380                             LAWS OF MARYLAND                     [CH. 156

(b)    The [State Planning Department] Department of State
Planning shall also submit special reports upon the request of the
Governor or the General Assembly, or of the Legislative Council,
or at the discretion of the [Director] Secretary, on those aspects
of the [Planning] Department's work which may be deemed of
current interest. Special reports on major research and planning
projects, as distinguished from mere compilations of current data,
shall be made available as soon as practicable after completion.

(c)    The [Planning] Department of State Planning shall dis-
tribute copies of its annual report to the members of the General
Assembly, to the heads of all State departments and all local, regional
and metropolitan planning agencies in the State, and upon request,
to interested federal agencies. The special reports of the [Plan-
ning] Department of State Planning shall be distributed in the same
manner as the annual report unless the Governor directs otherwise.
The [Planning] Departments of State Planning shall make copies
of special and annual reports available for general distribution or
sale.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That all persons who
are employees of the State Planning Department on the effective date
hereof are hereby confirmed in the office, position or civilian
classification which they hold on such date, as employees of the
Department of State Planning, except as otherwise provided in this
Act. ARE CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES OF THE STATE PLAN-
NING DEPARTMENT ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS
ACT SHALL RETAIN THEIR MERIT SYSTEM STATUS, EX-
CEPT AS OTHERWISE SPECIFICALLY PROVIDED IN THIS
ACT.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That if any part of this act,
or any section or part of the section thereof, shall be held to be
unconstitutional or invalid for any reason, such unconstitutionality or
invalidity shall not affect the remaining parts of this act, or any
section or part of a section hereof, the General Assembly hereby
declaring that it would have passed the remaining parts of this
act, or sections or parts of sections hereof, if such unconstitutionality
or invalidity had been known; and to this end, all parts, sections,
and parts of sections of this act are declared to be severable.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That all laws or parts of laws,
public general or public local, inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act, are hereby repealed to the extent of any such inconsistency.

Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect
July 1, 1969.

Approved April 23, 1969.

CHAPTER 156
(House Bill 855)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact with amendments, Sections 1, 3 and
12 of Article 41 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1965 Replace-