PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor                            H.B. 215

Education in office on the effective date of this Act, but the provisions of this Act concerning
the salary or compensation of the President and members of the Calvert County Board of
Education shall take effect at the beginning of the next following term of office.

SECTION 3. 5. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That, subject to the
provisions of Section 3 3 of this Act and for the sole purpose of providing for the
referendum required by Section 3 3, this Act shall take effect July 1, 1995.

May 24, 1995

The Honorable Casper R. Taylor, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Delegates
State House
Annapolis, Maryland 21401-1991

Dear Mr. Speaker:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the Maryland Constitution, I have today
vetoed House Bill 215.

House Bill 215 would require State agencies that use forms that require identification of
an individual by race to include the term "multiracial" as an option of race.

The legislative history of House Bill 215 indicates that the intent of the measure was to
provide an option for racial self-identification for children whose parents are socially
recognized as belonging to different races. Such an option would prevent those children
from being forced to select the race of one parent over the other.

Although the intent of the bill is to address a growing social issue, the effect of the
measure goes far beyond providing a self-identification alternative. The statistical data
State agencies gather concerning the racial demographics of the State is reported to
numerous federal agencies. Pursuant to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, "Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal and
Administrative Reporting," the federal government recognizes only five racial
identification categories: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander,
black, white, and Hispanic. Currently, the Office of Management and Budget and the
United States Census Bureau are researching possible changes in racial identification
categories at the federal level. For Maryland to add a "multiracial" category at this time
would prevent the federal government from accounting for those individuals who choose
to identify themselves as multiracial.

Until the federal government has adjusted its racial identification categories in a manner
that is capable of accounting for all of Maryland's citizens, it would be inadvisable to
make a unilateral change in those categories. Such a change could have negative
consequences with regard to federally-funded programs that are partially based on
numbers of individuals who fall within classifications considered to be historically
disadvantaged.

For these reasons, I have vetoed House Bill 215.

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