MARVIN MANDEL, Governor                        2803

I have two very grave concerns over this approach.
First, in contrast to the present practice, where the
maximum rata can be established so as to be consistent
with available appropriations made by the General
Assembly, House Bill 57 would require the State to set
individual rates which, collectively, may well exceed
such appropriations. The bill requires the agencies,
beginning July 1, 1976, to negotiate the rate to be
effective during "the fiscal year", presumably meaning
the fiscal year commencing July 1. By that time — in
fact long before then — the total magnitude of the
program has already been established through the
enactment of the State Budget. As pointed out by the
Attorney General in his Opinion to me with respect to
this bill,

"From a practical standpoint, we foresee that
grave managerial problems could arise in the
process of executing the budget for this
program in order to prevent the expenditures
from exceeding the amount appropriated."

Obviously, the State cannot pay out money that has
not been appropriated. Consequently, if the aggregate
payments called for by the individually negotiated rates
exceeds the appropriation for the program, the State will
be in the position of having a statutory obligation to
make a payment neither authorized nor permitted by the
Constitution. The alternative, of course, is to review
and renegotiate each individual rate based upon the
actual appropriation, which not only would vitiate the
clear intent of the bill, but also cause considerable
difficulties for the homes and institutions.

My second concern relates to the inability of the
two agencies to review the institutional budgets from the
point of view of disallowing, for reimbursement purposes,
expenditures that may, in their judgment, be unreasonable
or unnecessary. I make no assertion that any of their
expenditures are presently in that category, but the
continuing ability to monitor the budgets is, I believe,
critical.

For these reasons, I have vetoed House Bill 57.

Sincerely,
Marvin Mandel
Governor