HARRY HUGHES, Governor

3569

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That both
Houses of the Congress of the United States of America are hereby
petitioned to revise their respective Rules, to provide that a
recorded vote be taken upon final passage of all legislation, so
that the voters may be informed of the actions of their
representatives, in order to hold them accountable on election
day; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be forwarded by the
Department of Legislative Reference to the Clerk of the United
States House of Representatives and the Secretary of the United
States Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510.

Signed May 13, 1986.

No. 31

(House Joint Resolution No. 60)

A House Joint Resolution concerning

State Psychiatric Hospitals - Study of Future Utilization

FOR the purpose of requesting the Governor and the General
Assembly to establish a Commission on the Future of State
Psychiatric Hospitals to study and make recommendations
concerning the role and utilization of State psychiatric
facilities.

WHEREAS, The Mental Hygiene Administration in its Master
Facilities Plan states a goal of providing treatment and
rehabilitative services to persons with mental disorders in the
least restrictive environment; and

WHEREAS, The Mental Hygiene Administration has prepared a
5-year deinstitutionalization plan, as ordered by the General
Assembly, with the goal of providing community-based residential
and support services for individuals who have a mental disorder;
and

WHEREAS, The average daily populations at the Mental Hygiene
Administration regional psychiatric hospital centers -
Springfield, Spring Grove, Crownsville, and Eastern Shore - have
declined 37% since Fiscal Year 1980, but the cost to the State of
maintaining these facilities continues to increase; and

WHEREAS, The Joint Chairman's Report of the 1985 Session of
the Maryland General Assembly included a request that the
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene conduct a study of the
Mental Hygiene Administration regional psychiatric hospital
centers to provide information for determining the most