Childcare is Scarce in Maryland — and the Pandemic Made Matters Worse

Katelynn Winebrenner and Laura Shaughnessy, Capital News Service • July 16, 2024


Halfway through her 12-week maternity leave last summer, Sarah Haddaway didn’t expect the trouble that would accompany her search for childcare.

 

After unexpected rejections from one fully booked childcare facility after another, the lifelong resident of Maryland’s western panhandle began calling every provider she could find.

 

Almost 11 months later, Haddaway’s son Brooks — who just turned 1 — is on at least seven providers’ waitlists. He’s been on those waitlists since the end of July 2023.

 

“It’s a nightmare,” said Haddaway, who is from Frostburg, in Allegany County. “There is no opening anywhere you look. It’s like winning the lottery.”

 

Parents across Maryland and the nation face the same struggle for one simple reason: the number of children who need childcare exceeds the number of slots available in child care facilities.

 

The covid-19 pandemic made matters worse. Maryland lost 15% of its childcare providers and nearly 7% of its child care slots from Jan. 1, 2020, through Jan. 1, 2024, according to state statistics retrieved by the Local News Network. Those stats show that the number of childcare slots in Maryland fell by 15,152 in those four years.

 

Some Maryland counties experienced especially dramatic changes. St. Mary’s County, in Southern Maryland, lost more than a quarter of its providers. Caroline County, on the Eastern Shore, lost nearly a quarter of its childcare slots.

 

In other words, in many parts of Maryland and the nation, childcare has gone missing. In this project, the Local News Network details how and why it happened and what can be done about it. Included is a county-by-county-look at childcare trends, which readers can access here.

 


It’s not just Maryland families who struggle to find childcare. A national survey of 2,000 Americans conducted in November 2023 for Care.com, a company that tries to match families with caregivers, found 65% of families with young children had spent time on childcare waitlists.

 

Many childcare providers nationwide left the business amid the pressures of the pandemic, said Dr. Jay Belsky, a child psychologist and professor of human development at the University of California, Davis. He said that’s one reason why families struggle to find childcare in a nation that, unlike many others, doesn’t offer consistent federal support for it.

 

“What covid showed us was how fragile the childcare system was,” Belsky said. “We don’t have a childcare system. We have a non-system.”

 

‘Super, super difficult’

 

Childcare providers closed their doors in recent years for a variety of reasons tied to one central fact: their work is harder now. In a Local News Network survey of 256 current childcare providers in Maryland, 62.5% said their jobs have become more difficult since the start of the covid-19 pandemic.

 

Asked to cite the challenges they face, 57.4% of childcare providers listed financial stability, while 48% cited burdensome state regulations — issues that are connected, according to many providers. Meanwhile, 46.5% of the providers surveyed said they struggled to hire quality staff.

 

Childcare providers who left the business in recent years echoed those concerns.

 

Ben Stelle founded Kidpower at Silver Spring International in 2003 under a contract with Montgomery County that allowed him to work directly out of a school.

 

“It’s super, super, super difficult to turn a profit if you don’t have the kind of sweetheart deal that I had,” Stelle said. “Unless you were getting subsidized and had your own sort of small monopoly on a school area, you were out of luck.”

 

He attributed this mostly to Maryland state regulations, which require that childcare centers have one adult employee for every three children under the age of 2. 

 

“You couldn’t turn a profit because you couldn’t stay affordable at the ratios that were being forced upon you,” Stelle said.

 

Raven Hill, a spokeswoman for the Maryland State Department of Education — which oversees childcare in the state — said there’s a good reason the state requires more staff to supervise the youngest children.

 

“The 1:3 staff-to-child ratio for infants ensures that children receive high-quality care and activities,” Hill said. “Younger children typically need more care and attention, and smaller group sizes allow adults to interact more easily with each child and respond to their unique individual needs.”

 

Stelle decided to leave the childcare business, ending his contract with the county before the end of the 2021 school year, for reasons other than state regulations. He said he was fatigued after decades of working with children.

 

“The glamor of it wore off,” he said.

 

Candace Hall, who operated a childcare facility out of her home in Montgomery County, cited a different reason for why she closed her operation in 2021.

 

“The last licensor specialist I had was extremely rude and demeaning,” Hall said in response to the Local News Network survey. “I decided after that last inspection, I would have to close down as I will not be disrespected in my own home.”

 

Meanwhile, Maxine Seidman — who owned and operated Play Keepers Inc. out of a school in Randallstown for 40 years — said her income fell as the pandemic prompted parents to keep their children at home. Some of her staffers left, too.

 

“Certainly none of us were making the kind of money we were making before, which wasn’t a whole heck of a lot,” Seidman said. “But this made it very difficult to get staff after covid.”

 

The struggle to stay afloat during the pandemic was unlike anything she had experienced.

 

“It was very distressing,” she said.

 

Seidman decided to retire in 2021. But now she’s concerned about the availability of childcare in Baltimore County, which state statistics show lost 1,821 childcare slots between the start of 2020 and the start of 2024.

 

“I worry about some of the families,” Seidman said. “Who is taking care of their children? I wonder where those children are.”

 

A frustrating search

 

Many Maryland parents also wonder where the childcare providers are.

 

Noor Shakeel said she knew finding childcare in Montgomery County would be a struggle.

 

“I was always stressed out, hearing from my friends’ experiences,” said Shakeel, who lives in Germantown.

 

To alleviate that stress, Shakeel’s parents cared for her son until he was 18 months old. At that point, she could tell he wanted and needed more socialization.

 

Shakeel and her husband tried to keep an open mind when they started touring childcare centers, but she came across obstacles.

 

“Distance, safety and money,” Shakeel said. “Those are the three big factors.”

 

The process is also long, she said.

 

“It comes to a point when you don’t have a choice other than to settle,” she said.

 

Eventually, Shakeel’s mother-in-law connected them to a family friend who happened to have an opening in her in-home day care.

 

“We just got lucky,” Shakeel said.

 

Other parents are not as fortunate.

 

Masha Mukhina, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Maryland, moved to Prince George’s County in 2023. Colleagues advised her to add her son, who is now almost 2 years old, to the waitlist for Bright Horizons, a childcare center in College Park affiliated with the university.

 

Much to her surprise, her son continues to be on the waitlist and has even dropped down a few spots due to aging out of the infant group into the toddler group.

 

“Children move from this waiting list in and out based on age, and I’m supposed to be on the priority list as an employee of the university,” said Mukhina, who ended up hiring a nanny to care for her son. “And I don’t think it gets me any priority because everyone, more or less, on that waiting list is in the same position.”

 

Several childcare providers said availability is especially tight for families seeking care for children under the age of 2.

 

“Because of the regulations and because of the guidelines that surround children under the age of 2, many of the providers and centers are no longer taking infants, which is making it harder to find infant care or childcare for children under 2 throughout the state of Maryland, not just Baltimore," said Brenda Velez-Jimenez, who operates Brenda’s Little Monkey Daycare in Catonsville, in Baltimore County.

 

A continuing struggle

 

As difficult as it is for families to find quality childcare now, some providers across Maryland fear the situation will get worse before it gets better.

 

For one thing, the federal government offered temporary aid totaling about $24 billion to prop up the childcare industry during the pandemic. That program expired in September 2023.

 

On top of that, several providers noted they face new competition from unlicensed providers that popped up during the pandemic and operate without the same costly restrictions imposed by state regulations.

 

“You’ve got other children’s neighbors that are providing unlicensed care,” Velez-Jimenez said.

 

Velez-Jimenez criticized the state for not doing anything about those unlicensed providers, but Hill, the Maryland State Department of Education spokeswoman, begged to differ.

 

“The Office of Child Care investigates all illegal childcare complaints within 10 days of receipt,” she said. “A cease-and-desist letter is issued to providers informing them that they must stop providing childcare if they are doing so.”

 

Other childcare providers expressed fears about another new competitor: the new state pre-K program for 3- and 4-year-olds to be implemented over the next few years under the state’s education reform plan, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.

 

While private childcare providers are being counted on to join the pre-K program, some worry they will lose clients — and income — once the state starts offering free pre-K to 3- and 4-year-olds.

 

“We are terrified that if we lose our 3- and 4-year-olds, you’re going to see centers closing down right and left because there won’t be enough income to support the teachers who work there,” said Flora Gee, pedagogical administrator at the Greenbelt Children’s Center in Prince George’s County.

 

Gee said her facility has already been losing teachers to public schools that pay twice as much, and she isn’t the only childcare provider who worries about staff shortages.

 

“Finding and retaining competent employees who align with my day care facility’s values and standards is a constant challenge,” said Yvette Gordon, who runs a family childcare facility in Baltimore City.

 

Kelli Deist, who runs an in-home day care in Frostburg, in Allegany County, said there’s an obvious reason for childcare staffing shortages.

 

“We don’t get paid what we deserve,” she said.

 

During the pandemic, the state permitted Deist to take in children of essential workers in exchange for state compensation.

 

“Financially, it was a struggle because we weren’t allowed to charge the parents,” she said. “The state was supposed to be paying us, but because it was such a big, new thing, they were way behind. I went three months without any payment at all.”

 

A nationwide problem

 

Maryland’s childcare shortage is part of a nationwide phenomenon. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as many as 100,000 Americans have been forced to stay home from work because of their struggles to find childcare.

 

“This burden falls disproportionately on women of color who are on the frontlines of many essential jobs,” said Tina Kauh, a senior program officer and childcare expert at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Many are also childcare providers who face the monumental feat of juggling their low-wage, high-risk jobs with caring for their families and themselves in the midst of a pandemic.”

 

With childcare slots in such high demand, parents end up paying more and more. Care.com in 2023 found families responding to its survey spent 24% of their income on childcare — even though the federal government considers child care affordable if it takes up 7% or less of a family’s income.

 

Families spent an average of $321 a week on day care, up 13% from $284 in 2022, and many families are going into debt to pay childcare bills.

 

“Within the first five years of their child’s life, parents are being forced into a financial hole that is nearly impossible to climb out of,” Care.com CEO Brad Wilson said in a statement announcing the study’s findings.

 

The United States is unusual among developed nations in that it has no universal support system for childcare or standardized policy on parental leave. Maryland offers a scholarship program that helps subsidize the cost of childcare for lower-income families, but it does not cover the full cost.

 

Belsky, of the University of California, Davis, said he believes there should be a system in place that gives parents a choice to stay home to raise their children if they want, or to be able to choose a high-quality care facility.

 

“Giving families with young children more support, including economic support, might afford them the ability to more freely choose what they feel is best for their young children’s care,” Belsky said.

 

But for families where both parents work, stable childcare is a necessity, Belsky said.

 

“Especially at younger ages, stability of care is preferable, desirable, if only from the standpoint of quality of life,” he said.

 

That stability is important for kids and parents alike, according to Natasha Cabrera, a University of Maryland expert on human development.

 

“The first five years of life [and] the first year of life is critically important for brain development,” said Cabrera, a professor at UMD’s College of Education. “Children are like sponges. Their brains are ready, and they’re wired to learn, but they need the cognitive stimulation from the environment.”

 

The childcare shortage could have negative consequences for children across Maryland, such as decreased trust, lowered academic success or increased risk for developing a mental illness, she said.

 

“It’s awful,” Cabrera said. “It’s very scary. If you care about the future of Maryland, you need to invest in its children.”

 

 

Childcare summaries and statistics for every county in Maryland, along with the city of Baltimore, are available at this link.

 

 

Capital News Service is a student-powered news organization run by the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism. For 26 years, they have provided deeply reported, award-winning coverage of issues of import to Marylanders.

 

Local News Network reporters Fiona Flowers and Jess Daninhirsch contributed to this report.

 

Common Sense for the Eastern Shore

Mayor Randy Taylor Moves to Dismantle Salisbury’s Housing First Program, Undermining Proven Strategy for Ending Homelessness

By CSES Staff • October 24, 2025
 Sparking alarm among housing advocates, social workers, and residents, Salisbury Mayor Randy Taylor has announced plans to gut Salisbury’s nationally recognized Housing First program, signaling a break from years of bipartisan progress on homelessness. Created in 2017 under then-Mayor Jacob Day, the initiative was designed around a simple but powerful principle: that stable, permanent housing must come first before residents can address problems with employment, health, or recovery. The program was designed to provide supportive housing for Salisbury’s most vulnerable residents — a model backed by decades of national data showing it reduces homelessness, saves taxpayer dollars, and lowers strain on emergency services. But under Taylor’s leadership, that vision appears to be ending. In a letter to residents, the City of Salisbury announced that the Housing First program will be shut down in 2027, in effect dismantling one of the city’s long-term programs to prevent homelessness. Taylor says he plans to “rebrand” the program as a temporary “gateway to supportive housing,” shifting focus away from permanent stability and toward short-term turnover. “We’re trying to help more people with the same amount of dollars,” Taylor said. Critics call that reasoning deeply flawed, and dangerous. Former Mayor Jacob Day, who helped launch the initiative, says that Housing First was always intended to be permanent supportive housing, not a revolving door. National studies show that when cities replace permanent housing programs with short-term placements, people end up right back on the streets, and that costs taxpayers more in emergency medical care, policing, and crisis intervention. Local advocates warn that Taylor’s move will undo years of progress. “This isn’t just a policy shift, it’s a step backward,” one social service worker said. “Housing First works because it’s humane and cost-effective. This administration is turning it into a revolving door to nowhere.” Even some community partners who agree the program needs better oversight say that Taylor is missing the point. Anthony Dickerson, Executive Director of Salisbury’s Christian Shelter, said the city should be reforming and strengthening its approach, not abandoning its foundation. Under Taylor’s proposal, participants could be limited to one or two years in housing before being pushed out, whether or not they’re ready. Advocates fear this change could push vulnerable residents back into instability, undoing the progress the city was once praised for. While Taylor touts his plan as a way to “help more people,” critics say it reflects a troubling pattern in his administration: cutting programs that work. For years, Salisbury’s Housing First initiative has symbolized compassion and evidence-based leadership and has stood as a rare example of a small city tackling homelessness with dignity and results. Now, as Taylor moves to end it, residents and advocates are asking a simple question: Why would a mayor tear down one of Salisbury’s most successful programs for helping people rebuild their lives?

John Roberts Is 20

By John Christie • October 24, 2025
On the first Monday of October, the Supreme Court began a new term, Term 2025 as it is officially called. The day also marked John Roberts’ 20 years as Chief Justice of what history will clearly record as the Roberts Court. Twenty years is a long time but at this point, Roberts is only the fourth longest serving Chief Justice in our history. John Marshall, the fourth and longest, served for 34 years, 152 days (1801–35). Roger Brooke Taney, served for 28 years, 198 days (1836–64). Melville Fuller, served 21 years, 269 days (1888 to 1910). John Roberts was originally nominated by George W. Bush to fill the seat held by the retiring Sandra Day O’Connor but, upon the unexpected death of William Rehnquist, Bush instead nominated Roberts to serve as Chief Justice. His nomination was greeted by enthusiasm and high hopes in many quarters. He was young, articulate, personable, and highly qualified, having had an impressive academic record, experience in the Reagan administration and the private bar, and service on the federal D.C. Court of Appeals for two years. His “balls and strikes” comment at his confirmation hearing struck many as suggesting judicial independence. He sounded as well very much like an institutionalist, having said at an early interview that “it would be good to have a commitment on the part of the Court to act as a Court.” Whatever else might be said 20 years later about the tenure of John Roberts as Chief Judge, the Supreme Court is no doubt much less popular and much more divisive today than it was on September 29, 2005, when he was sworn in as the 17th Chief Justice by Justice John Paul Stevens, then the Court’s most senior associate justice, and witnessed by his sponsor, George W. Bush. Gallup’s polling data shows popular support for the Court now at the lowest levels since they started measuring it. In July 2025, a Gallup poll found that, for the first time in the past quarter-century, fewer than 40% of Americans approved of the Supreme Court’s performance. According to Gallup, one major reason that approval of the Supreme Court has been lower is that its ratings have become increasingly split along party lines — the current 65-point gap in Republican (79%) and Democratic (14%) approval of the court is the largest ever. The legal scholar Rogers Smith wrote in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science in June, “Roberts’s tenure as Chief Justice has led to the opposite of what he has said he seeks to achieve. The American public now respects the Court less than ever and sees it as more political than ever.” These results signify more than simply a popularity poll because a Court without broad public support is a Court that will not have the same public respect upon which their most important decisions have historically depended. And, whatever the reasons for this development, it has happened on John Roberts’s watch. There is no better example of the current divisiveness on the Court than the remarkable string of “emergency” rulings on the Court’s so-called shadow docket since January 20. The extent of ideological and partisan differences has been sharp and extreme. The conservative majority’s votes have frequently been unexplained, leaving lower court judges to have to puzzle the decision’s meaning and leaving the public to suspect partisan influences. And the results of these shadow docket rulings have had enormous, sometimes catastrophic, consequences: Removing noncitizens to countries to which they had no ties or faced inhumane conditions Disqualifying transgender service members Firing probationary federal workers and independent agency heads Ending entire governmental departments and agencies without congressional approval Allowing the impounding of foreign aid funds appropriated by Congress Releasing reams of personal data to the Department of Government Efficiency Allowing immigration raids in California based on racial and ethnic profiling John Roberts has written many Supreme Court opinions in his 20 years as Chief Justice. At the 20-year mark, the most important, to the nation and to his legacy, will likely be his opinion in the Trump immunity case, which changed the balance of power among the branches of government, tipping heavily in the direction of presidential power. Trump v. United States (2024). In her dissent from his majority opinion in that case, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, warned about the consequences of such a broad expansion of presidential power. “The Court effectively creates a law-free zone around the president,” upsetting the status quo that had existed since the nation’s founding and giving blanket permission for wrongdoing. “Let the president violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends. In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law.” Roberts claimed in his majority opinion that the “tone of chilling doom” in Sotomayor’s dissent was “wholly disproportionate” to what the ruling meant. However, Sotomayor’s words have proved prescient: the breadth of power that Trump and his administration have asserted in the months since he was sworn in for his second term has made plain how boundlessly they now interpret the reach of the presidency in the wake of the Roberts opinion. Despite the early “balls and strikes” comment, the assessment of John Roberts’ long term judicial record suggests something different as seen by several distinguished legal commentators from significantly different perspectives. As summarized by Lincoln Caplan, a senior research scholar at Yale Law School, in a new retrospective article on Robert’s 20-year tenure, “From his arrival on the Court until now, his leadership, votes, and opinions have mainly helped move the law and the nation far to the right. An analysis prepared by the political scientists Lee Epstein, Andrew Martin, and Kevin Quinn found that in major cases, the Roberts Court’s record is the most conservative of any Supreme Court in roughly a century.” “What Trump Means for John Roberts's Legacy,” Harvard Magazine , October 8, 2025. Steve Vladeck, Georgetown Law Center professor and a regularly incisive Court commentator, characterized the 20-year Roberts’ Court as follows: “The ensuing 20 years has featured a Court deciding quite a lot more than necessary — inserting itself into hot-button social issues earlier than necessary (if it was necessary at all); moving an array of previously settled statutory and constitutional understandings sharply to the right; and, over the past decade especially, running roughshod over all kinds of procedural norms that previously served to moderate many of the justices’ more extreme impulses.” “The Roberts Court Turns Twenty,” One First , September 29, 2025. In another remarkable new article by a widely respected conservative originalist, similar concerns about the present Court have very recently been expressed. Caleb Nelson, who teaches at the University of Virginia and is a former law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas, has written that the text of the Constitution and the historical evidence surrounding it in fact grant Congress broad authority to shape the executive branch, including by putting limits on the president’s power to fire people. “Must Administrative Officers Serve at the President’s Pleasure?” Democracy Project, NYU LAW , September 29, 2025. When the First Congress confronted similar ambiguities in the meaning of the Constitution, asserts Nelson, “more than one member warned against interpreting the Constitution in the expectation that all presidents would have the sterling character of George Washington.” Nelson continues, “The current Supreme Court may likewise see itself as interpreting the Constitution for the ages, and perhaps some of the Justices take comfort in the idea that future presidents will not all have the character of Donald Trump. But the future is not guaranteed; a president bent on vengeful, destructive, and lawless behavior can do lasting damage to our norms and institutions.” John Christie was for many years a senior partner in a large Washington, D.C. law firm. He specialized in anti-trust litigation and developed a keen interest in the U.S. Supreme Court about which he lectures and writes. 

Rep. Harris Earns An “A” on GOP “Trump Score”

By Jan Plotczyk • October 24, 2025
If you’ve ever wondered just how slavishly loyal Rep. Andrew P. Harris (R-MD01) is to President Donald Trump, you can now put a number on it! Just consult the Republican National Platform Ratings. When you do, you will find that Rep. Harris has a very high overall score: 90.38%. He is the most aligned with the Trump/GOP platform among Maryland’s congressional representatives. No surprise there. Among all U.S. senators and representatives (using 2024 votes), Harris is 43rd most aligned. One might expect more from the chair of the right-wing Freedom Caucus. Harris scores at 90.38% aligned overall. His ratings by topic range from 82.98% to 100%. The topics refer to chapters in the platform: Defeat inflation and quickly bring down all prices. Seal the border and stop the migrant invasion. Build the greatest economy in history. Bring back the American Dream and make it affordable again for families, young people, and everyone. Protect American workers and farmers from unfair trade. Protect our Constitution and seniors. Cultivate great K-12 schools leading to great jobs and great lives for young people. Bring common sense to our government and renew the pillars of American civilization. Government of, by, and for the people. Return to peace through strength. Here are all Harris’s scores:

Several Thousand Rally Across the Eastern Shore in Protest of Trump Administration Policies

By CSES Staff • October 24, 2025
Several thousand people turned out on Oct. 18 in communities across the Eastern Shore to participate in the national “No Kings Day” protests, joining thousands of simultaneous events nationwide opposing the policies of President Trump’s administration. Demonstrations were held in Salisbury, Ocean City, Easton, Cambridge, Chestertown, and Centreville. These gatherings were part of a broader coalition effort that organizers say reflects frustration with the administration’s direction and a demand for renewed accountability and democracy. Participants across the Shore held signs and expressed concerns about immigration enforcement, executive power, and transparency in government. In jurisdictions that lean Republican and supported Trump in 2024, the rallies underscore a growing discrepancy between voting patterns and present activism. For example, in Queen Anne’s County — where the Trump vote was strong — residents joined the demonstration with statements of surprise at the turnout. Despite the scale of national mobilization, local organizers emphasized that the protest is rooted in community values of fairness, participation, and civic voice. One organizer on the Shore described the event as a reminder that “when people choose to show up, they remind their communities what democracy looks like.” Authorities reported no major disruptions during the Shore events, and police in some areas confirmed the rallies proceeded peacefully. For many in the region, the demonstrations mark an opening moment for more active civic engagement on the Shore, one that observers say could reshape local politics in counties historically seen as less partisan.

Maryland Democrats Launch Statewide Candidate Recruitment Initiative

By CSES Staff • October 24, 2025
The Maryland Democratic Party has launched a statewide initiative, Contest Every Seat, that aims to recruit candidates to run for public office across all levels of government ahead of the 2026 elections. Party officials say the goal is to ensure voters in every district across Maryland have a choice on the ballot. The program will include outreach, training sessions, and support for prospective candidates considering campaigns for local, county, and state positions. “The effort is designed to encourage Marylanders who want to make change in their communities to step up and take action,” the party announced. Interested individuals can visit mddems.org/run for information about the application process and training opportunities. The Maryland Democratic Party said similar initiatives in past election cycles helped increase candidate recruitment in local and rural areas, including the Eastern Shore.

Maryland Faces Economic Strain as Federal Shutdown Continues

By CSES Staff • October 24, 2025
With the federal government now shut down for more than three weeks, Maryland is losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue daily, a reflection of the state’s deep economic ties to the federal workforce. According to the Maryland Comptroller, approximately 230,000 Marylanders work directly for the federal government, with an additional 200,000 employed by federal contractors. The state’s economy, long intertwined with the operations of nearby federal agencies, is feeling the strain as paychecks stall and agencies close. Comptroller Brooke Lierman estimates Maryland is losing about $700,000 in state revenue each day — roughly one percent of the state’s average daily revenue of $100 million. “That is a small piece of our overall state budget,” Lierman said, “but as long as all our federal workers are paid what they are owed, that money will get back to us.” Federal employees generally receive back pay after shutdowns end, but recent statements from President Trump suggesting that furloughed workers may not be repaid have created uncertainty. More than 150 members of Congress, including Maryland’s entire Democratic delegation, signed a letter this week urging the Trump administration to guarantee back pay under the 2019 Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, which requires compensation for federal employees affected by a shutdown, and which Trump himself signed into law. Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-MD03) said Congress is prepared to defend those protections. “Denying that pay would be illegal, and we will use every tool we have — both in Congress and in the courts — to ensure federal employees are made whole,” she said. During the 35-day federal shutdown in 2019, Maryland lost more than $13 million daily in economic activity and over $550,000 daily in tax revenue, according to state data. This latest shutdown comes amid broader federal workforce reductions under the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, which announced layoffs earlier this year. A federal judge temporarily halted further cuts on Oct. 15 following a legal challenge. The effects extend beyond government offices. Universities such as Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center report disruptions to federally funded research projects and grant cycles. Gov. Wes Moore has directed state agencies to provide emergency support to furloughed federal workers, including housing and utility assistance. On Oct. 17, Moore announced the Maryland Transit Administration will offer free MARC and commuter bus rides to federal employees who show valid government ID. “This is what Maryland does in times of crisis, we band together and help each other out,” Moore said. “But no state can fill the gap created by the federal government. The longer this shutdown lasts, the more pain we will feel.” There is no indication of when negotiations in Washington to end the shutdown will resume.
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