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In addition, the General Assembly can
deny a power or function by preempting
the field with a state law. The county could
still pass a law on the subject, but county
laws could not be inconsistent with the
general law. This would be a matter of
statutory construction.
For instance, I think it is perfectly clear
that when the General Assembly passes the
Uniform Commercial Code it means to
preempt the field. This would accomplish
this purpose.
As a general statement and I state this
for the record, we can say that a county
law which does not prohibit what the gen-
eral law permits nor allow what the gen-
eral law prohibits would not be inconsistent.
I do not know whether this lends much
clarity here, but it may give some clarity
for posterity.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Marion.
DELEGATE MARION: Section 7.05
does grant to the counties power to tax.
Section 7.11 refers to collection of taxes
by the popularly elected representative
local government.
Under what authority, if any, in this
section in front of us does the popularly
elected representative local government get
the authority to tax?
DELEGATE MOSER: Are you talking
about a county, or are you talking about
any type of popularly elected government?
DELEGATE MARION: The latter.
DELEGATE MOSER: It would have to
get the power to tax by express grant from
the General Assembly. In fact, this would
apply both to counties and other govern-
ments.
The interplay of these two sections
means simply that you need a popularly
elected board before that board can itself
enact a tax law.
However, it can collect a tax which the
General Assembly would impose or the
county might impose, and then in effect
assign the collection to it.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Marion.
DELEGATE MARION: In other words,
the powers granted to the popularly elected
representative regional government would
have to be expressed powers, and thereby
they would come directly from the General
Assembly?
DELEGATE MOSER: Yes.
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DELEGATE MARION: There is nothing
to prohibit the General Assembly from
granting the power to impose taxes to such
unit or regional government.
DELEGATE MOSER: That is correct.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Schloeder.
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: In relation
to Delegate Case's series of questions
earlier, could you have a multi-county,
popularly elected school board that would
actually not be an elected representative
regional government? Could you have that?
DELEGATE MOSER: I suppose you
could have it. I would say it would fit within
the definition of a regional government
under this provision, it covered more than
a single county.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Schloeder.
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: I am a
little confused now about the term "gov-
ernment".
DELEGATE MOSER: I think that what
the Committee intends by the term "unit
of local government", is really any unit,
any agency which is below the State level
and performs a service. You have to ex-
plain this almost by example. It would ex-
clude, for instance, an election district. I
would say that within this definition the
example you have given, a regional school
board, would in a sense be a regional gov-
ernment, and it would fit within this defini-
tion if it were popularly elected.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Schloeder.
DELEGATE SCHLOEDER: In section
7.10, lines 42 through 45, "The General As-
sembly may provide", would you foresee
any problem in the General Assembly's
having this original power to set up a
regional government without any express
check on the part of the voters or people
involved in those counties or that region?
Let us assume the General Assembly
wanted to set up a regional government in
Southern Maryland. As I understand from
section 7.10, the General Assembly could
do this. It may provide a referendum estab-
lishing a popularly elected representative
regional government, but it may not. If it
does not, but does set up a regional gov-
ernment in Southern Maryland, the people
in the counties affected might not be ready
for or willing to accept regional govern-
ment at that time.
Would you foresee any problem in allow-
ing the General Assembly to set up this
regional government from the top?
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