2622                                         Reports

needed and which could be submitted as separate constitutional amend-
ments by the 1969 General Assembly. This committee consisted of Blair
Lee III, Secretary of State; John C. Eldridge, Chief Legislative Officer;
and Edmond Rovner, a member of the Governor's staff. This committee
proposed eight constitutional amendments, which were passed by the 1969
General Assembly. One of these dealt with legislative compensation.

Historically, most states have had constitutional provisions fixing the
amount of legislative compensation and, historically, proposals for in-
creased legislative compensation have been more often than not rejected
by the electorate throughout the country. A number of proposals have
been advanced from time to time to provide for the fixing of legislative
compensation by some means other than constitutional provision. One of
the methods adopted by several states in recent years, among them Mich-
igan, West Virginia and Delaware, was to have legislative compensation
determined by an independent legislative compensation commission, and
this method was considered but not adopted by both the Constitutional
Convention Commission and the Constitutional Convention. It is this
method that was prescribed by the constitutional amendment proposed at
the 1969 session of the General Assembly.

This amendment provided for the calling of an election in 1969 at
which time all of the proposed amendments would be submitted to the
electorate. The Court of Appeals, in the case of Cohen v. Governor, 255 Md.
5 (1969), held that the election could not be held in 1969, and the amend-
ments would have to be considered at the November, 1970 general election.

As originally adopted, the amendment provided for appointment of the
General Assembly Compensation Commission during the 1970 session of
the General Assembly, necessitating the salary being set by the outgoing
body to take effect in the subsequent 1971 session of a new legislature. It
was necessary that certain "housekeeping" revisions be provided for in
the 1970 session of the Maryland Legislature. The authority of the General
Assembly to make such revisions in constitutional amendments already
proposed was upheld in Bourbon v. Governor, 258 Md. 252 (1970). These
amendments were proposed by the Legislative Council in House Bill No. 2
of the 1970 General Assembly and the constitutional amendment was recon-
sidered by the 1970 General Assembly, and this amendment, in its revised
form, was adopted by the voters at the November, 1970 general election by
a vote of 311,062 to 209,811:

"ARTICLE III
Sec. 15.

(1)    The General Assembly may continue its session so long as
in its judgment the public interest may require, for a period not longer
than ninety days in each year. The ninety days shall be consecutive
unless otherwise provided by law. The General Assembly may extend
its session beyond ninety days but not exceeding an additional thirty
days by resolution concurred in by a three-fifths vote of the member-
ship in each House. When the General Assembly is convened by
Proclamation of the Governor, the session shall not continue longer
that thirty days, but no additional compensation other than mileage
and other allowances provided by law shall be paid members of the
General Assembly for special session.

(2)    Any compensation and allowances paid to members of the
General Assembly shall be as established by a commission known as