Gov. Hogan Pushes For Tax Exemption On Pensions For First Responders
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- Governor Larry Hogan proposed a 100 percent tax exemption on pensions for first responders and retired military.
Hogan made the announcement Wednesday at a fire station in Annapolis.
It was a promise that he wanted to keep from his first year in office.
"I said we're going to exempt 100 percent of your retirement from state taxes, and I meant what I said," Hogan said. "We are not going to stop until you don't have to pay taxes on your pensions."
But Hogan's proposal has been met by resistance in previous sessions.
"We first got the first five thousand passed," Hogan said. "I go, 'That's not enough.' We came back again, we got a 100 percent increase, we got the first 10 thousand of income. We did it for military veterans, we did it for firefighters, we did it for our police officers. We now added correctional officers last year. It's not enough."
Local firefighters say that they will be at the State House, pushing for the legislation to pass.
"When our members, when they go to work, they put their lives on the line every day and they may or may not come home," Mike Rund, President of the Professional Firefighters of Maryland, said. "This is just an extra incentive for us, and to give our members a protection or a benefit to stay here."
Hogan said that he will be introducing this legislation until it passes.
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