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DELEGATE MAURER: Certainly.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gill.
DELEGATE GILL: Does your amend-
ment intend to freeze into positions all
people who have appointed political posi-
tions when the administration changes, into
such offices as the Board of Elections and
the liquor boards, all of those appointees
after they are appointed by the new ad-
ministration, then they become employees
subject to civil service and then they would
continue to remain until the administra-
tion would appoint others?
Do you intend to freeze those people in
positions?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Maurer.
DELEGATE MAURER: I intend to
leave this to the legislature. What we are
recommending is that the merit principle
shall apply except in such areas as the
legislature may deem appropriate; I am
not trying to make such decisions in this
amendment. What this does essentially is
to provide in the executive branch, because
we are talking about the executive branch,
that the merit principle applied will be up
to the legislature to set forth, which they
have already, but not as I understand it
to liquor boards and election boards.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gill.
DELEGATE GILL: As it is, the gov-
ernor does appoint many of the positions
in the executive branch and, as you know,
there are many people in the different
branches that are political appointments
and after they are there for a few years,
they have permanent jobs. Sometimes they
are qualified and sometimes they are not.
Will they be frozen into the constitution?
That is what I am trying to say.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Maurer.
DELEGATE MAURER: It would be
left to the legislature if it is not a decision
in specific terms which will be determined
by this amendment as I foresee it.
We have in the draft section that all
personnel in the executive branch whose
appointment or removal is not otherwise
specified or specifically dealt with, will be
left up to law. This just says that law
shall contain the merit principle insofar
as the legislative need requires it.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gill.
DELEGATE GILL: Do you think it
would be very difficult for the legislature
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to prevent freezing these jobs if this is in
the constitution?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Maurer.
DELEGATE MAURER: All I can say is
that I think the legislature still has an
opportunity because my amendment in the
last clause says "subject to such exceptions
as may be prescribed by law."
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Sickles.
DELEGATE SICKLES: I wonder if the
Chairman of the Committee on the Legis-
lative Branch would yield for a question?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher,
do you yield to a question?
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: I will.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Sickles.
DELEGATE SICKLES: Mr. Gallagher,
when I was in the Committee I opposed
this amendment and I did it on the basis
that I believe that the General Assembly
can establish a merit system in the execu-
tive branch including the office of the at-
torney general and comptroller and can
also establish a merit system for certain
employees in the judicial branch, and I
wonder if you concur in this view?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.
DELEGATE GALLAGHER: I would
say that since the first section of the arti-
cle on the legislative branch grants all
plenary power in the area of legislation to
the General Assembly, that the General
Assembly does have this power in the ab-
sence of a specific constitutional prohibi-
tion against it.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Grant.
DELEGATE GRANT: I have a question
for Delegate Mudd.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mudd, do
you yield to a question?
DELEGATE MUDD: Yes, Mr. Chair-
man.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Grant.
DELEGATE GRANT: Section 5.31 as
approved gave concurrent power to the ju-
diciary and the General Assembly in rule-
making which presumably would also in-
clude employees and I take it now by this
discussion that the General Assembly could
provide a merit system for judicial em-
ployees. However, the rule-making powers
could declare the system not subject to the
judiciary, is that correct?
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