While Florida lawmakers are taking a wait-and-see approach before returning to Tallahassee in special session to address the severe budgetary and economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Maryland's Governor Larry Hogan, on last Thursday, vetoed legislation that would have provided that state’s four HBCU’s $580 million as a settlement for a lawsuit proponents said would fix a generation of inequity.
Hogan, a Republican, said “the economic fallout from this pandemic 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.
A coalition of HBCU alumni filed the lawsuit in 2006, alleging that the state caused damage to the HBCU’s enrollment by letting other state college duplicate programs that once attracted a diverse student body. The coalition had been successful in the courts with a federal judge urging the state and the group to reach a settlement.
Florida’s proposed $93 billion 2020-21 state budget doesn’t go into effect until July 1, and Governor DeSantis has until June 30 to sign the spending plan. Florida’s is likely facing a $8-10 billion revenue shortfall, even with a nearly $4 billion reserve.