156                              Laws of Maryland                         Ch. 98

and mental hygiene, who have completed ten years in State service,
with additional or supplemental emblems and certificates for each
five years of service thereafter.

32A.

(a) The awards program set forth in this section shall be carried
out under such regulations and instructions as may be issued by
the [State Commissioner] Secretary of Personnel, who shall an-
nually report the results of the program, with related recommen-
dations to the Governor for transmittal to the General Assembly of
Maryland.

[(b) There is hereby created a board to be known as the State
Incentive Awards Board, which shall consist of the State Commis-
sioner of Personnel, who shall be chairman of said Board, one
member who shall be appointed by the Governor on nomination by
the Maryland Classified Employees Association, Inc., and three mem-
bers who shall be residents of Maryland experienced in personnel
and training procedures, and who shall be appointed by the Gover-
nor. All members of said Board, excepting the State Commissioner
of Personnel, shall be appointed for terms of four years beginning
June 1, 1958. The State Budget Director shall be an ex officio
member of said Board, and shall make available to it any financial
data desired by the Board in the performance of its functions, as is
hereinafter provided. As used in this section, the term "Board"
means the State Incentive Awards Board.]

[(c)] (b) As used in this section, the term "department head"
means the head of any subdivision, department, commission, board
or institution within the classified service of this State, as defined
in this article, and the term "employee" shall mean any person
who holds a position in the said classified service under the terms of
this article.

[(d)] (c) The [Board] Secretary is hereby authorized to pay
cash awards to and to incur necessary expenses for the honorary
recognition of officers and employees in the classified service, who,
by their suggestions, inventions, superior accomplishments or other
personal efforts contribute to the efficiency, economy, or other im-
provement of State operations or who perform exceptionally
meritorious acts or services in the public interest in connection with
or related to their official employment.

[(e)] (d) Any employee may forward his suggestion, inven-
tion, or accomplishment to the [Board] Secretary for [its] his
consideration, either personally or through his department head,
and upon request shall be granted a personal hearing before the
[Board] Secretary. The [Board] Secretary shall make a decision
upon each such proposal forwarded to [it] him, and shall mail or
deliver [its] his decision in writing to the head of the department
and the employee concerned.

[(f)] (e) Awards under this section may be paid notwith-
standing the death or separation from the classified service of the
officer or employee concerned, provided that the suggestions, inven-
tions, superior accomplishments, other personal efforts, or special
acts or services in the public interest, forming the basis for the
awards, are made or rendered while the said officer or employee is
employed in the classified service.