Hogan Puts Politics Ahead of Students with Veto Threat of $150M in School Construction

Annapolis, MD — Larry Hogan is throwing a tantrum because Democrats in the state legislature want to empower local school officials to decide what’s best for their students.  Today, Hogan issued a veto threat of Democrats’ legislation to increase annual spending on school construction from $250 million per year to $400 million—including an additional $10 million for school safety.

The bill would prevent the Board of Public Works (BPW) from overriding county school boards’ school construction decisions.  Since entering office, Hogan has repeatedly used BPW as a means of attacking Democrats in Maryland.  The bill would help close the $4 billion school construction backlog, but Hogan would rather sacrifice progress so he can keep attacking Democrats.

“Governor Hogan needs to grow up,” said Maryland Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Matthews.  “Democrats are working to take the politics out of school construction funding and empower local school officials to decide what’s best for their students, but Larry Hogan is throwing a tantrum because he doesn’t want to share his toys.  Governor Hogan has used the Board of Public Works as a cudgel to attack Democrats for three years, while Democrats in the legislature are protecting students by preventing Hogan from playing politics with school construction funding.”