General Assembly Legislature/19

LEGISLATURE

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Senate Officers

James Clark, Jr , President of the Senate
Rosalie Silber Abrams, Majority Floor Leader
Edward J Mason, Minority Floor Leader

John F Breitenberg, Administrative Assistant to
the President

Oden Bowie, Secretary
Henry L Harnson, Assistant Secretary
W Gary Gray, Journal Clerk
William B C Addison, Assistant Journal Clerk
Fredenck L Kelly, Reading Clerk
Mary Catherine Johnson, Chief Page
Sgt Millard K Daugherty, Sergeant-at-Arms
House of Delegates Officers
Benjamin L Cardin, Speaker
Donald B Robertson, Majority Floor Leader
Raymond E Beck, Minority Floor Leader
Jacqueline M Spell, Chief Clerk
Margery S LaMar, Assistant Chief Clerk
C Hurley Cox, Journal Clerk
Brenda C Ward, Assistant Journal Clerk
Alan Bernstein, Reading Clerk
Cornelia Connelly, Page Coordinator

The legislative powers of the State of Maryland
are vested in the General Assembly, which
consists of two distinct branches, the Senate and
the House of Delegates (Const 1867, Art III,
sec 1) The General Assembly consists of 188
members, with 47 Senators and 141 members of
the House of Delegates They are elected from 47
legislative distncts

Every Senator or Delegate must be a citizen of
the State and a resident of it for at least one year

preceding the date of his election For six months
pnor to his election he must have resided in his leg-
islative distnct A Senator must be at least twenty-
five years of age at the time of his election and a
Delegate at least twenty-one No member of Con-
gress or any person holding a civil or military of-
fice under the United States Government is eligible
for election to the General Assembly (III, 9, 10,
11) The term of each Senator and Delegate is four
years from the second Wednesday of January fol-
lowing the date of his election (III, 6) The Gover-
nor is required to appoint to any vacancy that
occurs in either House through death, resignation,
or disqualification a person whose name is submit-
ted to him in wnting by the State Central Commit-
tee of the political party with which the Delegate
or Senator, so vacating, had been affiliated in the
County or Distnct from which he or she was
elected, provided that the appointee shall be of the
same political party as the person whose office is to
be filled All persons so appointed serve for the
unexpired portion of the term (III, 13) Each
House elects its own officers, is judge of the
qualifications and election of its own members, and
establishes rules for the conduct of its business

The General Assembly meets annually Ses-
sions begin the second Wednesday in January and
are for a penod not longer than ninety days The
General Assembly may extend its sessions beyond
ninety days, but not to exceed an additional thir-
ty days, by resolution concurred in by three-fifths
vote of the membership in each House The Gov-
ernor may call special sessions at any time he
deems it necessary (III, 14), but no single special
session may last longer than thirty days

The General Assembly must pass at each regular
session a budget bill that contains the budget for
the State government for the next fiscal year Upon
the passage of the bill by both Houses, it becomes
a law without further action (III, 52) By Constitu-
tional Amendment adopted by the people at the
General Election held November 7, 1978, the Gen-
era] Assembly is authorized to enact laws (other
than appropriation bills) that mandate the Gover-
nor, in the preparation of the annual budget, to
provide for the funding of specific programs at
specified levels (III, 52(11) and (12))

Under the provisions of a Constitutional
Amendment ratified by the voters in 1972 (Chapter
369, Acts of 1972), the Senate and the House of
Delegates may adopt a "consent calendar" proce-
dure permitting bills to be read and voted upon as
a single group on both second and third readings,
affording members of each House reasonable no-
tice of the bills so placed on each consent calendar
(III, 27,28)