1366                           laws of Maryland                     [Ch. 861

sary for the welfare of the inhabitants of Dorchester County, shall
be liberally construed to effect the purposes hereof. All Acts and
parts of Acts, however inconsistent with the provisions of this Act,
are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
June 1, 1965.

Approved May 4, 1965.

CHAPTER 861
(House Bill 900)

AN ACT to add new Section 25A to Article 64A of the Annotated
Code of Maryland (1964 Replacement Volume), title "Merit
System," to follow immediately after Section 25 thereof, to provide
for the classification and inclusion in the State Merit System with-
out further examination or qualification of certain employees of
the Laboratory of the Baltimore City Health Department, who
were employed on January 1, 1965, upon timely application to
the State Commissioner of Personnel.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That new Section 25A be and it is hereby added to Article 64A of
the Annotated Code of Maryland (1964 Replacement Volume), title
"Merit System," to follow immediately after Section 25 thereof, and
to read as follows:

25 A.

Any employee of the Laboratory of the Baltimore City Health
Department who, while so employed, applies to the Commissioner of
Personnel for appointment under the State Merit System on or
before July 1, 1970, shall be so appointed, and without further
examination or qualification shall be classified in the job classifica-
tion under the State Merit System which is comparable or which
most closely compares with his last job classification as a Baltimore
City employee. An employee appointed to the State Merit System
under this Section shall be given credit thereunder for the years of
service rendered in Baltimore City for the purposes of establishing
retirement and death benefits, compensation rates, including longevity
steps, and the basic rates for vacation and sick leave credit earnings.
No such employee who has been transferred from the Baltimore
City Health Department to the State Merit System shall receive any
diminution in compensation solely as a result of such transfer and
appointment.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1965.

Approved May 4, 1965.