Hogan: O'Malley-Brown Raiding $1.226 Billion from Environmental Trust Funds Is "Unconscionable"

Press Release

Gubernatorial candidate Larry Hogan blasted his rival Anthony Brown and Governor Martin O'Malley today for raiding more than $1.2 billion in environmental funds and transferring the dedicated money to the state's General Fund.

Larry Hogan said, "Environmentalists and environmentally-focused non-profits in Maryland should be outraged by Mr. Brown's total disregard for the environment and most specifically his disregard for the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays. For the Lt. Governor and his boss to have robbed more than one and a quarter billion dollars from Program Open Space, the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund, the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund, and the Environmental Clean-Up Fund. Raiding these dedicated environmental funds is unconscionable, and it is an economic and environmental disaster waiting to happen."

Environmental Raids from O'Malley-Brown administration:

Program Open Space: $690.1 million
Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund: $456.2 million
Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund: $77.86 million
Environmental Clean-Up Fund: $1.2 million
TOTAL TRANSFERS OUT: $1.226 BILLION

"For the last eight years, the administration that Marylanders trusted to finally do something about the Chesapeake Bay has completely disregarded the Bay's actual problems and chosen to balance its outrageous budgets on the backs of struggling families, watermen, and farmers. The tax-and-spend mentality of career politicians in Annapolis is killing our state economy, and our treasured Bay.

As governor, I pledge to never raid our state's environmental trust funds. I will work to restore the environmental monies taken by the O'Malley-Brown administration, implement the recommendations of independent auditors to eliminate waste and fraud in every level of state government, and focus on efficient and cost-effective measures to clean up the Bay without breaking the backs of Maryland families and small businesses," Hogan said.

Source