Compensation Commission                           2621

between sessions; (4) by constitutional provision and statute, 10¢ per
mile travel allowance for one round trip per week between Annapolis and
the legislator's home during the session; and (5) by statute, the option to
participate in a contributory pension plan.

From 1867 through 1947 seven constitutional amendments with respect
to compensation were adopted by the Maryland electorate. These amend-
ments increased the basic compensation from "five dollars per diem" to
$1,800. From 1948 to 1964 State legislators received $1,800 per year,
supplemented by expenses for travel and other items fixed in 1958 at $20
per day for each member.

Since 1958 several major attempts have been made to adjust legislative
compensation in Maryland:

1.    A bill proposing a constitutional amendment to increase the annual
compensation of legislators from $1,800 to $3,000 was introduced in the
1958 General Assembly session but received an unfavorable report in the
Senate and did not pass.

2.    In November, 1962, a proposed constitutional amendment, passed
by both Houses and calling for an increase in legislative compensation from
$1,800 to $3,000 per annum was submitted to public referendum. The
proposal was, however, defeated by 212,608 to 124,323.

3.    In November, 1964, a constitutional amendment increasing annual
compensation from $1,800 to $2,400 (the present salary) was approved at
public referendum by 333,094 to 191,148.

4.    In November, 1966, a constitutional amendment authorizing the
Legislature to set the salary level for its members was defeated at the polls
by 277, 917 to 137,201.

5.    In 1967 and 1968 recommendations for increased salaries were
proposed in studies conducted by the Eagleton Institute and the Citizens
Commission on the General Assembly. A similar recommendation was
contained in the report of the Constitutional Convention Commission.

6.    The proposed new Maryland Constitution recommended by the
Constitutional Convention in January, 1968, and rejected by the electorate
in May, 1968, conferred upon the Legislature the power to fix legislative
compensation by statute with the proviso that a salary increase enacted
during one term of office should not become effective until the next term of
office. Because of this proviso, any salary change enacted by the Legislature
then in office would not have become effective until after the election in
November, 1970. Accordingly, in the schedule of legislation attached to
the proposed Constitution and submitted to the electorate at the same time,
it was provided that the annual salary of members of the Legislature
during this interim period should be $8,000. Since the proposed Constitu-
tion was rejected, this proposed increase in compensation did not become
effective.

IV. BACKGROUND OF ADOPTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND-
MENT FOR SALARY COMPENSATION COMMISSION

Shortly after Governor Marvin Mandel took office in January, 1969,
he appointed a committee to review the present Maryland Constitution and
proposed new Maryland Constitution, which had been rejected seven
months earlier by the Maryland electorate. The purpose of this committee
was to recommend amendments to the Constitution which were urgently