appropriation bills. The amendment
reads as follows:
"The governor shall have the power
to disapprove of any item or items of
any bills making appropriations of
money embracing district items, and
the part or parts of the bill approved
shall be law, and the item or items
of appropriation disapproved shall be
void unless repassed according to rules
on limitations prescribed for the pas-
sage of other bills over the executive
veto."18
It should be recalled that under Article
III, Sections 52(6) and 52(8), the gov-
ernor has no veto power over the "budget
bill" so the item veto applies only to
18 Md. Laws of 1890, ch. 194, ratified Nov.
3. 1891.
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supplementary appropriation bills.
Under a literal reading of Section 17
it does not appear that the governor has
the power to reduce items in supplemen-
tary appropriation bills themselves, but
only has the power to approve or dis-
approve the whole item. As a matter of
practice, however, the governors have
reduced the amount of items in these bills
and no successful judicial attack on this
action has been found.
It is recommended that the constitu-
tion should make clear that the governor
can reduce the amount of items in sup-
plementary appropriation bills and that
the question of whether the governor
should have the power to veto the "budg-
et bill" be left open for consideration
by the Committee on State Finance and
Taxation.
159
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