3984

VETOES

continue to receive the life insurance benefits at State
expense.

The life insurance benefits offered by the fifteen
subdivisions vary from one subdivision to another,
ranging from $1,500 in Garrett County to $30,000 base
amount in Montgomery County. In several counties, the
benefit amounts are based upon salary; and, of course, in
nine counties, no life insurance benefits are offered.

The bill raises an unfortunate conflict in equities.
On the one hand, it does, on the surface, seem unfair to
cause an employee who transfers to the State system to
lose a benefit such as life insurance as the price of
transferring. On the other hand, however, it would be
most unfair to have the State providing or funding
different benefits for State employees doing essentially
the same job. Among the assessment office employees,
those in nine subdivisions would receive no additional
benefits, and all would be treated unfairly as against
the employees in Montgomery County.

The inequity here extends beyond just the group of
assessment office employees. State employees working in
each of the fifteen subdivisions to which this bill would
apply, whose classification is the same or comparable to
the assessment office employees, would be treated
differently vis a vis the assessment office employees.

On balance, the unfairness of treating State
employees differently seems to me to outweigh whatever
apparent unfairness there may be as to the individual
assessment office employee electing to transfer to the
State system. Under the existing procedures, as I
understand them, those employees electing to remain with
the local system do retain their participation in the
local life insurance program. Thus, the failure of House
Bill 152 to take effect would not cause those employees
to lose their life insurance benefit.

The fiscal impact of the bill appears uncertain.
The Department of Fiscal Services estimated a cost to the
State of $41,000 just for the employees in Montgomery and
Prince George's Counties, involving approximately 160
employees. No estimate was given as to the total cost.
Whatever it would be, the ultimate cost for making the
benefit uniform and extending it throughout State
service, would undoubtedly be enormous.

For these reasons, I have vetoed House Bill 152.

Sincerely,

/s/ Marvin Mandel

Governor