300                             LAWS OF MARYLAND                     [CH. 121

CHAPTER 121
(Senate Bill 373)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Sections 63 and
68 of Article 40 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1968 Supple-
ment), title "General Assembly," subtitle "Fiscal Notes," and to
repeal Sections 66 and 67 of the said Article and subtitle of the
Code, and to add new Section 70A to the said Article and subtitle
of the Code, to follow immediately after Section 70 thereof, to
change the procedure for use, preparation and attachment of fiscal
notes for bills and joint resolutions introduced and considered by
the General Assembly of Maryland.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Sections 63 and 68 of Article 40 of the Annotated Code of
Maryland (1968 Supplement), title "General Assembly," subtitle
"Fiscal Notes," be and they are hereby repealed and re-enacted, with
amendments, and Sections 66 and 67 of the said Article and subtitle
of the Code, be and they are hereby repealed, and Section 70A be
and it is hereby added to the said Article and subtitle of the Code,
to follow immediately after Section 70 thereof, and all to read as
follows:

63.

A bill or joint resolution shall not be voted upon by a standing
committee in either house of the General Assembly unless it is
accompanied by a fiscal note or waiver of a fiscal note prepared by
the Department of Fiscal Services or by an agency or department
of the State government designated by the Department of Fiscal
Services. This requirement may be waived only upon the certification
of the chairman of the standing committee to which the bill was
referred that prompt committee action on the bill or resolution is
necessary for the conduct of legislative business. The fiscal note shall
be required for bills or joint resolutions that have an effect upon the
revenues or the expenditures of State government.

68.

The fiscal note shall be revised at each successive stage of the legis-
lative process in which an amendment is adopted which changes the
fiscal effect of the bill or joint resolution, unless this requirement is
waived by the chairman of the committee to which the bill was
referred, the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House
of Delegates. The revised fiscal note shall [not be subject to the time
limitations prescribed for the initial committee hearing, but shall]
be processed by the Department of Fiscal Services and returned as
quickly as possible to the committee or to the clerk of the House or
Secretary of the Senate if one of the latter has the custody of the
bill or joint resolution at that time.

70 A.

A copy of each fiscal note or waiver of a fiscal note shall be retained
by the Department of Fiscal Services, and reasonably available for
public inspection, for at least three years following its preparation.
The fiscal note or waiver of a fiscal note need not be published in the