ANNAPOLIS, Maryland — Gov. Larry Hogan on Wednesday addressed the Maryland General Assembly and touted his fiscal management while at the same time distancing himself from political upheaval in Washington.
In Hogan’s fourth and final State of the State address before he seeks to become the second Republican to win re-election in Maryland, the governor encouraged lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to seek middle ground in order to “continue changing Maryland for the better.”
He frequently alluded to Republican President Donald Trump and strife at the federal level — calling for bipartisanship and stating that Marylanders need not let national politics divide them.
During Hogan’s 23-minute speech, the governor covered his legislative agenda and policy initiatives while avoiding more controversial social issues.
Hogan’s focus has been reducing taxes and state spending since his 2014 campaign.
Since he has taken office, the governor has been battling the Democrat-dominated House and Senate over the state budgetary priorities. In the Maryland General Assembly, Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost a 2-1 ratio.
Among his successes, Hogan pointed to record education spending, his efforts to battle the opioid epidemic, transportation funding, tax cuts, a stable economy and anti-crime efforts.
Video by Alex Lashley
But some Democrats were critical that the governor is not sufficiently mitigating changes from the Republican-controlled Congress and White House, including immigration policy, tax reform and more.
“There are a lot of challenges to our state that (Hogan) is not facing head on,” said Attorney General Brian Frosh, a Democrat. “Foremost among them are the challenges posed by the Trump administration. We see an assault on civil rights, on our environment, on consumers.”
But Hogan, as a GOP governor in a majority Democratic state, has the support of Republicans in the legislature who are resisting efforts to link him to the president and Capitol Hill squabbling.
“His agenda is really common sense — bringing jobs (and) allowing Marylanders to keep their hard-earned money,” said House Minority Whip Delegate Kathy Szeliga, R-Harford and Baltimore counties. “I don’t blame him for staying away from Trump. We are not Washington, D.C. You see a lot of partisan bickering when you go just 50 miles down the road, but that’s not how Annapolis operates.”
The governor touted his record investments in school spending since he took office.
“Our budget provides an unprecedented $6.5 billion for K-12 education, which is more than the legislative funding formulas call for,” Hogan told lawmakers.
But Democratic legislators are upset with the public school system’s decreasing national rankings and on Tuesday proposed a bill to dedicate an additional $500 million from casino revenues to education.
Hogan has declared Maryland’s increasing casualties from opioid addiction a state emergency, increasing an opioid crisis fund from $3.7 million in 2017 to $13.7 million this fiscal year, according to a state budget summary.
Senate Minority Leader J.B. Jennings, R-Harford and Baltimore Counties, said the opioid epidemic is the biggest challenge facing the governor right now.
“It’s not an easy fix,” said Jennings. “We can fix it as long as we work together.”
The impact of a new Republican-backed federal tax plan has created dissonance between the state and federal government. Left unchanged, most Marylanders would pay more in total tax.
Hogan announced legislation to protect taxpayers from increases resulting from the tax overhaul. Democrats have said their plan is on its way.
In his first State of the State address in 2015, Hogan said he hoped to make all retirement income tax-exempt. Wednesday he touted the Hometown Heroes Act of 2018, legislation that would exempt retired law enforcement, fire, rescue, emergency response personnel, and correctional officers from state tax specific to their service on their retirement income.
Hogan also touted a package of crime bills targeted to combat gangs and repeat-offenders as crime in Baltimore has soared, and said he would sign a bill that has unanimous bipartisan support that terminates the parental rights of rapists.
It was met with a standing ovation.
But Hogan has recently received criticism for a $5 billion plan to entice Amazon to bring its second headquarters to Montgomery County. The headquarters could bring up to 50,000 jobs to the area.
Also criticized is his proposal to widen Interstates 270 and 495, and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
Mirroring a national trend, Maryland has seen a decrease in unemployment rates, dropping from 5.5 percent in 2014 to 4 percent today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In his speech Wednesday, Hogan referenced the job growth and economic turnaround for the “best year for business in Maryland in 15 years and the best year for job growth in a decade.”
“Maryland’s always had a good economy not because of what any elected official has done, but because we are located close to the nation’s capital,” said Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Charles, Calvert and Prince George’s. “We’ve always had good employment, we’ve always had good income and low poverty.”
“I think the governor stated the obvious, and it was a positive speech.”
Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, who is running in the Democratic primary for governor, said he was hoping to see a more critical response from Hogan after President Trump’s State of the Union on Tuesday night.
“What we find is Donald Trump is hard on Maryland but (Hogan’s) response is always soft.”
CNS correspondents Layne Litsinger and Katherine Brzozowski contributed to this report.