NEWS CONFERENCE 123

At least I know that one member of the State government has already
said that he thinks a Congressman should pay this tax. Do you think
that you will try to bring the entire government into line with your
view?

A. Well, I feel very strongly that it's a matter of necessity for a
Congressman to live close to Washington where his work keeps him
a great portion of the year, and I don't think that it is at all fair for
a Congressman who has his residence in Maryland for the convenience
of his constituents to pay a Maryland income tax.

Q. Governor, within the next year, many Marylanders are going to
be given a tax bill that is twice what they now owe on income tax.
As a result, our property taxes may go down. Are you expecting any
kind of a public tax revolt?

A. No, I think you're a little bit ambitious in the figure. I don't
think many Marylanders will be given a tax bill two times what their
current bill is, and of course, as you mentioned, the property tax will
be held down by an equivalent amount that's sent to the local govern-
ments. I don't anticipate any tax revolt. As a matter of fact, since we
did the television explanation of the tax program, the mall has done
a complete flip flop, and we're getting probably as many favorable re-
actions as we previously got unfavorable ones. There seemed to be a
great amount of misunderstanding about the purpose of the money.

Q. Governor, can we go back to this bridge issue again? Can you
identify the priority of legislative views, within the last few days?

A. No.

Q. Have they known all along that the Harbor tunnel would be first
in priority?

A. If they read the papers, I think they have. I don't think this has
been any secret, so let's not try to make a big story out of it. It's been
pretty well known right along that we had to have another Harbor
tunnel.

Q. In reference to the Legislature granting you the right, as Governor,
don't you feel that it is your right to grant life imprisonment rather
than the existing sentence?

A. Oh, you mean the commutation of the existing sentences? The
Legislature itself has some feeling that they may not be empowered to
grant a blanket commutation, and that's giving them some pause in
their deliberations right now. I don't have any feeling about it. 1