950                               Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 342

or before July 1, 1947, and] members shall hold office until their
successors are installed.

Each member must be a citizen of Maryland and engaged in
producing apples in Maryland. The members of the Commission shall
serve for a term of four years, [except that of those first appointed,
one shall be appointed for one year, two for two years, two for three
years, and two for four years]. The Commission shall elect one of
its members as chairman. The members of the Commission shall
be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred and shall be paid each
the sum of $10 per diem from the Apple Merchandising Fund when
attending meetings of the Commission.

73.

(a) All funds levied and collected under this subtitle shall be ad-
ministered by the Commission, subject to approval by the Secre-
tary of Agriculture.

(d) The Commission, subject to approval by the Secretary of
Agriculture, shall have authority to appoint a secretary and such
other employees as may be necessary, at salaries to be fixed by the
Commission. The employees of said Commission shall be covered
by surety bonds in accordance with the provisions of Sections 46
through 50 of Article 78A of the Annotated Code of Maryland.

80.

All moneys collected under this subtitle shall be expended by the
Maryland State Apple Commission by warrants of the Comptroller
or the State Treasurer issued on vouchers signed by the [duly au-
thorized officer of the Commission] Secretary of Agriculture or
his designee.

Sec. 7. Be it further enacted, That any employee, as of December
31, 1972, of the State Board of Agriculture and/or of the University
of Maryland, or of an agency assigned to the Department of
Agriculture, or of an agency abolished by this Act, whose principal
duties are in connection with functions, powers, duties and respon-
sibilities assigned to the Department of Agriculture pursuant to this
Act, shall on January 1, 1973, become an employee of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture; and if any question or dispute arises as to
whether any particular employee shall become an employee of the
Department of Agriculture pursuant to the provisions of this Section,
the matter shall be decided by the State Secretary of Personnel
after consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Pre-
sident of the University of Maryland or his designee.

Sec. 8. Be it further enacted, That all persons who are classified
employees of any office, board, commission, department or agency
which is attached to the Department of Agriculture or which is
abolished on January 1, 1973, shall retain their merit system status,
except as otherwise specifically provided in this Act; AND ALL
EMPLOYEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND TRANS-
FERRED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PURSU-
ANT TO SECTION 7 OF THIS ACT WHO ARE NOT CLASSIFIED
EMPLOYEES BUT WHO HAVE GENERALLY COMPARABLE
RIGHTS AND BENEFITS UNDER THE UNIVERSITY'S EM-
PLOYMENT SYSTEM SHALL, SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS