A December 3 Capital Gazette article reported that Governor-Elect Larry Hogan plans to introduce legislation to repeal the 2012 legislation that required 10 counties  to adopt a stormwater remediation fee (dubbed the “rain tax” by the fee’s opponents).  The affected counties include:  Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Carroll, Charles, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince George’s.  From the article:

Gov.-elect Larry Hogan will propose legislation to repeal the storm water remediation fee derided by Republicans as the “rain tax” in his first legislative package next year, his transition team confirmed Wednesday.  …

It is no surprise that Hogan would make repeal of the fees a priority because attacking the “rain tax” was one of the main themes of Hogan’s campaign.

The article also noted that Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller does not expect the fee to be repealed but would be open to modifying the fee requirements, including possibly allowing affected counties to forgo the fee if they have other funding mechanisms in place to meet their stormwater remediation requirements, similar to an agreement the Maryland Department of the Environment reached with Carroll County.

Miller told reporters Tuesday that he is open to making changes in the fee but does not foresee outright repeal. Any repeal measure would also likely face resistance in the House, which rejected changes passed by the Senate last year.

Miller said he believes the legislature will likely allow other jurisdictions to follow Carroll County’s lead.