Still, it's fair to harbor doubts. Heck, even Mr. Hogan has said not to expect major tax cuts this year. There is the deficit to address (caused in no small measure by the reduction in federal spending that cost Maryland $1.2 billion last year, according to a recent nonpartisan Pew Charitable Trusts report), and the governor-elect has acknowledged that much of the $1.5 billion in waste, fraud and abuse his campaign supposedly documented was listed in error. Moreover, as we've noted in this space before, lawmakers are likely to balk at fully repealing the stormwater remediation fee since some local governments have no other means to finance federally-mandated anti-pollution projects (aside from raising property taxes, which is an option that would be just as unpopular as any "rain tax").