VETOES

of the court on a point of law is at variance with a previous decision by another State
judge. In such cases, the Court of Special Appeals may only decide the question of law
and may not rule on the facts.

The current law also provides that if the circuit court fails to rule within 30 days after
the appeal has been filed, the local board's decision will be considered affirmed. In
Allegany County, the period is within 90 days. House Bill 636 deletes this automatic
affirmance of local board decisions.

Chief Judge Richard P. Gilbert of the Court of Special Appeals has requested a veto.
Judge Gilbert notes that the Court is already overburdened and that House Bill 636 is
likely to result in hundreds of new appeals. It is my understanding that Chief Judge
Robert C. Murphy of the Court of Appeals also believes that an increased workload
would face the appellate courts should House Bill 636 be signed. Judge Gilbert believes
that the present system of allowing appeals only when there is a conflict in rulings
between circuit courts has worked well and should not be abandoned.

In his bill review letter, the Attorney General noted that no judicial appeals of liquor
board decisions were permitted before 1943, and that the regulation of alcoholic
beverages is a unique State activity directly affecting the public interest. Indeed, the
premise of the current law is that the local liquor board's decisions are entitled to the
presumption that they are proper and in the public interest. I agree with that
philosophy. Moreover, I believe that requiring swift decisions in appeals from liquor
license boards and automatically affirming the boards if decisions are not rendered
promptly is a legitimate limit on the right of appeal.

For all the above reasons, I have today vetoed House Bill 636.

Sincerely,

William Donald Schaefer

Governor

House Bill No. 636

AN ACT concerning

Local Alcoholic Beverages Licensing Boards - Appeals

FOR the purpose of authorizing the local alcoholic beverages licensing board for each
county and Baltimore City any party to appeal certain decisions of the circuit
court involving decisions of a local alcoholic beverages licensing board to the
Court of Special Appeals and the Court of Appeals; prohibiting the Court of
Special Appeals or the Court of Appeals from staying certain decisions of a local
board under certain circumstances; repealing the statewide provision and the
Allegany County provision of law that affirms a local board's decision when the
circuit court fails to make a determination within a certain period of time; and
generally relating to local alcoholic beverages licensing boards and appeals.

BY repealing

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