DELEGATE GILCHRIST: With respect
to the question just discussed, I should like
to inquire whether the Committee con-
sidered the language of Langford v. County
Commissioners of Somerset County re-
ported in 73 Md., where on page 12, Chief
Judge Alien of the Court of Appeals said,
"The General Assembly is restricted as to
the period of its session but it may enact
laws up to the last moment of its session,"
which clearly seems to me to infer that en-
actment is a legislative process, and that
. approval may be an administrative process
which is involved in the law becoming ef-
fective. The Court of Appeals uses the
word "enactment" in this manner.
DELEGATE KOSS: May 1 answer one
point? According to Dr. Everstine a law
which is passed by both houses but which
in effect is not signed is considered a chap-
ter.
This is the basis upon which and the
judgment upon which we relied.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Rybczyn-
ski.
DELEGATE RYBCZYNSKI: Let me
suggest to you that just listening to the
quotation by Delegate Gilchrist indicates
this was not a decision going to the es-
sence of this question. This was merely
the use of a word in something that prob-
ably was not fundamental to the case at
all, and is not even persuasive from what
1 read in that quotation.
I might strongly suggest the usage
within the General Assembly is what we
went by; we insisted on this. We inquired
over and over again as recently as this
afternoon and kept getting the same an-
swer. When a bill is passed by both houses
it becomes a chapter; when signed by the
governor or when the veto is overridden
or now under the new constitution when the
time expires and the governor has not
acted, it will become a law. That is the date
of enactment. That is the date we are look-
ing for, "the date of enactment."
THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Schloeder.
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: I wonder
if in that quotation Delegate Gilchrist read
was that word "enacted" or "enactment"?
Was the phrase "date of enactment" or
what was it?
DELEGATE GILCHRIST: The word
was "enacted."
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: Not "date
of enactment"? |
DELEGATE GILCHRIST: No, but it
seems to me if you are using the verb
"enact" in one sense, whether you are using
a participle or some other part of the past,
present, or future tense you still come out
to the word "enact."
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: "Enact-
ment" is a noun, Delegate Gilchrist, in that
usage.
DELEGATE GILCHRIST: I might also
point out that when you look at the form
of the piece of legislation which is cur-
rently being considered by the General As-
sembly of Maryland, I have before me copy
of Chapter 344 of the Acts of 1967. The
wording reads "Be it enacted by the Gen-
eral Assembly of Maryland." This runs all
the way through. It does riot say "Be it
enacted by the General Assembly of Mary-
land and approved by the governor." It
says "Be it enacted by the General Assem-
bly."
THE CHAIRMAN: That is constitu-
tional form. Delegate Rybczynski.
DELEGATE RYBCZYNSKI: Nothing is
enacted by the General Assembly unless it
gets the approval of the executive branch.
The General Assembly cannot do anything
on its own. We understand that.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Weide-
meyer.
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: Mr.
Chairman.
THE CHAIRMAN: For what purpose
does the delegate rise?
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: I wish
to ask a question of Delegate Gilchrist.
THE CHAIRMAN: Will Delegate Gil-
christ yield?
DELEGATE GILCHRIST: Certainly.
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: Delegate,
is it true that even though the word "en-
acted" is used in a piece of particular legis-
lation, that the enactment is not complete
until after the governor has placed his sig-
nature on the bill and the bill becomes law.
DELEGATE GILCHRIST: You are
partly correct only. It is enacted when it
is finished being worked upon by the legis-
lature. It becomes law when it is approved
by the governor after enactment has taken
place.
DELEGATE WEIDEMEYER: Is it not
the general consensus of opinion that the |
