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ernor have unfettered discretion in dele-
gating his functions to the lieutenant gov-
ernor.
Hence, for example, the governor could,
if he chooses, delegate to the lieutenant
governor power to veto bills, to call out the
militia, or to fire department heads. This
decision is left to the governor.
The Committee considered whether the
lieutenant governor should be made ex
officio president of the Senate. It was de-
cided that the Constitution should not so
provide. It is the feeling of the Committee
that the proper role of the lieutenant gov-
ernor is as the governor's assistant and
that he should not be assigned constitu-
tional duties that might interfere with the
exercise of this role.
The creation of the office of lieutenant
governor will permit orderly succession to
the office of governor and provide the gov-
ernor with an official assistant to whom he
can assign some of his ever increasing
duties.
This section also states the qualifications
for holding the office of lieutenant gov-
ernor. The qualifications are identical with
the qualifications for holding the office of
governor, with one exception. The Commit-
tee feels that if a former governor could
serve as lieutenant governor, a real ques-
tion might arise as to who was running the
State. Therefore, the last sentence of sec-
tion 4.03 provides that any individual who
has been elected governor shall thereafter
be ineligible to serve as lieutenant governor.
Section 4.04: Salary of Governor and
Lieutenant Governor: This section provides
that the General Assembly shall by law
prescribe the salary of the governor and
lieutenant governor, but may not increase
or decrease such salary during the gov-
ernor's or lieutenant governor's term of
office. It differs from the present Constitu-
tion which provides in Article II, section
21 that the governor shall receive a salary
of $25,000 per year and which provides in
Article III, section 52(6) that the salary
of any public official shall not be decreased
during his term of office.
Maryland experience clearly indicates
the disadvantage of fixing a salary ceiling
in the Constitution. In 1955, the governor
was still receiving the $4,500 salary orig-
inally fixed by the Constitution of 1867.
The Constitution has twice since been
amended to raise the governor's salary to
$25,000, an amount the Committee feels is
still too low.
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Although the Committee feels that the
General Assembly should be able to set the
salaries of the governor and lieutenant gov-
ernor legislatively, it also feels that certain
safeguards are necessary. The provision
prohibiting the General Assembly from in-
creasing salary during the governor's term
of office will remove any temptation of a
gubernatorial effort to "sell," or a legisla-
tive effort to "buy" approval of a certain
measure ; the provision prohibiting the Gen-
eral Assembly from decreasing salary will
protect the governor and lieutenant gov-
ernor against a hostile General Assembly.
"Salary" as used in this section is only
intended to include the wage the governor
and lieutenant governor receive for their
services. It is the intent of the Committee
that the General Assembly should be able
to adjust from time to time the various
expenses and allowances provided by law
for the governor and lieutenant governor
without regard to the limitations in this
section.
"Term," as used in this section, is in-
tended to mean that period of time for
which the governor or lieutenant governor
serve as the result of a single election.
Typically under section 4.05 of the pro-
posed draft, this period will be four years.
Hence, if the General Assembly raised the
governor's salary during the governor's
first four years in office, the governor
could, if re-elected, begin receiving this in-
crease during his second four years in
office.
It should be noted that it is possible
under section 4.10 of the proposed draft
for a governor and lieutenant governor to
be elected for a two year period. If this
should occur, their term would be this two
year period. When an individual succeeds
to the office of governor or lieutenant gov-
ernor without having been elected pursuant
to section 4.10 of the draft, it is the intent
of the committee that his term shall be
considered to be the term of his elected
predecessor.
Section 4.05: Election of Governor and
Lieutenant Governor: This section provides
for the popular election of the governor
and lieutenant governor by the qualified
voters of the State. It combines, in sub-
stance, Article II, sections 2, 3, and 4 of
the present Constitution, but omits the de-
tailed provisions dealing with the date of
election, qualifications of voters and can-
vassing of returns.
One of the changes made by this section
is to fix the date on which the governor
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