Responding to criticism from lawmakers Thursday, Gov. Larry Hogan said money he proposed for a new Baltimore jail should instead pay for projects at state universities.
In a letter to leaders of the General Assembly’s budget committees, Hogan asked that $18.3 million budgeted to design a new jail be spent elsewhere because “there is clearly no longer support for this project in the General Assembly.”
Hogan asked lawmakers to keep $16.6 million in the budget for demolishing buildings at the jail site, where he shuttered facilities dating to the Civil War last year.
The governor cannot move the money himself — the legislature controls changes to state construction spending after the governor introduces his budget.
The Baltimore Sun reported Thursday that Hogan’s spending plan delayed five college projects, including two at historically black universities in Baltimore, to begin building a $480 million jail in the city. The proposal incensed Democratic lawmakers, including the Legislative Black Caucus.
Sen. Edward J. Kasemeyer, chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, said Hogan made a “good decision” in asking to hold off on the jail project. Kasemeyer said the jail and college projects were in competition because the governor was trying to reduce spending.