February 18th, 2022 by WCBC Radio

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot on Thursday hosted a virtual news conference to rally support for his proposal to provide $500 million in direct financial relief to Maryland small businesses in hard-hit industries. Small business advocates, restaurateurs and retailers representing a cross-section of industries throughout Maryland joined Franchot in urging Governor Larry Hogan and the General Assembly to tap into the state's historic $6 billion surplus and dedicate a fresh round of economic relief, particularly to support minority-owned and women-owned small businesses, which bore the disproportionate brunt of COVID-19's economic impact…