Maryland Gov. Hogan signs bill to pay $577M to state HBCUs

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Wednesday signed a bill that will send hundreds of millions of dollars to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the state.

The bill will send an additional $577 million in additional funding to the four HCBUs in the state: Bowie State, Coppin State, Morgan State and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. 

Hogan called the bill’s recent passage in the Maryland legislature “a historic bipartisan measure,” according to the Baltimore Sun.

“It was a great cooperation between us and the Republicans and the Democrats in the legislature,” Hogan said.

The Sun noted the bill’s passage and signing into law follows a more than 15-year saga between the state and its HBCUs after they sued the state for more funding and the two parties reached a settlement.

Hogan had previously offered $200 million to the HBCUs as a “final offer” to end the legal wrangling.

“Morgan and our other HBCUs have been pulling the weight in this state in terms of creating a Black middle class and we have been doing it without due respect,” Morgan State President David Wilson told the newspaper. “So, the money is great. We need that, but respect, as well.”