ROCKVILLE, MD  (January 12, 2016) — The Maryland Public Policy Institute today applauded Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s plan to deliver targeted tax relief to working families, retirees and the smallest of small businesses.  The Governor’s tax package includes a proposal the Institute has championed since 2013 that would accelerate the Earned Income Tax Credit to help Maryland’s working poor.  Read more about the Institute’s proposal at this link.

“After eight years of unrelenting tax and fee hikes, Marylanders need relief,” said Christopher B. Summers, president of the Institute.  “If enacted, this tax package would send a long-overdue signal to residents and entrepreneurs that Maryland is finally a more welcoming place to live or start a business.  We are especially heartened to see Governor Hogan endorse our proposal to accelerate the Earned Income Tax Credit, a bipartisan idea to reward work and help Maryland’s working poor climb the ladder of opportunity.”

The Hogan Administration’s tax package would offset some of the 40 tax, toll and fee increases enacted under the previous administration that cost Marylanders an estimated $9.5 billion and helped sink the State’s business climate rankings. 

The Hogan Administration’s $480 million proposal includes:

• Expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit to families earning less than $53,000;
• $183 million in tax relief for retirees;
• $164 million in tax relief to small businesses by reducing the annual small business filing fee with the State Department of Assessments & Taxation;
• $71 million in fee reductions;
• Eliminating the state corporate income tax for a period of 10 years on new manufacturers in areas designated as Empowerment Zones, or areas where unemployment is highest.

According to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, Maryland’s business climate ranking dropped from 29^th in 2007 to 41^st in 2015.

About the Maryland Public Policy Institute: Founded in 2001, the Maryland Public Policy Institute is a nonpartisan public policy research and education organization that focuses on state policy issues. The Institute’s mission is to formulate and promote public policies at all levels of government based on principles of free enterprise, limited government, and civil society.  Learn more at mdolicy.org.

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