1386                             LAWS OF MARYLAND                        [CH. 650

may be passed with or without amendment on a legislative session-
day by an affirmative vote of at least four-fifths of the total member-
ship of the Board of County Commissioners. Emergency bills which
are amended are not subject to the requirement for reprinting or
reproduction contained in subsection (d) of this Section.

(f)    Vote required. Subject to the provisions of subsection (e)
above, no bill shall become public local law unless it be passed by a
majority of the total membership of the Board of County Commis-
sioners, and on its final passage the yeas and nays shall be recorded
in a journal.

(g)    Publication of proposed laws. On the introduction of any
bill, a copy thereof and notice of the time and place of the hearing
shall be posted as soon as practicable on an official bulletin board
in a public place in the building in which the County Commissioners
usually meet, and so that the public may have ready access thereto
during normal business hours; and additional copies of the bill,
with notice of the date of hearing, shall be made available to the
public and to the press. Every copy of each bill shall bear the name
of the member introducing it and the date it was introduced; and
no bill, unless it be an emergency bill, may be passed before the
seventh calendar day after introduction. ANY AMENDMENTS
PROPOSED TO A BILL SHALL BE IN WRITING, AND COPIES
OF THE AMENDMENTS SHALL BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR
INSPECTION BY THE PRESS AND PUBLIC. Upon the passage of
any bill, the bill or a fair summary thereof shall be published in at
least one newspaper of general circulation in the county, not less than
three times, at weekly intervals, within a four-week period following
its passage.

(h) Effective date of public local law. Any public local law en-
acted by the Board of County Commissioners of a code county shall
take effect forty-five days after it is enacted, unless by a provision
of the public local law it is to take effect at a later date. If a public
local law is passed as an emergency bill or if a bill is declared by
at least a four-fifths vote of the total membership of the Board of
County Commissioners to be an emergency bill affecting the public
health, safety, or welfare of the county, the law shall take effect
from the date of its passage. The term "emergency bill" shall not
include one abolishing or creating any office, changing any salary,
term, or duty of any officer, granting any franchise or special privilege
or creating any vested right or interest.

(1)    The citizens of a code county, by petition, may submit to
the registered voters of the county any public local law or portion
thereof enacted under this subtitle. The submission shall be at the
next regular Congressional election and in accordance with require-
ments as to. time, notice, and form in Article 33 of this Code; and
shall be for adoption or rejection by a majority of those voting on
the question.

(2)    The referendum petition shall be filed with the Board of
Supervisors of Elections within forty days after a bill is enacted
and shall contain the signatures of at least ten per centum of the
registered voters of the county. If more than one-half but less than
the full number of signatures required to complete any referendum
petition against a public local law are filed within forty days from