Hogan Blocks Funding for Legislature's 'Fenced Off' Priorities

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), who regularly contrasts the bipartisanship of the Maryland State House with the toxic partisanship of Capitol Hill, made a direct attack on the Democratic General Assembly Wednesday, announcing that he would not release the millions of dollars for “fenced off” programs that lawmakers were seeking.

Speaking at the start of Wednesday’s Board of Public Works meeting, Hogan blasted the legislature’s “reckless approach” to ordering funding priorities and said the state could not afford to fund the fenced off programs. He cited projections that Maryland could be facing a $961 million budget deficit but pledged that his administration would find sufficient funding to meet the state’s greatest needs.

“We pledged to bring fiscal restraint to Annapolis and we have,” Hogan said. “We must remain vigilant and fiscally prudent and be prepared for volatility in the national economy.”

Legislative leaders reacted swiftly and critically.

“It is difficult to express how disappointing this is,” state Sen. Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City), the vice chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee, said in a tweet. “School construction, police tech improvements, adult high schools, Youth Works, etc. all crushed…This news dump before July 4th holiday hurts Marylanders who need it most.”

Read more: https://www.marylandmatters.org/2019/07/03/hogan-blocks-funding-for-legislatures-fenced-off-priorities/