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COVID-19 in Maryland

Hogan Sees Bipartisanship Hope After Oval Office Meeting on COVID-19 Aid

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) during a bipartisan meeting of governors and mayors with President Biden (center) in the Oval Office on Friday. Photo by Pete Marovich-Pool/Getty Images.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) participated in an Oval Office meeting with President Biden and a small, bipartisan group of governors and mayors on Friday. 

The session, which ran longer than the scheduled hour, came as the White House seeks congressional approval for $350 billion to help states and localities fight COVID-19 — part of Biden’s broader $1.9 trillion relief plan. 

The proposal enjoys support among Democrats but has divided members of the GOP.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (R), who attended the meeting, said of the CARES Act funding that Congress approved last March: “Our residents got a fraction of the help that they needed.”

Top Republicans in Congress have referred to the new funding request as a “bailout” for states and cities that are run by Democrats.

In a statement, Hogan, the immediate past chairman of the National Governors Association, did not take a position on the funding, but he called on leaders of the two parties to work together. 

“As I told President Biden, there is no reason why he and Republicans in Congress cannot forge a compromise that addresses the nation’s top priorities in this crisis,” he said.  

Four governors attended the session: Hogan, Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.), Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) and Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.). 

The mayors of Atlanta, Detroit, Miami and Arlington, Texas, took part as well.

In a statement, Cuomo, who replaced Hogan chairman of the NGA, and Hutchinson, the vice chairman, said they’ve been saying for months that flexible and direct aid for state and local governments is needed to fight the pandemic.

“During our Oval Office meeting today with President Biden, Vice President Harris, and a bipartisan group of Governors and mayors from across the country, the President and his team made clear that they recognize and appreciate how critical this targeted relief is for our ability to recover from this pandemic,” they said.

Biden praised the visiting leaders, who he said “are all on the front-lines, they’ve been dealing with this crisis from Day 1.” 

“They’ve been left on their own in many cases,” Biden added, a statement that echoed complaints by Hogan early in the pandemic. 

The governor said he urged the president “to take any imaginable step in his power to increase the production of vaccines.”

“We have built the statewide vaccine distribution network needed to vaccinate every Marylander. We just need the vaccines and the support from the federal government,” Hogan added. 

Although a Republican occupied the White House for the last four years, Friday marked Hogan’s first visit to the Oval Office since 2014, when he was governor-elect. 

Jane Norman of States Newsroom contributed to this report. 

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Hogan Sees Bipartisanship Hope After Oval Office Meeting on COVID-19 Aid