the staff in the correctional institutions With the
strong support of the General Assembly, the
State employees pension system was restructured
to assure its further actuarial integrity, one of the
Governor's early goals
In addition, environmental regulatory activities
were consolidated under the State Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene, resolving a ten-year
interagency dispute A State program for siting
hazardous waste disposal facilities was created,
making Maryland one of only a handful of states
to enact such legislation The Northeast Waste
Disposal Authority was also created, with the po-
tential for achieving regional cooperation in the
critical area of solid waste disposal An agree-
ment was reached among the State, Federal, and
local authorities on a program to clean up the Pa-
tuxent River, ending a decade-long dispute which
had endangered the entire project The Patuxent
River plan is regarded as a model as Maryland
and neighboring states begin implementing plans
to restore the Chesapeake Bay, the State's
greatest natural resource
Governor Hughes was born in Easton, Mary-
land, on November 13, 1926 He lived in Denton
and was educated in the public schools of Caro-
line County As a young man he explored the
possibilities of a career in professional baseball af-
ter pitching on high school and college teams
Upon graduating from college he played a sum-
mer of professional baseball with the farm team
of the New York Yankees in Easton and the
Federalsburg independent team
Enlisting at age 17, Governor Hughes served a
year-and-a-half with the U S Navy Air Corps in
World War 11, after which he entered the Univer-
sity of Maryland, receiving a B S degree in 1949 |
Prior to entering the University of Maryland he
had attended Mercersburg Academy in Mercers-
burg, Pennsylvania, and Mount Saint Mary's Col-
lege in Western Maryland After receiving his un-
dergraduate degree he entered the George Wash-
ington University School of Law and received his
LL B degree in 1952 He was admitted to the
practice of law in Maryland the same year and
started practicing law in Denton in 1932
Mr Hughes was elected to the Maryland
House of Delegates in 1954 and served one term
(1955-1958) in that body, representing Caroline
County In 1958 he was elected to the Senate,
where he served three terms (1959-1970), first
representing Caroline County and then, after re-
apportionment, the Upper Shore counties
During his term in the Senate, Mr Hughes
held a number of leadership positions, including
chairman of the Committee on Taxation and Fis-
cal Matters, majority floor leader, chairman of
the Committee on Finance, and chairman of the
Commission to Study the State's Role in Financ-
ing Public Education
In 1971, Mr Hughes was appointed to head
the newly created Department of Transportation,
serving in that post until May 1977
In the general election of 1978, he was elected
to his first term, receiving the largest majority of
the vote recorded by a Maryland gubernatorial
candidate in this century
Governor Hughes is married to the former
Patricia Donoho They have two daughters, Ann,
a special education teacher in Baltimore County
public schools, and Elizabeth, a practicing attor-
ney in Baltimore |
