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within the executive branch to provide ade-
quate protection against the corruptness of
future chief executives of this State.
I suggest to you that if the office of
treasurer elected by the General Assembly
is to be continued, it should be done with
full knowledge that, in fact, the treasurer
is an appointed official. He is appointed
under normal circumstances, and I use
that term quite advisedly "under normal
circumstances" by the chief executive of
this State subject to the election, if you
choose to call it that, of the General As-
sembly of Maryland.
I think it also safe to say that the
treasurer does not either purport to nor
does he in fact represent the General As-
sembly of Maryland because witness after
witness testified before our Committee that
once elected the contact between the treas-
urer and the General Assembly was abso-
lutely nil.
Maryland has been quite fortunate in the
past in having extremely competent high-
class men as their treasurers. This I sug-
gest is not because they have been chosen
by the General Assembly, it is because the
governors of this state in the exercise of
their best judgment have asked the legis-
latures to confirm intelligent, competent,
high-class men.
No man served this state any better than
Hooper S. Miles. No man is serving this
state any better than its present treasurer,
but there is no substantial justification in
continuing this office as an office of con-
stitutional dimension.
This body as of this moment has elected
to include an elective comptroller. I would
suggest since these two offices constitute a
diminishing power, to that extent we are
making erroneous decisions.
I would urge the Committee to eliminate
the office of treasurer as a constitutional
office, leaving it up to either the executive
or General Assembly to provide such safe-
guards for the control of the funds of this
State as seem reasonable and proper under
the circumstances.
I am open to questions.
THE CHAIRMAN: Are there any ques-
tions of the Vice-Chairman for purposes of
clarification?
There are apparently no questions. The
Chair calls on Delegate James to present
the report of the minority.
DELEGATE JAMES: Mr. Chairman
and fellow delegates: The office of state
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treasurer is a constitutional office of high
dignity; a person filling the office is elected
by both houses of the General Assembly
sitting together for a four-year term.
Our experience has been that the state
treasurer's office does not change. We have
had only three since 1920: John M. Dennis,
elected in 1920, Hooper S. Miles in 1935,
John A. Leutkemeyer in 1963.
The functions of the office are as follows :
The treasurer deposits and disburses the
state funds in the 22 acting bank accounts
in the State; he must account for all of
the outstanding debt and provide for pay-
ment which I might say, is a gigantic job;
he invests temporary cash surpluses in ap-
propriate investments; he is the custodian
of investments, deposits and pledged se-
curities; he is an agent for the sale of
bonds which is an area in which a great
deal of expertise is required in the fiscal
world; he is an agent for insurance pur-
poses as to how much insurance to buy, and
recommends to the General Assembly what
insurance coverage is needed; he keeps all
records so that they may be properly
audited; he serves as an ex officio member
of the Board of Estimates, as trustee for
the state retirement system, a member of
the Maryland Industrial Development Fi-
nancing Authority,, serves on the Uni-
versity of Maryland Board of Regents, on
the State Board of Canvassers, and of
course on the Board of Public Works as a
legislative representative.
Now, the Board of Public Works in the
proposed compromise under the new name
Interdepartmental Board of Review is go-
ing to require the legislature to name a
person to represent its interests. This
person will be more of an advisor, ob-
server, a person who will be there to see
that the public is informed, that the legis-
lature is informed, and that the governor
is informed, concerning public matters that
go across the desk of the Board, under the
new name.
The Board of Public Works has numer-
ous functions: to borrow money to meet
temporary deficits; to fix interest rates and
to sell state bonds; to let contracts for
expenditure of state funds; to approve or
disapprove leases; to promulgate rules and
regulations covering business administra-
tion in various state agencies; to sell real
or personal property; to transfer property
from one governmental agency to another;
and to approve or disapprove the creation
of new jobs not in the budget.
We in the legislature want to know that
we have someone we can depend on in that
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