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DELEGATE JAMES: Unless there is
an objection, the transposition will be per-
mitted.
DELEGATE PENNIMAN: In section
3.20 we made a few changes, because as the
section was originally stated it seemed to
us possible that there might be circum-
stances under -which an enacted law never
did go into effect, and we felt that this was
not the intention of the Committee.
There are no changes of any significance
in 3.21 or 3.22.
Now, in section 3.23 I would like —
DELEGATE JAMES (presiding): Dele-
gate Borom.
DELEGATE BOROM: In 3.22 I notice
on line 25, near the end you used the term
"the plan" and on page 2 in a prior section,
line 44, you struck out "plan" and put in
"it". I wonder if for consistency you
wanted to use the same term there.
DELEGATE PENNIMAN: I certainly
have no objection to that being changed to
"it". There is some merit to having a cer-
tain kind of consistency in this matter.
DELEGATE JAMES (presiding): Is
there any objection to that change?
Would Delegate Penniman indicate the
change? Are you suggesting this change
for the consideration of the assembly?
DELEGATE PENNIMAN: If we may,
on line 25, since we referred to the con-
gressional redistricting plan having g-one
to the governor, in 24 and 25, "plan" can be
changed to "it", which would get the word-
ing in line with the way we had done it in
an earlier section. That is quite correctly
brought to our attention by Delegate
Borom.
DELEGATE JAMES (presiding): If
there is no objection, the language will be
so modified.
DELEGATE PENNIMAN: The most
important section in some respects of this
article is section 3.23, the General Applica-
tion of Laws. This was once section 7.06.
This is the section which had been in the
local government article, and which had
sought to define areas in which there would
be general laws, public general laws and
public local laws, and what the limitations
were.
As you know, one of the major points of
this Convention has been to create a situa-
tion in which public general laws are the
rule and public local laws are the excep-
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tions. What we finally did, and we have
clone this by now some eight or ten different
ways, consulting with virtually all the
chairmen and other advisers within the
Convention, was to state the general prin-
ciple that the General Assembly shall enact
no public laws except general laws which
in their terms and effect apply throughout
the State. Then we continued with what
was also in 7.06, "No county shall be ex-
empt from public general law, and the
General Assembly shall have the power,
notwithstanding the limitations imposed in
this section, to enact laws pertaining
to .....". From here on we provide the only
exceptions that there are to the general
statement made above about the enactment
of only general laws.
Now, in the tag end of the paragraph on
page <), beginning in line 13, we pick up
what had been 3.17(a): "This section shall
not be construed to limit any power of the
General Assembly otherwise existing under
this Constitution to enact special laws ex-
cept that a special law shall not be enacted
for any situation for which a general law
is applicable."
If I may go back briefly to the excep-
tions, most of the exceptions are the ones
which already existed and are stated in
article 7, the local government article. It
is, however, true that there are two items
which may well come up for discussion in
this group. The case of education clearly
involved a couple of colloquies with Dele-
gate Lord, on the one hand and Delegate
Maurer and Delegate Moser on the other;
and in the case of conservation there is a
colloquy, or rather a speech made by Dele-
gate Carson and another which was made
by Delegate Storm. In each of these in-
stances, in the case of education and in
the case of conservation, the indication was
clear that there was an intention that the
General Assembly have the authority to
pass legislation which did vary in its terms
and effects from one county to another.
I think in all other instances they are in
the local government article, and I should
say that indeed, we have included one or
two that may not have been necessary.
They are included to make absolutely sure
that there is no confusion on the matter.
For example, it probably is not necessary
to speak of the exception of providing for
or regulating the powers of departments,
agencies or instrumentalities of the State
which perform a state if not a local func-
tion. That probably would have been con-
sidered general law, anyway. We put it in
just to be absolutely certain.
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