WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor

The legislative powers of the State and its political subdivisions are significantly
different. The General Assembly inherently possesses full power to legislate on every
subject, except as limited by the Maryland Constitution with regard to State and local
matters and the federal constitution with respect to national matters. The subdivisions
have only such legislative authority as has been given them by the State, either in the
Constitution or by statute. Consequently, except to the extent that it is restrained by the
home rule powers that the Constitution gives some subdivisions, the Legislature may
regulate subdivisions in virtually any manner it sees fit. 62 Opinions of the Attorney
General 275, 278-79 (1977).

The City of Baltimore enjoys a form of constitutional home rule known as "charter
government." See Article XI-A of the Constitution. Allegany County has adopted
"code home rule." See Article XI-F. Garrett and Somerset Counties do not have home
rule powers.

Under Article XI-A, § 4, the General Assembly may not enact a "public local
law" on any subject covered by the express powers granted by the Legislature to
Baltimore City in its charter. And Article XI-F, § 4 prevents the General Assembly
from enacting a "public local law which is special or local in its terms or effect within a
code county," such as Allegany County.⁹

As this office previously has observed, the distinction between public general laws
and public local laws is extremely significant for home rule purposes, and often difficult
to determine:

[Tjhere is no categorical standard for distinguishing between public general
and public local laws. Nevertheless, public local laws traditionally are confined
in their operation to certain prescribed or defined territorial limits, and their
subject matter is one of purely local concern.... Thus, ... "[the] classification of
a particular statute as general or local is traditionally based on substance and
not form," Cole v. Secretary of State, 249 Md. 425, 433 (1968); "[and] ... the
fact that the statute takes the form of an amendment to the general law
[traditionally had not made] it a public general law rather than a public local
law if its subject matter is exclusively local." [d.

In the Charter Home Rule Amendment [the] limitation [on the General
Assembly's authority] took the form of a constitutional prohibition of the
enactment of a public local law by the General Assembly on any subject
covered by the Express Powers Act. However, since a law which applies to two
or more of the geographical subdivisions of the State is not a local law for
charter home rule purposes, and since "the General Assembly ... may enact a

⁹ In the Code Home Rule Amendment, the local law prohibition is somewhat blurred.
Article Xl-F, § 1 says that "laws which apply to more than one county" are not local laws, while
§ 4 authorizes the General Assembly to "enact ... public local laws applicable to code counties
only by general enactment which in terms as effect apply alike to all code counties [in a given
class of code counties]." This office noted this apparent inconsistency previously, and resolved
it by concluding that § 4 applies only to laws affecting the incorporation, organization, or
government of code counties. See 62 Opinions of the Attorney General at 304-06.

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