Latest news with #BrookeLierman
CBS News
06-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Mass HHS layoffs could disproportionately impact Maryland, comptroller says
In a letter, Maryland Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman said mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services could disproportionately impact the state. On Monday, more than a dozen states including Maryland sued the Trump administration after it announced the firing of 10,000 HHS employees. "By firing health workers, shutting down disease surveillance labs, and slashing critical programs, the Trump Administration is putting every Marylander at risk," Maryland Attorney General Brown said in a statement Monday. Many agencies within HHS are headquartered in Maryland, including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the Food and Drug Administration, the Health Resources Services Administration, the Indian Health Service, the National Center for Health Statistics, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Lierman said that both the country and Maryland, specifically, will be negatively impacted by the layoffs. "Maryland has long been proud of our partnership with the federal government, and thousands of HHS employees call Maryland home," Lierman wrote. "Not only will these firings injure the nation and these workers, but Maryland will also face negative economic consequences and decreased revenues to provide services." Maryland's federal workforce Maryland leaders have said they are concerned about the impact of the Trump administration's recent efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce on the economy. Maryland has approximately 160,000 federal civilian employees, making up about 6% of the state's total jobs, and ranks second in the nation for the number of federal workers after Washington, D.C., according to the governor's office. In February, Maryland Governor Wes Moore launched a resource dashboard for federal employees in the state impacted by federal cuts. The launch of the dashboard came just after the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) ordered federal agencies to lay off almost all probationary employees without civil service protections.
CBS News
13-02-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Maryland approves BWI Airport concession management contract, $396 million in state projects
Maryland's Board of Public Works approved $369 million in projects during a meeting Wednesday along with a retail management contract at BWI Airport. The contract allows Fraport Baltimore Partnership, LLC to manage and renovate the retail and restaurant services at the airport. Fraport USA was founded in 1991 and was the first company to launch branded retail in airport terminals in the U.S., a ccording to its website. The approved contract could generate about $39.4 million in revenue during its first full year, according to the Maryland Department of Transportation. Fraport has also committed to investing $31.5 million in improvements and would pay the state a 90% share of gross concession revenue, the board said. According to Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman, the contract would also generate revenue for the state's Aviation Administration as well as sales tax for the state. It would also make way for new vendors in the airport and lower the risk of current vendors leaving. "I just think remaining in a month-to-month contract means empty food and retail spaces in a brand-new concession space and that is a huge risk to the state," the comptroller said. "Nearly 30 million people travel through BWI annually, and it would not only be embarrassing not to have any concessions in a new space to offer travelers. But we would be losing millions of dollars in sales tax brought to us, often by people from other states." Board approves several projects The Board of Public Works approved a total of 70 projects during its Wednesday meeting, which will cost $396,648,102.20. The approved projects include: Grant agreements for six project recipients in four counties and Baltimore City. The total value of those projects is about $2 million. $16 million in awards to prime certified small businesses $17 million in awards to certified minority business enterprise primes 10 items awarded with participation goals for minority businesses Two items awarded with participation goals for veteran-owned small businesses The board also approved $3.6 million in funding for Wicomico County's first state park. The park will be built on a piece of the Long Hill property, a 445-acre 18th-century plantation along Wetipquin Creek that is listed in the National Registry of Historical Places. Previous approvals In January 2025, the board approved more than $1.23 billion in projects across the state, including $135,000 in revenue bonds to finance improvements at Oriole Park in Camden Yards and $387 from the Maryland Transit Administration for new hybrid buses. During the January meeting, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore committed a record $605 million in ongoing investments to the Department of Education for a contract with Deloitte Consulting to administer the Child Care Scholarship Program.
CBS News
12-02-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Tax forms reissued to Maryland residents whose sensitive data was sent to wrong addresses
BALTIMORE -- An estimated 6,000 Marylanders who mistakenly received tax forms belonging to other residents due to an internal printer malfunction will be reissued 1099-G forms, according to the Maryland Comptroller's Office. The 1099-G tax forms the comptroller's office mailed had one person's name and address on the outside, but someone else's data inside, according to Comptroller Brooke Lierman. "My message is we take their security seriously and I'm deeply apologetic for this mistake," Lierman said. "I know that they are nervous so we want them to know they can always reach out to us." Lierman said the state prints more than 800,000 1099-G forms every year. "At one point, the printer simply malfunctioned and had to be started again, and when it started again, it went one data set below where it supposed to so that the pages didn't match up correctly," Lierman said. Correcting the issues Lierman told WJZ her office will now do spot checks during the printing process, and the forms will no longer include full social security numbers. Taxpayers can also download a duplicate form online at The Office of the Comptroller says it will pay for one year of credit monitoring for all impacted residents through Kroll, a company specializing in identity theft protection. Affected taxpayers with concerns can call 410-260-7980 or 1-800-638-2937 and select "option 2." They can also email gad@ with the subject line "1099G Issue." Affected Taxpayers frustrated Many of those who received the incorrect mailings are frustrated, and worried about identity theft after their Social Security numbers were sent to people they do not know. "If I have all this girl's information, that means someone else has all my information, and I'm quite concerned about that because they can go and ruin my credit," Jessica Butrim told Hellgren after receiving the wrong form.
CBS News
05-02-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Maryland comptroller explains mistake that exposed thousands of Social Security numbers, steps to fix it
BALTIMORE -- Maryland's Comptroller Brooke Lierman told WJZ Investigates that her office will no longer include Social Security numbers on mailed 1099-G tax forms after a printing error exposed the personal information of thousands of Marylanders. "We're really, really sorry that this happened," Lierman told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. "We take it really seriously, and we're doing everything that we can to make it right." Many victims were those who received relief payments after the Key Bridge collapse. What went wrong? The 1099-G tax forms the comptroller's office mailed had one person's name and address on the outside, but someone else's data inside. "My message is we take their security seriously and I'm deeply apologetic for this mistake," Lierman said. "I know that they are nervous so we want them to know they can always reach out to us." She said the state prints more than 800,000 1099 forms every year. "At one point, the printer simply malfunctioned and had to be started again, and when it started again, it went one data set below where it supposed to, so that the pages didn't match up correctly," Lierman said. Her office will now do spot checks during the printing process. Affected Taxpayers frustrated Many of those who received the incorrect mailings are frustrated, worried about identity theft after their Social Security numbers were sent to people they do not know. "If I have all this girl's information, that means someone else has all my information, and I'm quite concerned about that because they can go and ruin my credit," Jessica Butrim told Hellgren after receiving the wrong form. Privacy protections Lierman said she has taken new steps to protect privacy. "Unfortunately, this agency for a long time has been in the practice of including Social Security numbers on 1099s," the comptroller said. "As soon as I found out about this on Monday, we put a stop to that. There's no reason to put somebody's Social Security number on a form that's mailed so we have made process changes to ensure that something like this can never happen again." She said her office has identified everyone impacted. One-year free credit monitoring The comptroller told WJZ that everyone affected will get one year of free credit monitoring, and that could be expanded. "If there are instances where there are reasons for us to consider doing this longer, we're absolutely open to that. I take very seriously—and our agency takes very seriously—the safety and security of all Marylanders. I'm deeply regretful that this happened, but I also want Marylanders to know we're taking this seriously, improving our process, and we're going to have their back." The comptroller said she took quick action with a full response less than 24 hours after she learned what happened.
