passed by a majority of the total mem-
bership of each house, provided that
every such appropriation is embodied in
a separate bill limited to a single work,
object or purpose, and provided that each
such appropriation includes a revenue
measure in the form of a direct or indirect
tax sufficient to pay the appropriation
thereby made. Supplementary appropria-
tion bills are subject to the governor's
veto.
The above constitutes the general
scheme by which primary control of the
budget is placed in the hands of the
governor and secondary control in the
hands of the General Assembly. However,
there are exceptions to or limitations
upon the general scheme. It is mandatory
that the governor include certain appro-
priations in his budget. These are appro-
priations for the General Assembly, for
the judiciary, for the payment and dis-
charge of principal and interest on the
public debt, for salaries which the State
is legally obligated to pay, for the main-
tenance of the public school system and
for such other purposes as are set forth
in the Constitution or laws of the State.
Moreover, the estimates for the General
Assembly certified by the presiding officer
of each house, for the judiciary as pro-
vided by law and certified by the comp-
troller, and for the maintenance of the
public school system as provided by law
are not subject to revision by the gover-
nor. The other estimates submitted by
agencies, officials and institutions receiv-
ing funds may be revised by the governor
after a public hearing. A minimum limi-
tation is thereby placed upon the gov-
ernor's primary control of the budget in
order to ensure the separation and bal-
ance of powers and to safeguard other
provisions of the Constitution relating to
financial matters.
The General Assembly is similarly pro-
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hibited from reducing any appropriations
so as to affect the obligations of the State
embodied in Article III, Section 34 re-
garding the public debt, the requirements
of Article VIII regarding the public
school system, or the payment of any
salaries which are, under the provisions
of the Constitution, required to be paid
by the State. Moreover, the salary of any
public officer may not be diminished dur-
ing his term of office. The General As-
sembly's secondary control over the budg-
et is, therefore, limited to safeguard the
balance of powers and the Constitutional
provisions relating to financial matters.
On the other hand, the General Assembly
is permitted to increase appropriations
in the budget bill for the judiciary, and it
may increase or decrease appropriations
for the General Assembly.
The Budget Amendment has not been
significantly altered since its adoption in
1916. In 1948, paragraph (3) was
amended to require the governor to sub-
mit the budget to the General Assembly
annually rather than biennially, and in
1964 the date for submission of the budg-
et was changed.
The governor's power described in
paragraph ( 5 ) to amend the budget with
the consent of the General Assembly and
before final action has been taken on it
was extended to include amendments for
the purpose of providing funds contingent
upon passage of pending legislation in
addition to amendments for the* purpose
of correcting oversights and for emer-
gencies. These provisions may warrant
some further revision, for the Commission
on Administrative Organization of the
State (of which Simon E. Sobeloff was
Chairman) in its first interim report3
found that in practice the power of
amendment granted the governor had
3 commission on administrative organ-
ization of the state, the maryland
budget system 24-25 (1951).
233
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