Hogan Comments On Joint Resolution On Attorney General Powers

Gov. Larry Hogan didn't shy away Friday from criticizing legislators' move to empower the attorney general to unilaterally file suits without lawmakers' or the governor's approval.

"I thought it was outrageous and disgraceful and quite frankly it was probably the lowest point I've ever seen in the legislature," Hogan said during his regular chat from Annapolis with WBAL talk host C4, noting it was the first time since 1864 that lawmakers have changed the powers of the attorney general.

He also said it was a disingenuous move to do it by joint resolution, presenting it as something that required no appropriation (and thus didn't require the governor's signature).

"Who knows how many tens of millions of taxpayer dollars may be wasted chasing windmills and trying to insert themselves into issues that are not really, should not be the purview of our state attorney general?" Hogan said. "The resolution that they passed says there is no expense and there will be no cost. That's why you can do a resolution, and then they turned around with the very next bill and said, 'We just lied to you by saying there's no cost, because now we need money, because there's going to be costs.'"

That proposed appropriation Hogan referred to is now in committee.

Hogan accused lawmakers of being more concerned with Washington politics and unseating him than in actual policy. Hogan said he's not even sure if the resolution is even something lawmakers can do, but it will likely never be challenged.

"It's probably unconstitutional," Hogan said. "The person that would have to challenge its constitutionality would have to be himself, Bryan Frosh, the attorney general."

He also talked about one of his top legislative priorities, repealing the transportation scoring bill passed last year over his veto. He likened the measure to withdrawals from the transportation trust fund that took place during past Democratic administrations.

"It basically eliminates most of the improvements into transportation everywhere in the state," Hogan said. "It's an absurd piece of legislation that will kill 66 of the top 73 most important transportation projects in the state. And if it is not repealed, that is exactly what will happen."

While Democrats downplay the constraints the measure places on the governor, Hogan said the bill's use of "shall" in many parts of its text instead of "may" does in fact handcuff him. He also disputed the contention that he's pursuing rural projects at the expense of improvements in more urban and Democratic areas, saying that many projects in Baltimore City and Prince George's, Montgomery and Baltimore counties are suffering as a result of the measure.