HARRY HUGHES, Governor

5175

President of the Senate

State House

Annapolis, Maryland 21404

Dear Mr. President:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the
Maryland Constitution, I have today vetoed Senate Bill 926.

Two bills presented to me for signature - Senate Bill
926 and House Bill 1596 - provide public assistance benefits
to pregnant women. Both bills have the commendable goal of
seeking to ensure that low-income pregnant women have the.
resources to meet basic nutritional, health and subsistence
needs. These bills originated in an effort to offset
through State funding those provisions of the Federal
Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981 which eliminated certain
benefits to pregnant women under the Federal Aid to Families
with Dependent Children (AFDC) Program.

Prior to the enactment of the Omnibus Reconciliation
Act, states had the option of providing federally-matched
AFDC benefits to a pregnant woman and her anticipated child
upon medical verification of pregnancy. Maryland exercised
this option and provided such coverage. However, under the
Omnibus Reconciliation Act, states no longer may provide any
pregnancy-related AFDC benefits during the first 5 months of
pregnancy; additionally, benefits previously available to
the mother and the anticipated child during the last four
months are available only to the pregnant woman who is not
already receiving AFDC.

Senate Bill 926 seeks to provide State-only funded
benefits in the place of federally-funded benefits during
both the first 5 months and the last 4 months of pregnancy.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
informs that any supplemental State-only funds for pregnant
woman already receiving AFDC during the first 5 months will
be counted as income against eligibility for the AFDC grant
thus substantially nullifying the expected benefit.

Moreover, for pregnant women already receiving AFDC, it
is uncertain whether any State-only payment during the last
4 months would also have to be subtracted from the AFDC
grant. Additionally, the fiscal impact of Senate Bill 926
would be about four times as great as that of House Bill
1596.

On the other hand, House Bill 1596 seeks to provide
State-only funded assistance during the first 5 months of
pregnancy; during the last 4 months of pregnancy, the woman
would be eligible for assistance under AFDC. House Bill
1596 is specifically linked to participation by the pregnant