BLAIR LEE III, Acting Governor

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Dear Mr. Speaker:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the
Maryland Constitution, I have today vetoed House Bill 948.

This bill is an emergency measure which establishes a
procedure for the acquisition and control of all data
processing equipment and services in the State. It also
creates a Data Processing Policy Board and defines its
powers and duties. The Department of Budget and Fiscal
Planning is the agency responsible for the implementation of
this law.

House Bill 948 has a long and controversial history.
Its predecessor, House Bill 459 of 1977, was vetoed by
Governor Marvin Mandel on May 26, 1977. That bill attempted
to centralize all aspects of the State's automatic data
processing system by vesting general responsibility for
acquiring all data processing equipment and services for all
State agencies in the Department of General Services. It
further proposed to vest in the Comptroller's Office,
through a Central Data Processing Division, all operational
control over the data processing system.

House Bill 459 was vetoed for several reasons, the most
important of which was the serious concern that the required
centralization and transfer of responsibility could not be
achieved effectively within the time frame mandated by the
bill. Therefore, in order to consider and address this
issue, and the special needs and circumstances of the
agencies involved, and in order to establish reasonable time
limits for the reorganization, the veto message requested
the Secretary of Budget and Fiscal Planning and the
Comptroller to commence a three—phase process to implement
such a reorganization of all data processing resources.
This process, in which all State agencies were directed to
cooperate, was structured as follows:

Phase I: Centralizing the Annapolis and Baltimore
Data Centers, as well as the Public Safety
and University Hospital Operations;

Phase II: Bringing the Department of Transportation
into the System;

Phase III: Including Higher Education in the System.

The implementation of Phase I was begun immediately and
it culminated in the submission to the General Assembly, in
the Budget Bill for fiscal year 1979, of this part of the
reorganization program, absent the University Hospital
Operations which are to be dealt with in the third phase.
Just prior to the submission of the Budget, the Attorney
General had occasion to comment upon and approve the