23

1	ever to hove a watchdog and the chief fiscal officer
2	elected by the people.
3	THE CHAIRMAN: Louie, would you take it a
4	step further and suggest that perhaps the Comptroller
5	should be given broader powers in this area than he now
6	has?
7	MR. GOLDSTEIN: Well, I believe under the
8	Maryland Constitution and the Code, powers are very broad.
9	THE CHAIRMAN: What I had in mind was if you
10	were truly a fiscal officer, you could conceive of a
11	situation in which revenue estimates would be his sole
12	responsibility and not the responsibility of the Execu-
13	tive. In other words, if you did that, then the Governor
14	what happened in '64 couldn't happen, because you would ,
15	not you, but the Comptroller would be able to determine
16	the need for revenues through the estimates that he
17	would make, and in fact, the program, of course, follows
18	that determination.
19	MR. HOFF: Couldn't an irresponsible Comptroller
20	then put the Governor over a barrel if ho had that sole
21	authority?

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