10 REPORT OF THE COMPTROLLER OF THE TREASURY

loan authorized for the construction of a new State Office Building
in Baltimore City, because of unfavorable building conditions and
the decision of State officials to defer the construction of a State
Office Building until conditions improve.

The General Assembly, at the 1947 Session, enacted two other
laws calling for the issuance of State Bonds, one the General Con-
struction Loan of 1947, authorized by Chapter 694, in the amount of
$11,695,000.00, of which $5,000,000.00 was sold as of July 1, 1947.
The balance of the loan, $6,695,000.00, will be sold at a later date
as the need for this money for construction purposes arises. The
other loan authorized is the Armory Loan of 1947, by Chapter 624,
in the amount of $560,000.00, to cover the cost of armories to be
erected in several locations in the State. No action has been taken
up to this time looking toward the issuance of these bonds, because
it has been felt that there is no pressing need in the near future for
these armories, and construction of them will be deferred until
such time as the Military Department and the State officials feel
it is desirable to proceed with their construction.

The ANNUITY BOND FUND, which is the account maintained
for servicing the bonded debt, had a credit balance of $1,379,095.06
at the end of the Fiscal Year. This amount represents taxes col-
lected for the purpose of paying interest on and redeeming the State
debt, and will be used, along with taxes on real and personal prop-
erty to be received in the future, in servicing the bonded debt.

LEGISLATION. It was very gratifying to this office that the
General Assembly, at its 1947 Session, gave serious consideration
to the recommendation which the State Comptroller's Office has
made on several occasions in past years, that the State's finances br
placed on an annual basis, as far as budgeting is concerned, rath
than on a biennial basis, as has been the case up to this time.
Amendment to the State Constitution is necessary to bring about
the change from biennial to annual budgeting, and an Enabling Act
under which it is proposed to amend the Constitution to provide for
the Legislature meeting annually was passed at the 1947 Session,
and will be voted upon next year. It is sincerely hoped by this
department that the Amendment will be approved by the voters,
as annual budgeting will represent quite a forward step in keeping
the State's fiscal affairs as current as possible.

POST WAR CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM

Our report for the year ended June 30, 1946 contained a detailed
account of the program which was. provided to take care of con-
struction which would follow the close of the war. This program was
conceived with two thoughts in mind—first, that it would provide
for construction which would ordinarily have been done during
the war years, but which could not be done because of the war
emergency, and, second, it was felt that such a program would be
very helpful in relieving the unemployment problem which was