was the clear intent of this Legislature and this Administration, ex-
pressed both by word and by deed, that the income tax increase which
you authorized would not actually be imposed upon the people if
a rising economy continued to pour revenues into our treasury in
an amount sufficient to pay for our increased needs. It is a pleasure
to me to report to you, at the opening of this special session, that
The Board of Revenue Estimates has advised me that our economy
has prospered—at a rate that is unprecedented, in fact—that our
revenues have increased proportionately and that we are now in a
position where we can safely do what we had all hoped we could do,
and what we pledged ourselves to do—that is to say, remove the
1-per-cent increase in tax on ordinary income, which was scheduled
to take effect at the beginning of next year, without jeopardizing
the important new school program and the other vital State services
it was intended to support.

A week ago today, the Board of Revenue Estimates, acting on a
request that I had made some three months ago, submitted to me a
revised statement of revenues for the fiscal year under which we are
now operating, together with estimates for the fiscal year 1966. I
shall not burden you at this time with the details of this report. The
full statement of the Board, of course, will be made available to you
for your deliberations. For our purposes now, it is sufficient to say
that we may conclude from its figures of estimated revenues that the
proposed tax increase will not be required to balance the budget
for this year. Therefore, I am recommending that you, at this special
session, enact legislation reducing the tax on ordinary income to the
present 3-per-cent.

I would point out to you that the Board of Revenue Estimates, in
support of the estimates of revenues it made, cites the general eco-
nomic advancements which have been made, and in particular the
boosting effect upon our economy of the reduction of the Federal
income tax. The conclusions it reaches, from a study of current and
possible future revenue trends, are corroborated by reports which I
have been receiving from many sources, including recent calculations
made by our Department of Economic Development. Undoubtedly
Maryland, with the rest of the country, is experiencing the longest
period of peace-time prosperity in all of its history, and we rejoice
that this is so. You will recall, however, that a year ago, when the
financial program which you enacted was being considered, there
was something less than unrestrained optimism about the future
economic condition of our country. Some of our leading economists,

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