WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the Maryland Constitution, I have today
vetoed House Bill 576.

House Bill 576 requires that the public be notified and given the opportunity to
comment, prior to a final commitment being made, on architectural and engineering
services for capital projects which cost in excess of $100,000. The required notification
is to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the area where the capital
project will be built and the public comment period is 30 days.

I have two major concerns about this legislation. First, the notification requirement
duplicates current law and existing COMAR regulations. The General Professional
Services Selection Board is currently required to publish, on a reasonable and timely
basis, any architectural and engineering services required for a State funded capital
project. By regulation, the Board is also required to announce any
requests-for-proposals in the Maryland Register and other appropriate publications.
To comply with those provisions, the Board advertises architectural and engineering
services which it administers in both the Maryland Register and the Daily Record.

Second the requirement that the public be allowed to comment on the selection of
architectural and engineering services is inappropriate. The selection of architects and
engineers is a complicated and technical process that I believe should be delegated
exclusively to qualified professionals. The public's opportunity to be involved is during
the project approval stage. All capital projects requiring architectural and engineering
services are included in the Governor's Budget Request, are reviewed by the Senate
Budget and Taxation and the House Appropriations Committees, and are approved by
the General Assembly. During the Committees' review process public hearings are held
and comments are solicited from the legislature, government officials, and the
public-at-large. Notices of the public hearings are announced in local newspapers
throughout the State and appear in publications of the General Assembly.

Although the intent of House Bill 576 is admirable, the legislation would require the
General Professional Services Selection Board to perform a number of unnecessary
tasks and to incur unnecessary advertising expenses.

For those reasons, I have decided to veto House Bill 576.

Sincerely,

William Donald Schaefer

Governor

House Bill No. 576

AN ACT concerning

Public Improvements - Public Notice and Opportunity for Comment

FOR the purpose of requiring that the public be given notice of and an opportunity to
comment on proposed designs or certain design revisions certain proposals for
public improvements before completion or acceptance of the design or revision by
the State or a State agency; specifying that a certain time period for written public

- 3357 -