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bodies are elected for that purpose. This
means it would not include an agency such
as the Washington Area Transit Authority
which may contain on its governing board
elected officials from Montgomery County
and Prince George's County.
A regional government is anything that
covers a "region," as such defined in sec-
tion 7.01, "an area comprising all or parts
of two or more counties." It would be any
governmental unit which acts in that area.
For instance, it could be a mass transit
authority, if the board members were popu-
larly elected.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Case.
DELEGATE CASE : Could, for example,
a multi-county governmental unit have as
its governing head a popularly elected rep-
resentative regional government?
DELEGATE MOSER: No.
If a multi-county governmental unit has
a popularly elected representative board,
then it becomes in effect a regional govern-
ment as the term is used here. It becomes
a popularly elected representative regional
government.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Case.
DELEGATE CASE: Then it would be
possible for the governmental unit which
I take it is for the area and framework of
government, to have a popularly elected
representative regional government?
DELEGATE MOSER: Then it becomes
a popularly elected representative regional
government. That is the distinction between
the two.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Case.
DELEGATE CASE: Would you define
what is meant in the draft by "other units
of local government" and distinguish those
from the first three we have discussed?
DELEGATE MOSER: "Other units of
local government" is intended as a catch-
all. If something else can be thought of
later, we did not want to exclude it in the
authority granted the legislature. It is
possible some animal might be created
henceforth which would not fit any of these
categories.
I am frank to say I cannot think of any
that might be.
DELEGATE CASE. Thank you.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Marion.
DELEGATE MARION: Delegate Moser,
I have questions about three particular
areas. First of all, in section 7.03 on line
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35, the word "law" is used. We have talked
about the distinction the Committee has
drawn between the word "law" and the
three Words "public general law".
Does the use of the word "law" in that
sentence mean that the General Assembly
could enact a law applicable to one county
so that it writes in effect a separate charter
for each county which does not provide its
own charter by the cutoff date in that sec-
tion?
Or is it your intention that the General
Assembly should provide by public general
law a charter applicable to all counties
which do not act before that date?
DELEGATE MOSER: We thought the
sentence was clear without inserting "pub-
lic general law" there. It really is not a
public general law in the true sense.
What the sentence says is "The General
Assembly shall provide by law an instru-
ment of government which shall become
effective." That means just one instrument.
We think that is clear.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Marion.
DELEGATE MARION: Then, one in-
strument of government would apply to
any and all counties which do not act on
their own before the cutoff date.
DELEGATE MOSER: Yes.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Marion.
DELEGATE MARION: Secondly, in
section 7.05 under the shared powers con-
cept, the third subsection in that section
relating to the exercise of any power which
has not been denied to the county by a
public general law, does the Committee
mean that there has to be a specific denial
of the county's power to act in a particular
area by public general law, or do you mean
that the county may do anything which is
not inconsistent with some public general
law already enacted by the General Assem-
bly. Or does it mean that a county may act
only as to matters which are not in a gen-
eral subject area in which the General As-
sembly has already acted and could be said
to have preempted the field?
DELEGATE MOSER: For the record
and at the risk of being a little confusing,
we mean two of the things you mentioned,
first, that the General Assembly can ex-
pressly prohibit the exercise of some power
or function by counties. For instance, it
could say that counties cannot pass liquor
laws; it may prohibit counties from passing
laws relating to slot machines. This would
be a flat denial.
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