documents to your scrutiny in the arduous task we face in our effort
to work out a sound financial plan for the State during the remaining
days of this session.

You will recall that in my message to you in this chamber three
weeks ago I said that it would be possible for the State to operate
through the next fiscal year under our present revenue structure
were it not for the necessity of granting further additional financial
assistance to Baltimore City and the counties. I said moreover, that,
without this necessity, in all likelihood we could complete this term
without changing this revenue structure.

In the same message, I spoke to you about the complicated rela-
tionship of State and local governments and of my serious concern
about finding a solution to this problem. Your Legislative Council's
Committee on Taxation and Fiscal Matters has conducted a long
and exhaustive study of the subject of State and local fiscal relations,
and has concluded that some immediate adjustments are required. I
have accepted this Committee's recommendations, and respectfully
request that you incorporate them in our financial program for the
1962 fiscal year.

Briefly stated, its proposal is that the State boost its financial aid
to the local subdivisions, primarily by increasing State grants-in-aid
for public education and public welfare. It should be emphasized
at this point, I believe, that the plan was carefully drawn up so as
not to precipitate a major disruption in the present State or local
revenue systems.

The adjustment in the State-aid program for public education
contemplates increasing the minimum salary requirements for teachers
by $400 and raising the local tax contribution requirements by twelve
cents. The objective of this phase of the program is to assist those
subdivisions which have had difficulty in keeping pace in their edu-
cational programs and to decrease the disparity in educational stand-
ards among these local subdivisions. The plan also contemplates in-
creasing the incentive fund for school construction by raising the
per pupil amount from $20 to $22 and by adding a new feature to
this program which will grant an additional $70 per pupil for each
pupil in excess of the enrollment of the previous year. This proposal
will increase State support for school construction, with greatest
benefits going to those localities which have suffered most with the
problems of growth.

The public welfare part of the program is designed to relieve the
local governments of some of the burdens of welfare costs over which

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