May18,2001

The Honorable Casper R. Taylor, Jr.
Speaker of the House
State House
Annapolis MD 21401

Dear Mr. Speaker:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the Maryland Constitution, I have today vetoed House Bill 1032 - Maryland Health Care Commission - Fees.

This bill increases the total fees that can be assessed by the Maryland Health Care Commission ("Commission") on hospitals, payors, nursing homes and health care practitioners from $8.25 million to $10 million. In determining assessments of the total fees, this bill requires the Commission to establish a methodology that accounts for the portion of the Commission's workload attributable to each industry assessed and to recalculate workload distribution every four years. The Commission is also required to develop regulations to permit a waiver of the fee assessment for certain health care practitioners. In developing regulations to permit a waiver, the Commission is required to consider the hourly wages of health care practitioners and give preference to exempting health care practitioners with an average hourly wage substantially below that of other health care practitioners.

These provisions are also included in Senate Bill 786, which was passed by the General Assembly and signed by me on May 15, 2001. Therefore, it is not necessary for me to sign House Bill 1032.

Sincerely,
Parris N. Glendening
Governor