Annapolis, MD — Larry Hogan is learning that real economic development requires more than “open for business” slogans and signs. Days after a bombshell report in Bethesda Magazine detailed Hogan’s failure to fight to keep Discovery Communications in Maryland, a new report from the Pennsylvania Federal Reserve found that Maryland’s economyworsened in March more than any other state in the country and is the only state in the nation with a negative economic forecast for the next six months.
The report predicts that in the next six month, Maryland’s economic activity will decrease by 0.66 percent, while the nation will see an increase of 1.5 percent and Virginia’s economic activity is expected to increase by 2.3 percent. The report also found that Maryland’s unemployment rate has increased by 0.3 percent in the past six months.
“Maryland’s economy has been lagging behind the region since Governor Hogan took office, and now it appears that our economy is lagging behind the entire nation,” said Maryland Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Matthews. “Governor Hogan is now the first Maryland governor to lose a Fortune 500 business in decades, and his policies have saddled Marylanders with the worst economy in the nation. Governor Hogan will have a hard time explaining to voters why he deserves a second term with his record of shortchanging Maryland workers.”
Maryland keeps losing out on business opportunities under Hogan. Last year, Facebook, Nestle and Boeing chose to invest in Virginia instead of Maryland. When President Trump cancelled a project to move the headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which would have brought thousands of high-paying jobs to Maryland, Governor Hogan sat by and did nothing.