Highway Expansion Plans Benefitted Governor's Real Estate Business, According to Report

Eric Cortellessa reports bombshell revelations about the relationship between the political accomplishments and the business interests of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan—a political figure touted as the Republican antidote to President Trump but known in transit planning circles as an enemy of urban public transit and a friend of the highway building lobby.

It's that final distinction that figures into the revelations contained in Cortellessa's article, which reveals connections between Governor Hogan's highway expansion plans and a thriving real estate business. Cortellessa presents evidence that some of the highway expansion program pursued by Governor Hogan has benefitted the bottom line of the governor's business interests:

Hogan has advanced a number of major state transportation projects that are near properties his company owns, a development that can boost the value of those properties. Before canceling the Red Line, he approved construction of an interchange down the road from a parcel of land his company controlled. Later, he approved millions of dollars in road and sidewalk improvements near property he had bought approximately two years earlier and was turning into a housing development.

The revelation warrants a comparison to the president, according to Cortellessa:

Both are real-estate executives who have refused to relinquish their private businesses while in office. Just as Trump maintained his ownership of the Trump Organization when he became president, Hogan maintained ownership of HOGAN, a multipurpose real-estate brokerage firm, when he became governor. Both have left close family members in charge of their businesses—Trump with his children; Hogan with his brother, Timothy—and created arrangements that allow them to be apprised of the company’s dealings. In other words, they have set up situations in which they can use their powerful government positions to increase their private profits. 

The article includes more details about the potential conflicts of interest present in Hogan's transportation planning agenda, and the potential that those priorities could run afoul of the law.Governor Hogan is not the only high-ranking public figure accused of influencing transportation planning policy for personal benefit in recent months. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao has also been accused of prioritizing funding to benefit the state of Kentucky—represented by Chao's spouse, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.