Governor Hogan joined CNBC’s “Squawk Box” to discuss the steps he’s taking to lower the cost of living amid skyrocketing inflation, including being the first governor in America to sign a gas tax holiday.
Governor Hogan on Maryland’s Gas Tax Holiday: “We saw the pain at the pump with rapidly rising prices that everyone across the country was seeing, and we decided we wanted to take some urgent, immediate action. This all came together really quickly. Within a week of us calling on our legislature to act, they passed this unanimously across party lines in both houses. Here in Maryland instead of just arguing about who is to blame for it, we decided to take immediate action to do something about it.”
Governor Hogan on Maryland’s Economy: “Well, our economy is booming. We’ve got the fourth best economic recovery in America. We’re growing businesses and jobs. We’ve got huge demand and not enough supply. We’ve got supply chain issues. Inflation is an issue. Our revenues are up dramatically so it puts the state in better fiscal shape, but the cost to the consumers is going up…This week, we’re trying to finalize eliminating our retirement taxes to ease the burden on folks that are on a fixed income. We’ve cut taxes for eight years in a row by nearly $4 billion because we want to let consumers like families and small businesses keep more of their own money in their own pockets.”
Governor Hogan on Energy Independence: “We’ve got to provide for America’s energy independence. We’ve got to increase production here at home so we are not so reliant on foreign countries for our oil. I was one of 24 governors who signed a letter to President Biden calling for just that to rapidly change position and to help us increase production so we can solve this on a more long-term basis.”
Governor Hogan on Cybersecurity: “They’re going after not just large companies, our critical infrastructure, but every federal and state agency across the country, and it’s something to be very concerned about. Maryland is the cyber capital of America. We’re home to the NSA, US Cyber Command, and NIST. So we’re very focused on that.”