Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s nominee to the State Board of Education withdrew his name from consideration on Tuesday, the governor’s office said, a day after a Senate committee questioned whether he was qualified to join the policymaking board.
The Executive Nominations Committee grilled Brandon F. Cooper on Monday night about his legal and financial troubles, which include a drunken-driving charge, a 2010 bench warrant for failure to appear in court on a charge of driving with a suspended license and liens for thousands of dollars in unpaid state taxes and unpaid rents.
Some lawmakers also asked Cooper tough questions about his position on education policy, including testing, vouchers and underperforming schools.
“You didn’t pay your taxes to the state of Maryland; how can you take a position with the state of Maryland?” Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) said.
Cooper, the 28-year-old chairman of the Prince George’s County Republican Central Committee, told Miller that he is on a payment schedule for the unpaid taxes. The delinquency, he said, stems from a time when he worked as an independent contractor and taxes were not deducted.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Ovetta Wiggins over at the Washington Post