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two states elect their chief fiscal officer.
As to whether or not an elected independent
comptroller has been good or not for the
State, Governor Tawes in the Executive
Branch Committee stated that he is in
favor of electing the comptroller, and the
governor also stated that Maryland is
among the strongest states, that is, in
Maryland the governor is stronger than in
the great majority of the other states.
It seems a little strange that the ma-
jority on the Committee voted to elect the
state's attorney who prosecutes criminals
at a local level but voted to have the gov-
ernor appoint the two high statewide offi-
cers of attorney general and comptroller.
I am not going to belabor the point any
further. We all know what the issue is. As
Delegate Scanlan said the other day, we
are changing a great many things, and I
understood him to say, do not lay it on
too thick. I do not think and the minority
does not think, and I am sure a great many
other delegates do not think that we should
take away from the people the right that
they have had so many years to elect the
comptroller and attorney general and to put
the governor in a position where he will
amount in fact and actuality to a virtual
dictator.
I therefore offer a motion to strike the
word "not" out of Committee Recommenda-
tion No. 2.
THE CHAIRMAN: Hold your motion
for a while until we finish the question
period.
Are there any questions of the minority
spokesman? Delegate Maurer.
DELEGATE MAURER: Judge Sybert,
I wonder if you are aware of the editorial
in The New York Times called "Constitu-
tion, Five Departments" in which it said:
"The new charter contains an unneces-
sary and potentially dangerous grant of
extended authority to the comptroller.
In addition to those powers necessary to
fulfill his responsibility for auditing the
state's accounts, he is to have such other
powers as are vested in him by this con-
stitution or by law."
That would permit the legislature to
grant him powers far outside his own
office. Were you aware of that, sir?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Sybert.
DELEGATE SYBERT: I was not aware
of that particular editorial, but I want to
point out that we have never had the state
comptroller an auditor of the state's ac-
counts.
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THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Maurer.
DELEGATE MAURER: You referred to
the elected comptroller in the New York
State Constitution, but it is my understand-
ing, and I wonder if it is yours, that the
comptroller in the New York State is the
name given to the auditor and not to the
manager of the fiscal affairs of the State?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Sybert.
DELEGATE SYBERT: I do not know
what they call him in the proposed con-
stitution, but they certainly have a chief
fiscal officer in New York, and the edi-
torial that I referred to referred to the
comptroller as the chief fiscal officer. I
am looking for the exact wording of it.
We, the minority, make a brief allusion
to the point I am talking about on page 2
of the Minority Report to the following
effect: "As The New York Times recently
observed in reference to the election of
the State Comptroller of New York, 'Keep-
ing The Fiscal Watchdog Independent
Makes Sense'."
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Maurer.
DELEGATE MAURER: Would it not be
true that the function of the controlled
audit would be a fiscal watchdog?
DELEGATE SYBERT: Possibly a
month, six months or a year and a half
after the fact, after the money is stolen if
we have dishonesty, or after it is gone if
we have inept officials appointed to the
government.
THE CHAIRMAN : Delegate Maurer.
DELEGATE MAURER: If the Comp-
troller in New York is the auditor, and
he is the post-auditor, and he is considered
the fiscal auditor, would not the same
degree of success in being a watchdog ap-
ply to the post-audit function here?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Sybert.
DELEGATE SYBERT: The minority
thinks we better watch the horse before it
is stolen than wait maybe six months or a
year longer.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Henderson.
DELEGATE HENDERSON: Is it not
true that under the federal setup the Bu-
reau of Internal Revenue fulfills the tax
collecting function which we have dele-
gated to the comptroller in this State?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Sybert.
DELEGATE SYBERT: As far as I
know, that is correct.
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