Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is slated to deliver his annual State of the State address Wednesday afternoon. Ahead of that speech, WYPR’s Rachel Baye spoke with state Senate President Bill Ferguson about the local impacts of the new Trump Administration and what he hopes to hear from the governor.

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Baye: Trump has indicated changes to vehicle emission standards and EV initiatives. How are Maryland policies affected by those changes?

Ferguson: The single biggest impact will be the removal of the tax credit for electric vehicle purchases. We have a goal to increase our — the purchase of electric vehicles here in Maryland, and ideally it would be, by next year, 35% of vehicles would be electric. Through briefings we've had this year, that is looking likely impossible. We also don't have the fully built-out infrastructure, particularly in places like the city, to make it as viable as we would like it to be. I wish it could be tomorrow, but I think we have to be realistic. … So we may have to adjust our goal — not give up hope, but adjust our goal to a more realistic timeline, given the federal pullback.

Baye: Also related to the effects of the new administration, are you worried at all about funding for the Key Bridge rebuild?

Ferguson: You know, right now, I'm not. I've had a number of conversations, including with Congressman Andy Harris, who feels confident that we still are moving forward. It was an act of Congress that funded the bridge, and so it would take an act of Congress to remove it. I would say that there is a sufficient understanding of the critical importance of the Port of Baltimore and the Key Bridge to the region that I don't see a new act of Congress stripping that funding. And so we'll just have to keep pushing forward as fast as possible.

Baye: The Trump administration has started dismantling programs related to [diversity, equity and inclusion] initiatives. Is there any sort of trickle-down effect that you are worried about seeing here in Maryland from that dismantling?

Ferguson: Well, I would say what we just saw on Friday was the United States Department of Transportation attaching all discretionary transportation funds for all modes — roads, bridges, transit, airport, ports — discretionary funds being attached to policy objectives like the removal of things like DEI. … You know, these are things that have never been associated with transportation funding in the history of the country, and yet, what we're seeing are these new memos from federal agencies attaching arbitrary rules for funding of critical projects. So yes, I am worried. I think we've seen instances of this type of policy making by fiat, with attaching huge federal dollars. And so we're gonna have to be really mindful and evaluate on a case by case basis. I find it pretty disturbing. Inclusion is what has made this country great.

Baye: On the budget, now that you've had some time to evaluate the tax proposals, in particular from Gov. Moore, do you support what he's proposed? Are there any changes that you would like to see made?

Ferguson: I appreciate the governor's approach of $2 of cuts for every $1 in new revenue. I think he tried to take a very balanced approach. I will say he had to introduce the budget before President Trump was given the oath of office to serve, and so we are learning in these last 15 days a lot more than the information that the governor had when the budget was introduced. And so I think that's causing us to really rethink a lot of assumptions. We're looking at 25% tariffs on Canada. You know, these are things that were unthinkable, really, that are going to have huge impacts on our economy. And so we're really trying to rethink everything and make sure that we are setting Maryland up for as much success as possible given this uncertain time. And so we're going through line by line, making sure that we have dollars associated with all of the right priorities, and that we're not overburdening Marylanders with additional new revenues that are too much.

Baye: This is going to air right ahead of the State of the State. Anything that you particularly hope to hear from the governor?

Ferguson: It's a very, very uncertain time, and there's a lot of people that are feeling a great deal of anxiety, myself included, when it comes to leadership of — what America looks like in the years ahead and how that translates to what Maryland looks like. And so I'm hopeful that the governor will spend some time really trying to address and allay those concerns and lay out the plans and at least appreciate where people are feeling right now, but give guideposts for where we're headed moving forward.