $430 every week to Port workers with reduced pay who worked at the Port of Baltimore at least 25 times or made at least $5,000 dollars between January 1 to March 26, 2024. Employees of Port businesses, independent contractors, solo owner-operators, and the self-employed who work at the Port’s public and private terminals are all eligible for the program. Eligible workers may qualify for the program in addition to receiving Unemployment Insurance (“UI”) if UI benefits are less than their previous income from work at the Port. Every two weeks, workers will receive an eligibility email requiring the certification that their income remains lower than before the bridge collapse.
Port of Baltimore Worker Retention Program
The Worker Retention Program was established by the Department of Labor to help employers keep their employees and avert layoffs as the Port recovers from the bridge collapse. The $12.5 million program provides up to $200,000 in grant funding to pay employee wages, with a maximum expenditure of $7,500 per worker, as well as subsidize supportive services for workers such as skills training, transportation, childcare, and housing costs.
Eligible applicants are Maryland-based small businesses, labor unions, trade associations, or companies that contract with or are members of a trade association who rely on access to the private and public marine terminals at the Port, and whose activities are hindered or halted entirely due to reduced Port operations. All applicants must be in good standing with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation and the Comptroller. Applicants must be committed to resuming operations to the fullest extent practicable once the Port resumes full operation, and businesses should avoid layoffs and maintain their workforce at the same hours, rates of pay, and benefits that were in effect before the reduced operations of the Port for at least 60 days.
Grantees must spend all program dollars within 60 days of receipt. Unspent grant funds must be returned to the Department of Labor. Spent funding does not need to be repaid, except upon receipt of any funds from insurance or other filed claims. Applications have been accepted since April 12 and will continue to be accepted until grant funds are exhausted.
Port of Baltimore Emergency Business Assistance Program
The Department of Commerce established the Emergency Business Assistance Program to help businesses replace lost revenue, cover inflated costs and remain at the Port while cleanup of the bridge continues. The Secretary of Commerce has allocated $15 million to provide grants of no more than $100,000 to eligible businesses that intend to continue operating at the Port once regular cargo shipping resumes. Businesses with between two and 500 full-time equivalent W-2 employees in Maryland whose operations or shipments have been hindered or halted since the bridge collapse can use the grants to cover expenses such as rent, utilities, maintenance, fuel, supplies, insurance premiums and payroll. The Business Assistance Program will terminate no later than one year following the rescission of the State of Emergency or when the program’s allocation has been spent, whichever comes first.
Neighborhood BusinessWorks Program
The Department of Housing and Community Development has allocated $15 million for small businesses impacted by the bridge collapse through the Neighborhood BusinessWorks Program. Businesses with 500 or fewer employees are eligible for grants up to $50,000 or low-interest loans up to $500,000 after demonstrating economic and financial injury resulting from the bridge incident.
United States Small Business Administration
Temporary relief programs established under the PORT Act are separate from federal low-interest loans offered through the United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”). The SBA has deemed mid-Atlantic businesses impacted by the bridge collapse eligible for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (“EIDL”) of up to $2 million to help overcome temporary loss of revenue. Small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small aquaculture businesses and private nonprofit organizations are all eligible to apply for loans that may be used to pay normal operating expenses. Businesses and employees cannot use multiple state or federal grants to cover the same costs, nor can they use the grant funding to pay off state or federal disaster loans. The filing deadline for the EIDL application is December 30, 2024.
If you are a business owner or worker impacted by the Key Bridge collapse and disruption to the Port of Baltimore, the experienced attorneys at Wright, Constable & Skeen, LLP can help you navigate the complexities of obtaining the economic relief you deserve.
