204 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

lege and that your streets will be safe to walk by night.

It is a law so unoriginal that its concept is that of the government
of the United States and our most progressive sister states.

It is a law that is fair replacing a law that was unfair; a law that is
progressive replacing a law that was regressive; a law that is so sensi-
tive that it provides a distinction between what is owned as a result
of past labors and what is earned in terms of current financial ability
to share in the tax burden. It is a law that is more a matter of redis-
tribution of this tax burden than one of increased cost to taxpayers.

While fiscal reform has been legislated to achieve greater equity and
necessary revenue so that the state and local governments may pro-
vide, improve and expand essential services. The executive branch
shall direct and concentrate its efforts to assure that for every tax
dollar expended a dollar's value in service, program or facility is
received.

It is a popular tiling to talk about saving money in government and
we know many in public life today who exploit this theme to the
fullest. But many of these self-proclaimed protectors of the public
purse fail to recognize that spending is good when it is invested in
progress and evil only when wastefully dispensed. In Annapolis today
there is leadership determined to invest in the war against pollution,
crime, ignorance and frustration but just as equally dedicated to save
money in aggressively combating waste, duplication, inefficiency and
bureaucracy. I have established the Task Force on Modern Manage-
ment to examine the worth of every program, the importance of every
State employee, the significance of every State-operated facility and to
justify the reason for every dollar spent by your State government.
And if this task force performs in the manner of those in New York,
Ohio and Washington State, where millions upon millions of dollars

have been saved, the citizens of Maryland are going to get more for

their money than ever before.

However, all the dollars saved or dollars invested would diminish
in value, all the economic equity achieved appear hollow and insignif-
icant if Maryland's long-overdue social reform had failed to be com-
mensurate with its fiscal reform. But this was not the case, for human
rights legislation was enacted which rectified old wrongs and assured
future progress. The unconscionable anti-miscegenation law was re-
scinded while expanded access to public facilities and equal access to
new housing have been guaranteed to all Maryland's citizens regardless