26                          JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS                           [Jan. 7

nized the need for an infusion of State funds into primary and secondary education. It paved the way for our first statewide kindergarten system and, subsequently, moved Maryland's educational ranking from the twelfth to the fifth highest in the Union. It recognized the very real problem of escalating crime and provided State aid to subdivisions for improved law enforcement. This move was without precedent, not only in Maryland but throughout the nation. Ultimately, fiscal reform was expanded to move toward equity and a streamlined structure for business taxation, thus encouraging our State's economic growth.

While our fiscal restructuring can scarcely be viewed as flawless, it has stumbled because of money and not because of principles. With the insight that only experience affords, we now realize that the political compromises on the legislation were costly; and that the rosy predictions of surplus by the professional "watchdogs" were fantasy. However, the concepts which guided fiscal reform—a more equitable sharing of the tax burden and a friendly hand up for hard-pressed local governments—remain valid.

In addition to fiscal reform, which accomplished the greatest good for the greatest number of present and future citizens, I treasure our strides in the advancement of human dignity. In our first legislative session we enacted statutes which placed Maryland in the vanguard of States pressing for social justice.

The repeal of the century-old Anti-Miscegenation Law eradicated an illogical and dictatorial clause from State marriage laws. The Fair Housing Law marked the first positive measure of its type enacted by a State south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Its subsequent defeat at referendum cannot diminish our pride in principled leadership. We acted out of conscience to right an historic wrong.

I share with you pride and satisfaction in the expansion of Maryland's Public Accommodations statutes. While the law became academic because of federal legislation which intercepted it, the effort was tremendously important for it expressed Maryland's overt commitment to equal rights for all.

Executive initiative in the field of human rights has, I believe, been without precedent. Even before inauguration, I established the Advisory Committee on Human Rights to assist in the development of legislation in this sphere. For the first time, a Negro was appointed to the Governor's personal staff and auxiliary personnel were integrated in the Governor's Office. I was the first Governor to seek out the advice and guidance of the nation's most responsible black leadership. And, in accordance with that advice, Maryland's first Governor's Code of Fair Practices was prepared and promulgated.

We have worked earnestly to advance social justice through service as well as statute. We have won many small victories and suffered some serious defeats. Since I took office, Maryland's welfare budget has increased $20 million. We have provided additional allowances for foster care and food. The State for the first time paid transportation costs for the indigent blind to medical clinics and appropriated operating funds for Day Care Centers for children. A Crash Job Program was established in Baltimore City and, subsequently, a model Job Training Center which draws upon the best talents of our private and public sectors was opened. In Cambridge, we have moved ahead in attracting new industry and developing low income housing.