2212                                      VETOES

from the service of the State, to the present Governor or to future
Governors. Acting upon his advice, I, therefore, have vetoed House
Bill 502.

With kindest personal regards, I am

Sincerely yours,

(S) J. MILLARD TAWES,

Governor.
JMT/Jd/Encl.

Letter from State Law Department on House Bill No. 502

May 3, 1963.

Honorable J. Millard Tawes
Governor of Maryland
State House
Annapolis, Maryland

Re: House Bill No. 502
Dear Governor Tawes:

At your request we have examined House Bill 502 and we believe
that this bill would not be constitutional.

House Bill 502 provides "a pension or salary calculated at the
rate of twelve hundred dollars ($1,200) per annum for each year, or
portion thereof, of service in the office of Governor" for every
former Governor of this State. The pension or salary would be paid
to all former Governors living at the time of the enactment of the
bill.

There are two constitutional provisions which require our conclu-
sion that the bill is unconstitutional.

Article II, Section 21, Constitution of Maryland, provides:

"The Governor shall reside at the seat of government, and, from
and after the second Wednesday in January, 1955, shall receive for
his services an annual salary of Fifteen Thousand Dollars."

Article III, Section 35 Constitution of Maryland, provides, in part:

"No extra compensation shall be granted or allowed by the Gen-
eral Assembly to any public Officer, Agent, Servant or Contractor,
after the service shall have been rendered, or the contract entered
into; nor shall the salary or compensation of any public officer be
increased or diminished during his term of office......."

We believe that the attempt by the bill to provide a pension or
salary for former Governors who have already left the service of the
State would be extra compensation granted to a public officer after
the services have been rendered. The case of Sena v. Trujillo, 46 N.M.
361, 129 P. 2d 329, 142 A.L.R. 932, and the Note, 142 A.L.R. 938,
clearly indicate that, by the great weight of authority, where a con-
stitutional provision prohibits payment of extra compensation to pub-
lic officers after services have been rendered, an attempt to provide
a pension for one who has left the service of the state prior to the
enactment of the statute would be unconstitutional.