Maryland?s comptroller would not be half so visible or influential as the state?s chief tax collector and payroll chief without his seat on the Board of Public Works, a unique institution among the states.
A few states have executive boards that review the letting of public contracts, but Maryland is the only one where the governor shares this power with an independently elected comptroller and a state treasurer chosen by the legislature.
Baltimore City, for instance, has its Board of Estimates, but the mayor controls three of the five votes.
Even after the General Assembly has approved the governor?s spending, he and his Cabinet officers must win the board?s approval for any contract worth more than $200,000.
That?s $7 billion a year in 1,800 contracts for services ranging from road work, rail cars and school buildings to food service, veterinary care and the hauling of bodies to the state morgue, as well as the purchase of parkland and development rights.
“Some of the most important decisions in state government are made on Wednesdays in the Board of Public Works,” said Paul Schurick, onetime liaison to the board for Gov. William Donald Schaefer, later communications director for Schaefer and Gov. Robert Ehrlich.
In the 1960s, according to a history of the board and to a 1977 report on its functions, there were efforts to reduce the power of the board and the comptroller.
The Constitutional Convention of 1967 recommended the board be replaced and that the job of comptroller be appointed by the governor ? not independently elected ? a policy change supported by three earlier governors.
They believed ? and the convention agreed ? that the board diluted the authority of the governor.
Voters rejected the 1967 constitution, though many of its provisions were later made part of the 1867 document as separate amendments.
But no changes were made to the Board of Public Works and comptroller, changes fiercely opposed by Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein.
In fact, the legislature has continued to add responsibilities to the board, giving it the final say on wetland permits, for instance.
Later governors see value in the board.
“We have an ideal setup in Maryland,” said former Gov. Marvin Mandel. “Having power is an asset, but having too much power is a disability. This way the power is distributed.”
Former Gov. Harry Hughes said generally the process works well, but “there are certainly opportunities for there to be differences and power struggles.”
Having independently elected officials on the board is “very desirable,” said former Gov. Parris Glendening. “It offsets the potential for abuse. The problem is not the structure. The problem is the personalities.”
