You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland on Thursday vetoed legislation that would have given the state's historically black colleges and universities $580 million to settle a long-running lawsuit accusing the state of discriminating against the institutions. In a letter to legislators, Hogan, a Republican, said the economic impact of the state's response to the novel coronavirus epidemic "makes it impossible to fund any new programs, impose any new tax hikes, nor adopt any legislation having any significant fiscal impact, regardless of the merits of the legislation." Hogan said the state expected its revenue to decline by 50 percent over the next three months.
The State Senate's president, Bill Ferguson, criticized the veto, saying that instead of building for a strong future after the crisis, Hogan had chosen to "foreclose hope, leaving Maryland families and historically black colleges and universities with an open question for the future."
