Maryland Governor Larry Hogan vetoed multiple bills Thursday that would have increased money to schools, constructed new schools, settled a long-standing lawsuit with the state’s historically black colleges and universities, and raised revenue. His reason: the state’s uncertain economic future.

Prior to these vetoes, the Republican governor was already outspoken about not raising or creating taxes. Amid growing economic concerns last month, Hogan implemented a hiring freeze for state government and instructed all state agencies to suspend discretionary purchases on item or services that were unrelated to the COVID-19 response.

“The economic fallout from this pandemic simply 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 wrote in a letter to state lawmakers.

Last month, officials with the state’s board of revenue estimated that the state would lose $2.8 billion in revenue over the first quarter of the year because of the coronavirus. That’s a loss of more than 15% of the state’s general fund.

The schools reform bill was four years in the making, and based off the recommendations of the so-called the Kirwan Commission. It received bipartisan support in both chambers at the end of March’s legislative session, and is expected to cost about $4 billion annually. A provision in the bill said that, if revenues dropped by more than 7.5% in a given year, the plans for schools would be put on hold and the increase in funding for schools would be limited to the rate of inflation.

Senate President Bill Ferguson and Speaker of the House Adrienne Jones, both Democrats, expressed their disappointment in the governor’s action.

“Instead of setting us on a path to a secure recovery, the Governor is stopping all progress where it stands,” Ferguson wrote in a statement.

The veto comes a day after Maryland announced that its schools will remain closed for the rest of the academic year. “We know that there are students across this State that are losing millions of hours of learning,” Jones said in a statement. “The result of this short-sighted action is Maryland will continue to graduate students that are not ready for the real world.”

Democrats have a veto-proof majority in Maryland’s House and Senate. Historically, they’ve been able to override Hogan’s vetoes, but it’s unclear whether the pandemic will impact lawmakers’ decisions.