HARRY HUGHES, Governor

3877

May 27, 1986
The Honorable Melvin A. Steinberg
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 1061. I strongly
support increasing community services for the adolescent mentally
ill. However, uncertainties related to application of the bill's
funding formula create needless legal risks to the State,
particularly given my commitment, stated below, to
administratively implement its provisions.

This legislation requires the Governor to include certain
funds in the operating budget for the Mental Hygiene
Administration for Fiscal Year 1988. This minimum level of
additional funding is determined by the operation of a formula
which attempts to calculate the amount of net federal Medicaid
reimbursements that the State will obtain in Fiscal Year 1987 for
adolescents in State psychiatric facilities. These estimated
federal funds are to be placed in the Fiscal Year 1988 State
operating budget, in addition to the Fiscal Year 1987 level of
non-Medicaid monies, to be used for community residential and
support services for persons with mental disorders under the age
of 21.

Article III, § 52 of the Maryland Constitution authorizes
the General Assembly to enact laws requiring the Governor to
include in the budget a minimum level of funding for particular
programs. The Attorney General has stated that "such a statute
must clearly prescribe a dollar amount on an objective basis from
which a level of funding can easily be computed." 65 Opinions of
the Attorney General 108, 110 (1980).

This bill requires that the mandatory appropriation be made
as follows:

"Multiply $100 (one-half of the average per diem Medicaid
rate of reimbursement established by the Cost Accounting
Division of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene) by
the number of Medicaid eligible persons under the age of 21
in each Department of Health and Mental Hygiene psychiatric
facility accredited by the Joint Commission for the
Accreditation of Hospitals as of September, 1986. Multiply
that product by the number of bed days during fiscal year
1986 for each of the above persons."

In his bill review letter to me dated May 22, 1986, Attorney
General Sachs observes:

"We recognize that an absolutely literal application of the
formula would pose serious difficulties. The formula lacks
a precise indication of when the relevant population is to