Marylanders should prepare for an unusual special session of the General Assembly in the fall whose goal it will be to raise taxes and fees. This will likely follow a determination by the Board of Revenue Estimates that Maryland has less money to spend than these experts had projected last March. Of course, Maryland’s leaders will say, this will be President Donald Trump’s fault, even though the people currently in charge in Annapolis were there two years before Trump was president and even though they inherited a $5.2 billion surplus from the Hogan administration.

Marylanders who lived through 2014 will recall the state’s fiscal situation. Spending had increased significantly. Various interests group from teachers unions to so-called environmental protectors demanded and got more and more. Taxes and fees were increased because spending was increased.

Hard-working families suddenly had less money because Maryland state government was taking more and more of it. Tragically, moms and dads scratching out on a legal pad if they had enough money this week to take the kids out for pizza on Friday night became an all too common exercise across Maryland, from Lusby to Cockeysville, from Cumberland to Pocomoke City.

In 2014, the government in Annapolis seemed to work only for those who played the Annapolis game, spent their evenings at Harry Browne’s on State Circle, were extremely busy writing checks and attending fundraisers literally hours before the legislative session started on a cold morning in January.

Term-limited Governor Martin O’Malley left it to his lieutenant governor to defend the O’Malley-Brown administration record, which included over 40 different tax or fee increases. It did not go well.

Media report after media report started with “Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown was unavailable for comment but his spokesman Justin Schall said…”

Of course. Who would not want to hide from defending more than 40 tax and fee increases?

Then lightning struck. A little-known Republican with a political pedigree unsurpassed for political courage in the history of American politics stepped up and said, “We can change Maryland for the better. We can better manage the use of tax dollars. We can help Marylanders who need help by making economic growth beneficial to all.”

That Republican was Larry Hogan, who had the guts to tell supplicants throughout his eight years in the governor’s office, “No.” I would know. I was chief of staff of the Department of Management and Budget for those eight years of the Hogan administration.

The Maryland legislative session completed in April demonstrated a total lack of will on the part of the General Assembly, especially the House of Delegates, to deal with reducing spending in any type of meaningful way. They shifted millions of dollars in costs to the counties and claimed it as a budget cut. For most state legislators, a long-term view consists of 90 days.

Given the lopsided one-party control and lack of competitive seats in the State Senate and the House of Delegates, it is clear that only a governor with the will to do so can control spending and eliminate the need for additional revenue from taxes and fees.

That rules out incumbent Gov. Wes Moore, who is a nice guy, perhaps too nice, but gets rolled by his own party.

Maryland taxpayers desperately need another Larry Hogan. We can hope.

Kevin Igoe was chief of staff of the Maryland Department of Budget and Management from 2015-2023. He has worked on Capitol Hill and was an adviser to the Housing Commission of the Bipartisan Policy Center. He is the former deputy chief of staff of the Republican National Committee and former executive director of the Maryland Republican Party.