ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan today joined Becky Quick on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ to discuss Maryland’s 30-day suspension of the gas tax, inflation, and cybersecurity.
On the gas tax suspension:
“We saw the pain at the pump with the rapidly rising prices that everybody 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. So here in Maryland, instead of just arguing about who’s to blame for it, we decided to take immediate action to do something about it.”
“I think it makes a huge difference to the average consumer and I can tell you that the average price across the country is something like $4.25—we’re down around $3.75 so we’re 50 cents a gallon cheaper than most … one of the lowest in the entire country. And I have people all weekend all over the state thanking me because they saw the difference.”
On the state of Maryland’s economy and inflation:
“We’re growing businesses and jobs. We have huge demand and not enough supply. We’ve got supply chain issues. Inflation is an issue. Our revenues are up dramatically. It puts the state in better fiscal shape, but the cost to the consumers are going up which is why we’ve been, like we did on the emergency gas tax legislation. This week we’re trying to finalize eliminating our retirement taxes to ease the burden on folks that are on a fixed income and we’ve cut taxes eight years in a row by nearly $4 billion. I think we want to try to let consumers like families and small businesses keep more of their own money in their own pockets so we can grow the economy.”
On cybersecurity concerns from Russia:
“It’s definitely a serious problem that we’re watching very closely. You’re right, health departments across the country were attacked with these kinds of things. They’re going after not just large companies and 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 and US Cyber Command and NIST and so we’re very focused on that. Anne Neuberger who made this announcement yesterday for the White House is a Marylander and a friend and participated with us in a number of things. I can tell you our team is focused on it. I think the threats are real, and we’ve been talking about this for a long time, about Russia’s capabilities.”
On the gas tax suspension:
“We saw the pain at the pump with the rapidly rising prices that everybody 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. So here in Maryland, instead of just arguing about who’s to blame for it, we decided to take immediate action to do something about it.”
“I think it makes a huge difference to the average consumer and I can tell you that the average price across the country is something like $4.25—we’re down around $3.75 so we’re 50 cents a gallon cheaper than most … one of the lowest in the entire country. And I have people all weekend all over the state thanking me because they saw the difference.”
On the state of Maryland’s economy and inflation:
“We’re growing businesses and jobs. We have huge demand and not enough supply. We’ve got supply chain issues. Inflation is an issue. Our revenues are up dramatically. It puts the state in better fiscal shape, but the cost to the consumers are going up which is why we’ve been, like we did on the emergency gas tax legislation. This week we’re trying to finalize eliminating our retirement taxes to ease the burden on folks that are on a fixed income and we’ve cut taxes eight years in a row by nearly $4 billion. I think we want to try to let consumers like families and small businesses keep more of their own money in their own pockets so we can grow the economy.”
On cybersecurity concerns from Russia:
“It’s definitely a serious problem that we’re watching very closely. You’re right, health departments across the country were attacked with these kinds of things. They’re going after not just large companies and 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 and US Cyber Command and NIST and so we’re very focused on that. Anne Neuberger who made this announcement yesterday for the White House is a Marylander and a friend and participated with us in a number of things. I can tell you our team is focused on it. I think the threats are real, and we’ve been talking about this for a long time, about Russia’s capabilities.”
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