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DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding):
Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: The Committee
considered that it was desirable to give the
governor that power. How often he would
exercise it, I just do not know.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding) :
Are there any further questions of Chair-
man Morgan?
The Chair recognizes Delegate Willoner.
DELEGATE WILLONER: I have a
question about section 4.15. You describe
there what is presently now called supple-
mentary appropriation under Article III,
section 52.
When I got out the Constitution I found
that it referred to section 17 of Article II
of the present Constitution.
By that do you mean that all the steps
that have to be taken to make a supple-
mentary appropriation bill must be taken
before you can refer to this as an item of
supplementary appropriation?
You know, how it is voted on and all the
other little parts of it?
DELEGATE MORGAN: What is meant
by a supplementary appropriation is any
bill supplementary to the budget.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding) :
Delegate Willoner.
DELEGATE WILLONER: In other
words, the reference to Article III, section
52, and Article II, section 17 is not really
what you mean. You just mean a definition,
something other than what is in the orig-
inal budget?
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding) :
Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: That is correct.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding) :
The Chair recognizes Delegate Raley.
DELEGATE RALEY: Chairman Mor-
gan, in section 4.16 on presentation of bills
to the governor, it says that if the gov-
ernor signs or fails to veto within 20 days
of presentation. Now that does not mean
passage, does it. As I understand the sys-
tem, it might pass now and be 30 or 40
days before it is ever presented to him.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding) :
Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: That is correct.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding) :
Delegate Raley.
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DELEGATE RALEY: What does it
mean here? I would like to get this spe-
cifically in the record.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding) :
Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: This does not
disturb the existing practice one bit, be-
cause the legislative liaison committee came
before our Committee and gave us the bene-
fit of their views with respect to the exist-
ing practice.
They said it was working excellently and
there was no need to disturb the existing
practice. It is my understanding that so
far as presentation is concerned, the Gen-
eral Assembly has the power to fix the
date of presentation to the governor by
signing the bill and stamping it with the
great seal of Maryland, taking it upstairs
to the governor's office and handing it to
the governor, and the governor has to ac-
cept it. That would be presentation to the
governor.
But as a practical matter, in order to
enable the interested departments and the
attorney general to give him time to go
over these various items of legislation, the
General Assembly delays the presentation
of bills until the governor is ready to re-
ceive them.
And that practice will continue under
the executive article as we have proposed it.
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding):
The Chair recognizes Delegate Bennett.
DELEGATE BENNETT: Mr. Chair-
man Morgan, would you please enlighten
me on what consideration your Committee
gave to the possibilities of removing the
governor or some other officer, or removing
the state's attorney either for neglecting
or refusing to try a case or a series of
cases or where, for some reason, the state's
attorney is ineligible or disqualified to han-
dle a particular type of case?
DELEGATE J. CLARK (presiding) :
Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: I understand
the governor has exercised that power un-
der the existing Constitution, without any
specific authority for it, and I am assuming
he could exercise just a general power as
chief executive under executive order in
the new constitution.
We have also provided that the state's
attorneys, their powers and duties and
qualifications and everything except the
fact that they are popularly elected, would
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