2800

VETOES

and preparation of plans and specifications to a
State Office Building for the Executive offices, the
Department of State Planning and the Department of
Budget and Fiscal Planning.

May 17, 1976.
Honorable Steny H. Hoyer
President of the Senate
State House
Annapolis, Maryland 21404

Dear Mr. President:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the
Maryland Constitution, I have today vetoed Senate Bill
1124.

This bill amends an appropriation in the General
Construction Loan of 1974 for the preparation of plans
and specifications for a State Office Building in
Annapolis to house Executive Offices, the Department of
State Planning, and the Department of Budget and Fiscal
Planning. The amendment provides that, as of July 1,
1976, all work on the plans and specifications shall be
discontinued, and no further funds from the appropriation
shall be expended until a revised master plan for the
State Office Complex in Annapolis is approved by the
General Assembly.

There appears to be neither any doubt of the need
for additional office space for these agencies nor any
substantial objection to this space being in close
proximity to the Statehouse. At the present time, the
State is negotiating with Anne Arundel County to purchase
the Arundel Center; and, if these negotiations are
successful, there would be less need (or perhaps no need)
for an additional Executive Office Building in the
downtown Annapolis area. However, at this point, the
availability of the Arundel Center is not assured.

The revised plan for the State Office Complex
required by the bill can and will be prepared for
submission to the General Assembly without this
legislation. But that revised plan and its inclusion or
exclusion of the proposed Executive Office Building, will
depend on whether the State is able to acquire the
Arundel Center. If that acquisition proves possible,
further design work on the new building can and will be
halted; but if it does not prove possible, the work ought
to proceed. The need for the space is such that the
delay required by this bill would be both unwise and
expensive. There are, of course, no construction funds
authorized for the new building, so no final decision can
be made with respect to it without further Legislative
approval.