He says this crisis has changed some people.
Frederick, Md (KM) No one knows when the COVID-19 pandemic will end. But when that happens, it may be a while before the economy comes back. That’s according to Frederick County Delegate Jesse Pippy, who was a guest recently on WFMD’s “Success Happens.”
“We don’t know the extent of which businesses are going to reopen because a lot of them are not open now,” he says. “So I think people are under the impression that if we go to a partial opening or a phase reopening, things are going to flip back on. According to the Comptroller, that may not be the case.”
Comptroller Peter Franchot says Maryland could lose $2.8-billion in revenue this fiscal year due to the economic slowdown from the coronavirus outbreak.
Pippy also says when the economy shut down, many business owners and other citizens felt it would only be for a short time, but didn’t figure it would be a long term event.
To help stop the spread of the coronavirus, Governor Larry Hogan ordered all non-essential business to close and people to stay home. . But Pippy says not everything will be the same when the crisis comes to an end and the people get back to some sense of normalcy. “What was told to the mass public was that we’re going to do our part to lower the curve. Once that curve was lowered, I think there was an underlying expectation that we could somewhat get back to normal, open some business,” he said. “And what we’re hearing is that people’s financial situations and mental health is kind of eroding. And people are like ‘where are we now.'”
These closures are having an impact on businesses, especially small companies. “When you crush the small business and the business community, you’re crushing thousands and thousands of lives. There are massive consequences to these actions,” says Pippy.
In March, Congress passed and the President signed a relief package to help people get through the coronavirus pandemic. But Pippy says that included sending a total of $3-trillion in stimulus checks to citizens which will help them pay their bills for one month. “We have run out of options to some extent because we cannot as a country spend $3-trillion a month. It can’t be done,” he says.
Congress is expected to consider another relief bill to help state and local governments with their expenses fighting COVID-19.
By Kevin McManus