PLAN TO SPEND FEDERAL STIMULUS AID ANNOUNCED

Governor Larry Hogan and state Democratic legislative leaders are unveiling a bipartisan plan to spend the nearly four-billion dollars Maryland was given in the American Rescue Plan.  The largest amount, one-point-one billion dollars, will be used to replenish the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.  Money will also go toward helping schools safely reopen, emergency relief for state residents and job training.  There’s also a half-billion dollars for infrastructure and state transportation projects, and 300-million dollars to improve broadband Internet access across Maryland.  State lawmakers must still sign off on the spending, which is included in a supplemental budget the governor submitted to the General Assembly on Wednesday.