Hogan budget chief resists calls from Democrats to relax austerity measures

Maryland Budget Secretary David R. Brinkley resisted calls for austerity relief from Democrats on Thursday despite higher-than-anticipated revenue projections, an indication that the partisan spending battles that dominated this year’s legislative session could continue in 2016.

Appearing before the House and Senate committees that handle fiscal matters in the Democrat-controlled legislature, Brinkley shot down a question from Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Montgomery) about whether Gov. Larry Hogan (R) would be open to raising property taxes to help offset the state’s rapidly growing debt.

Madaleno noted that former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican during whose administration Hogan served as appointments secretary, reluctantly supported such a move in 2003. But Brinkley wasn’t swayed.

“No, this governor will not support a property-tax increase,” the budget chief said of Hogan, who won an underdog victory last fall by promising to roll back many of the tax and fee increases enacted by then-Gov. Martin O’Malley, who is also a Democratic presidential candidate.

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