‘Government can create environment so businesses can grow and prosper’: Charles Lollar

Six of seven candidates vying for the Maryland governorship in 2014 spent the morning of April 21 explaining to business and tech leaders why they deserve the votes of the state’s business community.
It was the Gubernatorial Candidates Forum put on by the Tech Council of Maryland. (Only Republican candidate Larry Hogan did not attend the event.)
Technical.ly Baltimore has been posting the main talking points of each candidate who spoke at the two-hour forum in Bethesda, Md., as they relate to their thoughts on the innovation and tech economy in the state. (Find other candidates’ talking points here.)
Last up: Charles Lollar.

• The basics: Republican, general manager for Cintas Corporation in Maryland and an intelligence officer in the Marine Corps Reserves with the rank of major.
• His one-liner: “The government can create the right environment so businesses can grow and prosper.”
• Three points:
  • Lollar said his tax reform plan would tie the growth and the size of state government to Marylanders’ income growth and the cost of living via the Consumer Price Index. He said his plan also calls for getting rid of the state’s personal income tax.
  • He’s a fan of tax credits and incentives for keeping businesses in Maryland. At one point he credited the Enterprise Zones in Baltimore city “as long as [businesses] are hiring those from Baltimore.”
  • As for Maryland’s corporate income tax rate of 8.25 percent, Lollar said he wants to lower it to 5.25 percent.