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may not adopt a charter.
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That is a possibility so far as Maryland is
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concerned as to your county situation. You can have a
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substantive grant of powers available to all counties, but
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so far as adoption of a charter to define your framework
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of government is concerned, you can leave that optional.
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There are various possibilities here.
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THE CHAIRMAN: I think for purposes of defini-
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tion, we are thinking in terms of legislative powers being
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vested in the home rule unit and taken out of the Legis-
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lature. Either we do have a grant of substantive powers
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to the County Commissioners -- for example, under Article
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25, the express powers act, by way of explanation and
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definition, is contained in Article 25(a) , a subsidiary
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to Article 25, which grants specifically to those counties
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that have adopted a charter certain powers and those powers
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are called the express powers.
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But also Article 25 grants to the County
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Commissioners various substantive powers but not legisla-
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tive authority. They have to go back to the Legislature
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through their delegates in the Legislature and obtain
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