Harry Roe Hughes was inaugurated on Janu-
ary 17, 1979, as the fifty-seventh Governor of the
State of Maryland. In the general election of 1978
he received the largest majority of the vote re-
corded by a Maryland gubernatorial candidate in
this century. He swept the State, carrying by sub-
stantial majorities Baltimore City and all but two
of the twenty-three Maryland counties.

Governor Hughes came to the office of Chief
Executive with sixteen years of experience as a
legislator, and six years as a cabinet officer
directing one of the State's largest and most com-
plex agencies—the Department of Transporta-
tion. He also served as chairman of the Demo-
cratic Party in 1969 and 1970.

During his first two years as Governor,
Hughes, working closely with the General Assem-
bly, achieved numerous reforms. The 1979 session
of the General Assembly was especially notewor-
thy for the broad scope of tax relief programs
proposed by the new Administration and enacted
by the Legislature. Some $144 million in tax relief
were provided. The measures included an increase
in standard deduction rates and limits, which es-
pecially benefited those of low and moderate in-
come. Other relief was the elimination of the sales
tax on residential fuels and utilities, expansion of
the homeowners tax credit program to persons
under 60, and the establishment of a new tax
credit program for elderly and disabled persons
who rent their homes. The sales tax on the pur-
chase of manufacturing and farm machinery was
also eliminated.

State aid to Baltimore City and the twenty-
three counties saw a net increase of $94 million, a
move designed to ease growing pressures on local
property tax rates. Reforms were made in the
property assessment procedure to make it more
equitable and less disruptive to homeowners, and
the State Pension System was restructured to as-
sure its future financial integrity.

The Hughes Administration program in the
1980 session of the General Assembly addressed
a number of long-standing problems faced by the
State.

The Governor proposed and the Legislature
enacted a package of legislation and constitutional
amendments to consolidate the courts of Baltimore
City, which, with voter approval, would achieve a
goal pursued for more than three decades.

Biographies/I'5

The consolidation of the State's environmental
regulatory activities under the State Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene was also achieved,
resolving ten years of dispute as to how that
could be accomplished. A State program for sit-
ing hazardous waste disposal facilities was creat-
ed, making Maryland one of only a handful of
states to enact such legislation. The Northeast
Waste Disposal Authority was also created. The
Authority has the potential of becoming a model
in regional cooperation in the critical area of solid
waste disposal, recycling, and developing new
technology for converting waste to energy.

Three' other areas in which the Governor
placed emphasis were education, transportation,
and corrections.

State aid to education, an area in which
Hughes has had an enduring interest since his
years as a State legislator, was increased in the
1980 session by $68 million, an amount unprece-
dented in its magnitude. This massive infusion of
new State funds was aimed at reducing disparities
among the State subdivisions in per-pupil expen-
ditures for basic educational programs in elemen-
tary and secondary schools. The increase in edu-
cation funding included $8 million that was
targeted to the neediest jurisdictions to further
enhance the equalization effect of the new State
aid.

Progress was made in bolstering the State
Transportation Trust Fund, which was facing a
massive revenue shortfall. Some $87 million was
transferred from surplus General Funds to the
Transportation Trust Fund. This interim program
also provided the hard-pressed subdivisions with
additional transportation funds, allowed the State
to continue full funding of the Baltimore metro-
politan area mass transit system, and established
a stable arrangement of State support for the
Washington Metro mass transit system.

From the beginning of the Hughes Administra-
tion a major effort was made toward improving
managment and strengthening staff in the State's
correctional institutions. During the 1980 session,
the Governor together with legislative leaders de-
veloped a comprehensive package for expanding
and modernizing correctional facilities in the
State: Construction funds were provided for two
new prisons and planning funds were approved
for renovations to the existing House of Correc-
tions and the Maryland Penitentiary. The pack-
age included planning and construction funds for
seven new community adult rehabilitation centers,
which gave a major impetus to this community-
based, innovative approach to corrections.