WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor

Dear Mr. President:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the Maryland
Constitution, I have today vetoed Senate Bill 308.

It is my understanding that Senate Bill 308 does not accomplish
its intended objective. As originally introduced, the
legislation repealed the State Board of Education's authority to
nominate 2 members and granted that power to the Commission.
When the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission was created in
1966, its initial charge was to develop an educational and
cultural television system and radio programming network
throughout the State of Maryland. Over the last 23 years the
Commission has grown substantially, has become involved in
pursuing national and regional productions, has undertaken a host
of other projects, and has begun to pursue private sources of
funding. Given that the Commission has a far stronger business
orientation than it did in the mid 1960's, there is probably more
of a need for the Maryland business community to be represented
on the Commission. Since the Commission would probably be better
prepared than the State Board to nominate individuals with
business backgrounds, the original change proposed by Senate Bill
308 seems to have been quite appropriate.

In spite of that, Senate Bill 308 was amended to restore the
State Board's nominating authority. In addition, the size of the
Commission was altered from 11 to 13 and all appointments were
made subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. What
concerns me about those amendments is that they appear to be
unnecessary. The overall mission of the Commission was not
changed. The Commission's responsibilities were not increased.
With no corresponding increase in workload, the addition of 2 new
commissioners is not justifiable. In addition, there is no
apparent reason for bringing the legislature into the
appointments process. The Governor has made the appointments to
this Commission for in excess of two decades. That process has
worked well and I see no real need to change it now.

Consequently, I have decided to veto Senate Bill 308.

Sincerely,

William Donald Schaefer

Governor

Senate Bill No. 308

AN ACT concerning

Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission

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