Governor Hogan leaves his successor with a $5 billion budget surplus

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — When former Governor Larry Hogan left office this week, he left his successor with a $5 billion dollar budget surplus.

When Hogan took office eight years ago, he inherited a $5 billion budget deficit.

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"We must get the state government off our backs and out of our pockets so we can grow the private sector, put people back to work and turn our economy around," promised Hogan on the day of his inauguration.

Almost immediately, Hogan cut taxes, reduced tolls, and eliminated fees, and still managed to shrink the state's massive deficit.

"The people watching in the suburbs were like, yeah, this is how it should be done,"said political scientist John Dedie.

However, Hogan failed to get the democratic-controlled legislature to pass his anti-crime package.

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Political Scientist John Dedie believes his anti-crime proposals may not be lost on Maryland's new Governor Wes Moore.

"When Wes Moore talked, he talked about Hogan's crime initiatives and was along the lines of, 'I think that's a good idea', said Dedie.

"I think in many ways he can build on some things Hogan wanted to do by basically having a "D" in front of his name instead of an "R" in front of his name," said Dedie.