Evening star., 1941-03-07
Assembly Acts
Today on Record
Budget Bill
Despite Gag Rule,
Foes Hope to Slice
O'Conor Proposal
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
ANNAPOLIS, March 7.-Although
bound by gag rule, a determined
group Of delegates made last-minute
preparations today to fight for re-
ductions in Gov. O'Conor's 1928
budget.
The $1O6, 6,664,O 900 original appro-
priations measure, with amendments
made in committee and the Gov
ernor's supplemental budget boosting
it well past the S107,000000 mark,
comes up for action in the House
of Delegates this afternoon.
Administration leaders. who moved
that it be made a special order of
business, predicted that the bill will
pass without any further alterations.
Gag Rule Limits Debate.
Some House members, however,
were seeking enough votes today to
prune the record breaking budget.
In addition to general reductions,
they aim to knock out one of the
House Ways and Means Committees
amendments calling for $4,000 to
install an electric roll call system in
the House.
Twenty -four hours before the
Ways and Means Committee re-
ported favorably the original budget
with amendments for increased
appropriate tions of S55 ,899-the House
adopted the gag rule limiting indi-
vidual members debate to five
minutes.
Opponents of the budget, who pro-
tested vigorously against adoption
of the cloture rule. arranged today
to borrow other legislators debating
time
A few of them had intended to
filibuster against the bill.
In addition to the Ways and
Means Committees recommended
tions for legislative budget increases
of s55,899, the Governors supple
mental budget carries additional ap-
propriations Of approximately
$750,000
The proposed tax on half mile
race tracks, one of the measures
proposed to provide funds to equal
ize salaries of Negro school teachers
with those of white teachers, was
condemned before the Senate FL
nance Committee yesterday.
Half-mile track operators argued
the tax would harm agriculture,
since the abbreviated ovals were
fairs beneficial to farmers. The
fairs would suffer if the tax were
imposed, the half-milers contended.
Legislation for a contributory
State pension system, to which all
employees would be eligible except
teachers, State policemen and
judges, was introduced in the House
yesterday by Delegate E. Brooke Lee
on behalf of the administration.
1t was estimated the pension plan
would cost the State s277,5o3 an
nually during 1912 and l943. An
item of $4,000 a year was included
in the supplemental budget for ad-
miniStration Of the pension.
Improvements Suggested.
Also submitted to the Legislature
in the form of a voluminous l69-
page report was a 6-year program
for capital improvements in the
State.
The program, drafted by the State
Planning Commission in co-opera-
ton with State Budget Director WAL
ter N. Kirkman. tentatively pro-
posed expenditure of 1884 270 over
the period, beginning with the s4,-
172,000 bond issue proposed by Gov.
O'Conor for 1923
Senator Wilmer Fell Davis, Caro-
line County Republican, offered a
bill in the Senate to tack certain
holidays onto week ends and to pro-
vide by law that Maryland shall
celebrate Thanksgiving Day the last
Thursday in ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
of the date set by the President.
Mr. Davis measure specifies that
the third Monday in February will
be "Washington-Lincoln" Day and
the last Monday in May will be
Decoration Day, so far as Maryland
is concerned
Delegate John Booth, Democrat,
of 1st Baltimore. proposed a bill to
reduce the present State tax on
music boxes from SIS to IS. During
the 1910 fiscal year the tax produced
$67, ,460.