A Baltimore City judge issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday to prevent Maryland Governor Larry Hogan from terminating federal unemployment assistance for over 300,000 Maryland residents.

The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act funds three types of unemployment benefits that extend eligibility and provide supplement benefits. Last month Governor Hogan notified US Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh that as of July 3, 2021, Maryland would terminate its participation in the federal unemployment program. Governor Hogan said:

Thanks to Marylanders’ resilience and tenacity, our state has seen a dramatic drop in COVID-19 cases, and we have reached the milestone set by President Biden of vaccinating 70% of adults. Businesses large and small across our state are reopening and hiring workers, but many are facing severe worker shortages. While we have experienced 12 straight months of job growth in 6 our state, we will not truly recover until our workforce is fully participating in the economy.

Several Maryland residents who receive unemployment benefits under the CARES Act sued Governor Hogan and Maryland Secretary of Labor Tiffany P. Robinson. The defendants attempted to remove the case to federal court, but a district court judge remanded the case to a Baltimore City court.

The plaintiffs requested a preliminary injunction and alleged that Governor Hogan’s decision violated section 8-310(a)(1) of Title 8 of the Labor and Employment Article of the Maryland Code. The statute states, “In the administration of this title, the Secretary shall cooperate with the United States Secretary of Labor to the fullest extent that this title allows.”

The court determined that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in establishing that this provision is a “mandate requiring the Maryland Secretary of Labor to cooperate in accessing any federal benefits that are available to Marylanders within the bounds of Title 8.” Although the defendants argued that the statute made Maryland vulnerable to the risk of federal coercion, the court found this argument baseless because “the Maryland Secretary is not required to agree to any funding or conditions that are not consistent with Maryland law.”

Thus, the court enjoined Governor Larry Hogan and Secretary of Labor Tiffany P. Robinson “from taking any action that will prevent the State of Maryland from receiving any and all expanded and/or supplemental unemployment benefits available to Maryland residents.”

Robbie Leonard, who was a member of the plaintiffs’ counsel, shared that he was proud to have been on the team. He said, “We fought a righteous fight and exposed that Hogan canceled UI benefits [because] of politics, not economics.”