Change Maryland Chairman Larry Hogan On Sequestration

Annapolis - "Sequestration is a wake up call that Maryland must wean itself from the federal government spending trough. A nation that carries $16 trillion debt and runs chronic $1 trillion deficits is going to downsize its federal presence one way or another.

"There are some things Governors can not control - dysfunction in Washington D.C. being just one of them. What can be controlled is tax and regulatory policy that must be reformed to make Maryland competitive in the region.

"Pennsylvania has 23 Fortune 500 companies; Virginia has 24; Maryland has three. We have lost 6500 small businesses from 2007 to 2010. We need to control our economic future, diversify our economy and grow the private sector employment base.

"The alternative is to blame Congress, blame the President and blame anyone else. The better approach is to develop bipartisan policy solutions that will better prepare Maryland for the era of a downsized federal presence."