MD Governor Blocks $1.6m to Baltimore Symphony--Again

Even with having secured $7.25 million in private monies to help stabilize its finances, the Baltimore Symphony is still at the bottom of Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s list for a promised $1.6 million from the state. His attempt to block the funds, a fact that has emerged in his proposed 2020-21 state budget, is the second in as many years.

The last time he did so, reports the Baltimore Sun, the move “precipitated a crisis within the organization. Saying the orchestra lacked the money to make payroll, the BSO’s board of trustees voted in June to lock the musicians out of Meyerhoff Symphony Hall for 12 weeks.”

Eight months later, the orchestra is back on its feet, but still not out of the woods.

Lawmakers say that Hogan does not have the authority to block the allocated funds and that the general assembly could restore them.

The Baltimore Sun