PROGRAM ON TAX REFORM 103

divisions, to add the amounts into this tax bill so that they won't
have to do that and can put the amounts on a better basis, on an
ability to pay basis, not on money which has been accumulated, but
on money which is being accumulated, we'll be doing something.
We'll be helping the retired couple on a fixed income, the couple
who have earned and paid for their home but who no longer have
the dollars flowing in to meet the escalation of the property tax.
These people will not be forced to sell their homes as property taxes
increase beyond their means to pay. It is a better balance of taxation
related to the ability to meet the costs of government, and that's why
I say to you that the property tax, acknowledgedly the culprit, the
most regressive tax of all, must be removed from bearing 90 percent,
90 percent I say, of the local costs of government. We've got to do
something about it.

In a few moments we are going to move on to see how this new
tax plan affects you by giving you certain examples of how it will
work.

You know, if I took the map of Maryland and tore off the eastern
shore and the Chesapeake Bay, I guess we'd sort of lose a good part
of our reputation as a recreation state. If I took scissors and cut off
all the tobacco growing counties and pretended that they never ex-
isted, who knows but that we may not have turned out to be a part
of Pennsylvania? Let's say we cut a hole and Baltimore City was never
a part of Maryland; in that case we'd all be a sad looking bunch right
now, that is if there were any television to see me on or any people
to watch it.

What I'm saying is that Maryland is the kind of State it is because
it is an entity, because it is America in miniature, because it is diver-
sified in all respects. We want to keep the whole of Maryland a good
place to live. We can only do this if the State flourishes. Who can
say that it's not the business of every Marylander that the 82 obsolete
schools in Baltimore City could be renovated and reconstructed? Who
can say that the Baltimore beltway, which is a very thriving part of
Baltimore County's industrial economy, would be there if Baltimore
City were not at the hub to attract that wonderful industry that helps
pay Baltimore County taxes?

The State is an entity. Each part of it is interdependent on the other
part. For example, we're coming to a period where the southern Mary-
land counties are very hard pressed because of the deprivation of cer-
tain revenues they've been used to from gambling. Who can say that