She takes over from Peter Franchot who has held the post since 2007.
Comptroller Brooke Lierman (Photo From Md. Comptroller’s Office)
Annapolis, Md (KM) Monday was an historic day in Annapolis. Outgoing Governor Larry Hogan Administered the Oath of Office to Brooke E. Lierman to be Maryland’s 34th Comptroller. She is the first woman to hold this position.
In remarks to the crowd gathered in front of the Louis Goldstein Treasury Building, Lierman said thanks to her supporters and outgoing Comptroller Peter Franchot. “Peter has been a public servant and leader for 36 years. I’ve learned so much from him in the past few says, but also in the past 90 days. And there is simply no way that my enthusiasm for the coveted Comptroller’s medallion will ever match his,” she says.
Franchot was first elected to the post of Comptroller in 2006, succeeding one-time Governor and former Baltimore City Mayor William Donald Schaefer. In 2022, Franchot unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022, losing in the Democratic Primary.
Liertman also noted that her inauguration day was Martin Luther King day. “He may not have been elected, but there’s no doubt that he served the public, our entire country and gave his life for us; and the promise of a day when a Wes Moore, an Aruna Miller and an Anthony Brown could all assume the highest seats in state office,”: she said.
Moore and Brown are African-Americans, and Miller’s ancestors are from India.
The State Comptroller is responsible for collecting Maryland’s taxable income, and approving spending. But Lierman says it’s more than that. “The mission of our Comptroller’s Office must be and will be to improve the collective well being and the economic destiny of our state,” she says.
Lierman says her many decisions as Comptroller, both small and large, will be to better all Marylanders. “We all do better when we ensure our own community school is great and our neighbors is as well,” she said. “When we ensure Black women can get loans to start their businesses at the same rate as their White male counterparts; when we build communities that are welcoming to our immigrant brothers and sisters.”
Also on hand for the inauguration was former US Senator Barbara Mikulski who said about Lierman “she is a fighter. She will fight for you.” Milkuski commented on the “new look in Annapolis” of honesty, integrity and transparency.
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks complement Lierman for worshiping in various houses of worship around the state. She calls Lierman the first female to be independently elected statewide.
Outgoing Governor Hogan said “it’s about time” when commenting that Lierman is the first woman elected to the post of Maryland Comptroller. He called it a seamlessly and orderly transfer of power.
Members of the Walt Whitman High School Chamber Choirs sang “You Are the New Day:” for Lierman’s inauguration. She is an alumna of that high school where she also sang in the choir.
Wes Moore and Aruna Miller will be sworn into office on Wednesday as Governor and Lieutenant Governor respectively.
By Kevin McManus