Maryland governor pledges student loan and tuition relief

(AP) – Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is pledging millions of dollars in tuition and student loan debt relief.

The Republican governor told a news conference Tuesday at the University of Maryland in College Park that he's proposing a $17.5 million investment to enable the state's 14 colleges and universities to cap tuition increases at 2 percent.

He says they would otherwise have had to raise tuition by as much as 5 percent.

Hogan also is announcing a proposal for Marylanders earning less than $200,000 a year, and couples making less than $250,000, to deduct all their interest on student loans on their state income tax returns starting in 2018.

Hogan says those deductions will save Marylanders $20 million a year.