Evening star., 1952-10-10
|Stregamlinine Budget
For Maryland 10 Be
Decided by Voters
BY Alex R. Preston

Maryland voters probably will
approve a constitutional amend.
ment to streamline the State
budget system November 4 as they
decide the outcome of the more
controversial political contests.
The referendum question. Ia.
belled on the ballot. Program
Budget Amendment" has moi
drawn much attention from any
of the candidates for Senate
House and other Offices. AS 6
matter of fact, leaders Of bott
the major parties are on recorc
in favor of the amendment.
Already In Effect.
Gov. McKeldin, a Republican
already has put the program
budget into effect, in anticipation
of its approval. Baltimore's Demo.
cratic Mayor, Thomas D'Alesan.
dro, has approved the plan as die
the predominantly Democratic
General Assembly which voted t.
place the question on the ballot
Chairman Robert B. Ennis O.
the Democratic State Centra
Committee has sent letters t,
various county committee chair
men stating:
This proposal has earned tn.
enthusiastic Endorsement of major
civic organizations and of al
students Of the question. .. an
writing to suggest that you. al
chairman Of your Democratic
county organization. sanction tn!
marking Of the sample ballot Ii
favor Of the program bulge
amendments, }. By doing this,
feel the Democratic Party car
join in furthering non-partisar
actions which will yield permanent
benefit to the State"
The amendment is-the result o.
q study by the Commission on Ad'
ministrative Organization. ap'
pointed by Gov. McKeldin. Tn,
study group was headed by Simor
E. Sobeloff and some of its rec.
concentrations were included IL
Gov. McKeldin's budget at tn,
short session" of the Genera
Assembly earlier this year.
Has Been Cumbersome.
Up until now. the budget ha.
been presented to the Legislature
in a cumbersome, 1ine-by-line ane
item-by-item form. Last year i
added up to some 5000 separate
entries for salaries. Office ex
penses. rent. ETC., for about 10(
State agencies. Each agency ha!
had to estimate its needs as fal
as % months in advance. Ths
budget is presented in three sepa.
rate parts.
The study commission recon-
mended a single, overall, unified
budget to be presented annually
The Sobolof4 Commission pro-
posed organizing the budget int
terms of working programs 81
that lawmakers and taxpayer
can actually see what they arr
getting for their dollars. Also
the commission says, the implica'
tions of budget cuts in various ac'
tivities become much clearer be-
cause the purpose for which eacl
agency's appropriation will b'
used are more clearly defined.
In the 1920's when the Stat,
government was much smaller
the budget contained less thar
1000 items contrasted with thu
5,000-plus items in the 1876.
burget. Last year. 1000 item
amendments were required. Som,
Of these changes merely involvet
replacement of Junior stenog
rapher with a senior stenographel
and had to go before the Gov
ernor for approval.
Easy to Comprehend
Information now contained Il
the ''line-item" budget woalt
continue to be made available t,
legislators in the form of sup
porting data. But the commission
believes the newer streamhnes
form will give lawmakers a NOR,
intelligent comprehension Of tn,
fiscal affairs of the State.
William j. Casey. chairman O.
the board Of directors of the Mary
land Trust Co.. said, Taxpayer
who have to make ends meet IL
their own affairs would like t,
have some way Of knowing hoy
the State government progresse,
with the same taxes. What tn,
State is doing and has yet to d,
with the tax dollars can only b.
revealed by q modern budget sys
tenn. So q vote for this amend.
ment is a vote for good house
keeping in State management"
8. Page Nelson. banker ant
former president of the Baltimor,
Association Of Commerce, said
"The budget, amendment question
makes sense. in that it shouls
simplify and clarity the budget
making it more Understandable