686/Maryland Manual

and in addition the two Houses by joint and similar rule may
further regulate the right to introduce bills during this period; nor
shall any bill become a law until it be read on three different days
of the session in each House, unless two-thirds of the members
elected to the House where such bill is pending shall so determine
by yeas and nays, and no bill shall be read a third time until it
shall have been actually engrossed or printed for a third reading.

Each House may adopt by rule a "consent calendar" procedure
permitting bills to be read and voted upon as a single group on
both second and third readings, provided that the members of
each House be afforded reasonable notice of the bills to be placed
upon each "consent calendar." Upon the objection of any
member, any bill in question shall be removed from the "consent
calendar."

SEC. 28." No bill, nor single group of bills placed on the
"consent calendar," shall become a Law unless it be passed in
each House by a majority of the whole number of members
elected, and on its final passage, the yeas and nays be recorded,
and on final passage of the bills placed on the "consent calendar"
the yeas and nays on the entire group of bills be recorded. A
resolution requiring the action of both Houses shall be passed in
the same manner.

SEC. 29. The style of all Laws of this State shall be, "Be it
enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland:" and all Laws
shall be passed by original bill; and every Law enacted by the
General Assembly shall embrace but one subject, and that shall
be described in its title; and no Law, nor section of Law, shall be
revived, or amended by reference to its title, or section only; nor
shall any Law be construed by reason of its title, to grant powers,
or confer rights which are not expressly contained in the body of
the Act; and it shall be the duty of the General Assembly, in
amending any article, or section of the Code of Laws of this State,
to enact the same, as the said article, or section would read when
amended. And whenever the General Assembly shall enact any
Public General Law, not amendatory of any section, or article in
the said Code, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to
enact the same, in articles and sections, in the same manner, as
the Code is arranged, and to provide for the publication of all
additions and alterations, which may be made to the said Code.

SEC. 30." Every bill, when passed by the General Assembly,
and sealed with the Great Seal, shall be presented by the presiding
officer of the House in which it originated to the Governor for his
approval. All bills passed during a regular or special session shall
be presented to the Governor for his approval no later than 20
days after adjournment- Within 30 days after presentment, if the
Governor approves the bill, he shall sign the same in the presence
of the presiding officers and Chief Clerks of the Senate and House
of Delegates. Every Law shall be recorded in the office of the
Court of Appeals, and in due time, be printed, published and
certified under the Great Seal, to the several Courts, in the same
manner as has been heretofore usual in this State.

SEC. 31." A Law passed by the General Assembly shall take
effect the first day of June next after the session at which it may
be passed, unless it be otherwise expressly declared therein or
provided for in this Constitution.

SEC. 32. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury of the
State, by any order or resolution, nor except in accordance with
an appropriation by Law; and every such Law shall distinctly
specify the sum appropriated, and the object, to which it shall be
applied; provided, that nothing herein contained, shall prevent
the General Assembly from placing a contingent fund at the
disposal of the Executive, who shall report to the General
Assembly, at each Session, the amount expended, and the
purposes to which it was applied. An accurate statement of the

"Amended by Chapter 369, Acts of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972.
"Amended by Chapter 883, Acts of 1974, ratified Nov. 5, 1974.
"Amended by Chapter 883, Acts of 1974, ratified Nov. 5, 1974.

Article III

receipts and expenditures of the public money, shall be attached
to, and published with the Laws, after each regular Session of the
General Assembly.

SEC. 33. The General Assembly shall not pass local, or special
Laws, in any of the following enumerated cases, viz.: For
extending the time for the collection of taxes; granting divorces;
changing the name of any person; providing for the sale of real
estate, belonging to minors, or other persons laboring under legal
disabilities, by executors, administrators, guardians or trustees;
giving effect to informal, or invalid deeds or wills; refunding
money paid into the State Treasury, or releasing persons from
their debts, or obligations to the State, unless recommended by
the Governor, or officers of the Treasury Department. And the
General Assembly shall pass no special Law, for any case, for
which provision has been made, by an existing General Law- The
General Assembly, at its first Session after the adoption of this
Constitution, shall pass General Laws, providing for the cases
enumerated in this section, which are not already adequately
provided for, and for all other cases, where a General Law can be
made applicable.

SEC. 34.'" No debt shall be hereafter contracted by the General
Assembly unless such debt shall be authorized by a law providing
for the collection of an annual tax or taxes sufficient to pay the
interest on such debt as it falls due, and also to discharge the
principal thereof within fifteen years from the time of contracting
the same; and the taxes laid for this purpose shall not be repealed
or applied to any other object until the said debt and interest
thereon shall be fully discharged. The annual tax or taxes
required to be collected shall not be collected in the event that
sufficient funds to pay the principal and interest on the debt are
appropriated for this purpose in the annual State budget. The
credit of the State shall not in any manner be given, or loaned to,
or in aid of any individual association or corporation; nor shall
the General Assembly have the power to involve the State in the
construction of works of internal improvement which shall
involve the faith or credit of the State, except in aid of the
construction of works of internal improvement in the counties of
St. Mary's, Charles and Calvert, which have had no direct
advantage from such works as have been heretofore aided by the
State; and provided that such aid, advances or appropriations
shall not exceed in the aggregate the sum of five hundred
thousand dollars. And they shall not use or appropriate the
proceeds of the internal improvement companies, or of the State
tax, now levied, or which may hereafter be levied, to pay off the
public debt or to any other purpose until the interest and debt are
fully paid or the sinking fund shall be equal to the amount of the
outstanding debt; but the General Assembly may authorize the
Board of Public Works to direct the State Treasurer to borrow in
the name of the State, in anticipation of the collection of taxes or
other revenues, including proceeds from the sale of bonds, such
sum or sums as may be necessary to meet temporary deficiencies
in the treasury, to preserve the best interest of the State in the
conduct of the various State institutions, departments, bureaus,
and agencies during each fiscal year. Subject to the approval of
the Board of Public Works and as provided by law, the State
Treasurer is authorized to make and sell short-term notes—in the
name of the State, in anticipation of the collection of taxes or
other revenues, including proceeds from the sale of bonds to meet
temporary deficiencies in the Treasury, but such notes must only
be made to provide for appropriations already made by the
General Assembly. Any revenues anticipated for the purpose of
short-term notes, made and sold under the authority of this
section, must be so certain as to be readily estimable as to the time
of receipt of the revenues and as to the amount of the revenues.
The General Assembly may contract debts to any amount that
may be necessary for the defense of the State, and provided

"Amended by Chapter 327, Acts of 1924, ratified Nov. 4, 1924;
Chapter 234, Acts of 1959, ratified Nov. 8, 1960; Chapter 372, Acts
of 1972, ratified Nov. 7, 1972; Chapter 551, Acts of 1976, ratified
Nov. 2, 1976; Chapter 600, Acts of 1982, ratified Nov. 2, 1982.