1969]                                OF THE SENATE                                     15

session of the General Assembly, I voted in favor of legislation prohibiting
the use of such games by service stations. There was then, and still is, a
justified belief by the majority of service station operators that serious
abuses have been associated with the service station games and that they
should be prohibited.

Senate Bill 332, however, goes much further than prohibiting the use
of games by service stations. It prohibits the use of promotional games by
all retail establishments regulated or licensed under Article 56 of the
Annotated Code of Maryland. At a hearing before me on the Bill, no
representatives of retail establishments other than service stations spoke
in favor of the Bill. On the contrary, representatives of department
stores, shopping centers and retail merchants associations all requested
that the Bill be vetoed. Moreover, no representatives of consumers testi-
fied in favor of the Bill at the hearing. It would appear that the only
sizable group in favor of the Bill consists of the retail service station oper-
ators. However, the impact of the Bill goes far beyond service station
promotional games.

Another problem with the Senate Bill 332, which is compounded by
the broad scope of the Bill, is that it will place many Maryland retail
merchants at a serious competitive disadvantage. Thus, if the Bill is
signed, Maryland retailers in the Washington Metropolitan area will not
be able to use promotional games whereas their competitors in the District
of Columbia and Virginia will. The same is true of Maryland retailers in
some parts of the Eastern Shore who compete with Delaware retailers.
Maryland merchants in some other areas of the State may be similarly
affected. This problem leads to the conclusion that Federal regulation of
retail promotional games would be preferable to State abolition of the
games. My office has been informed that the Federal Trade Commission is
considering regulating these games in order to stop abuses associated with
them, and that the issuance of Federal regulations in the near future is
likely. Consequently, the General Assembly at its next session will be able
to re-examine the matter of retail promotional games in light of the
Federal regulations.

For all of the above reasons, I have concluded that the best course of
action at this time is to veto Senate Bill 332.

Sincerely,

/s/ Marvin Mandel,

Governor.
Which was read.

Senate Bill No. 332—Contests Promoted by Retail Establishments.

AN ACT to add new Section 369A to Article 27 of the Annotated Code
of Maryland (1967 Replacement Volume), title "Crimes and Punishments,"
subtitle "Lotteries" to follow immediately after Section 369 thereof, pro-
hibiting the use of any game, contest, lottery or other scheme BY RETAIL
ESTABLISHMENTS to give away gifts, prizes or gratuities as deter-
mined by chance for the purpose of promoting, furthering or advertising
any product or service, whether or not a purchase is required to participate
in such game, contest, lottery or scheme, and to amend Section 370 of
Article 27 to include therein provisions for a penalty for a violation of
new Section 369A.