Governor Hogan, fresh off an announcement he will not run for President, addressed a Maryland pro-business group and emphasized areas of difference with Democratic legislative leaders.

Governor Hogan, an invited speaker before the Maryland Free Enterprise Foundation (nee Maryland Business for Responsive Government), emphasized his commitment to growing opportunities in Maryland, and resisted the notion that tax increases lie ahead to fund priority spending. From the Washington Post coverage:

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is going to be the battle that will literally determine what kind of state our kids and grandkids will inherit,” Hogan, a Republican, told a crowd of business leaders in Hanover.

“This is not just your typical fight between Republicans and Democrats,” he said. “This is a fight for Maryland’s future, and it is a fight worth fighting.”

Among other things, the governor promised to work against sales, income or other tax increases to pay for a landmark education expansion to which the General Assembly overwhelmingly gave initial approval this year.

“Not a single one of those things is ever going to happen as long as I’m your governor,” Hogan said.

With the Kirwan Commission, and its newly-appointed 2019 working group, still evaluating formula funding changes needed to implement its long term goals of vastly heightened education commitment, these comments suggest that the 2020 legislative deliberations will not be as smooth and bipartisan as those in 2019, where a short-term plan was adopted with wide support.

The Post also ran a full text of the prepared speech for the event.