Gov. Larry Hogan details promised tax breaks – Baltimore Sun
Gov. Larry Hogan offered details Tuesday on a promised package of Maryland tax relief measures, including a decade-long break to lure manufacturers to Baltimore and other areas with high unemployment.
The Republican unveiled the outlines of his plan as state lawmakers prepared to gather Wednesday in Annapolis for the start of the annual 90-day legislative session. Hogan called the cuts “common sense.”
“Anyone that isn’t in favor of that probably doesn’t deserve to be in the legislature,” he said during a State House news conference. “I can’t imagine how anybody could vote against these.”
Among the proposed tax and fee breaks that Hogan detailed Tuesday — $480 million over five years — were a fivefold increase in the income tax exemption for retirees and a speed-up of a tax refund for low-income working families. He outlined plans to reduce fees for a dozen items such as birth certificates and fishing licenses, as well as to cut the annual filing fee for businesses from $300 to $100 over four years.
Not everyone was thrilled with the plan. Benjamin Orr, executive director of the liberal-leaning Maryland Center on Economic Policy, said Hogan’s manufacturing proposals are fundamentally unfair.
“They would undermine existing businesses that pay their fair share toward essential services and they subsidize low-wage work,” Orr said in a statement. “This won’t create jobs; it will take resources away from schools and other building blocks of a strong economy and true job creation.”
