FACT SHEET: Hogan Can’t Close the Deal on Jobs & MD Economy

Annapolis, MD—Today, after Larry Hogan spoke at the Capital Region Business forum with Democratic District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser and Democratic Virginia governor Ralph Northam, the Maryland Democratic Party released a fact sheet detailing Governor Hogan’s continued inability to successfully match or best Virginia’s record on attracting high-paying jobs to Maryland.

“Larry Hogan likes to cherry-pick stats to embellish his record, but the truth is that he has repeatedly failed to attract high-paying jobs to Maryland and Maryland workers are paying the price,” said Maryland Democratic Party chair Kathleen Matthews. “While Larry Hogan has no plans to get Maryland’s economy moving, Ben Jealous has proposed a bold agenda to move Maryland forward and build an innovative economy.”

The fact sheet is available here, the full text follows:

Hogan Can’t Close the Deal on Regional Competition for Business Opportunities

After making promises that Maryland is open for business, Larry Hogan has consistently failed to attract top companies and high-paying jobs to Maryland—shortchanging Maryland families in the process.

Virginia has been the primary beneficiary of Hogan’s inability to compete for jobs. In just the past two years, Hogan has lost out on thousands of new jobs and billions in new investment, with Nestle, Discovery Communications, Apple, Facebook, and Boeing all choosing Virginia over Maryland.

Maryland Missing Out on Regional Economic Growth

According to a May 2018 report published by the Stephen S. Fuller Institute at George Mason University, Maryland is missing out on the growth of the regional economy. there has been a “significant reduction” in the portion of DC area jobs created in Suburban Maryland, beginning in 2017. In third quarter of 2017, job growth in Maryland was “declined to almost zero,” and in the first five months of 2018, only 12 percent of the 51,500 jobs created in the region were created in Maryland.

A Bureau of Economic Activity report found that while Maryland is falling behind, our neighbors are surging. The report found that the District of Columbia’s economy grew by 2 percent in the first quarter of this year and the Virginia economy grew by 2.4 percent, while the Maryland economy only grew by 1.5 percent.

In July, CNBC’s 2018 ranking of states with the best business climate showed that Maryland dropped 6 spots in the last year, while Virginia improved by 3 spots.

Maryland’s economy isn’t just lagging behind the region, it’s lagging behind the nation, with the Philadelphia Federal Reserve reporting that Maryland is the only state in the country with a negative economic forecast for 2018.

Maryland Families Paying Price for Hogan’s Failures

While Hogan likes to brag that he’s turned around Maryland economy, the facts tell a different story. Below is Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing Maryland workers have lost out on thousands of earnings increases compared to neighboring states and the country as a whole. 

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics