Marvin Mandel, Governor                         323

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 10 (D), (e) and (h) of Article 25B of the Annotated
Code of Maryland (1970 Supplement), title "Home Rule for Code
Counties," subtitle "Enactment of Local Laws," be and it is hereby
repealed and re-enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

10.

(D) A BILL MAY BE INTRODUCED BY ANY MEMBER OF
THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ON ANY LEGIS-
LATIVE SESSION DAY. NOT LATER THAN THE NEXT CAL-
ENDAR DAY FOLLOWING THE INTRODUCTION OF A BILL
THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMIS-
SIONERS SHALL SCHEDULE A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE
BILL, THAT SHALL NOT BE LESS THAN SEVEN CALENDAR
DAYS AFTER ITS INTRODUCTION; BUT THE. BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MAY REJECT ANY BILL ON ITS
INTRODUCTION WITHOUT A HEARING BY A VOTE OF AT
LEAST [FOUR-FIFTHS] TWO-THIRDS OF ITS TOTAL MEM-
BERSHIP. THE HEARING MAY BUT NEED NOT BE HELD ON
A LEGISLATIVE SESSION DAY AND MAY BE ADJOURNED
FROM TIME TO TIME. AFTER A PUBLIC HEARING, A BILL
MAY BE FINALLY PASSED ON A LEGISLATIVE SESSION
DAY WITH OR WITHOUT AMENDMENT; BUT IF A BILL IS
AMENDED BEFORE FINAL PASSAGE, IT SHALL NOT BE
PASSED UNTIL IT IS REPRINTED OR REPRODUCED AS
AMENDED.

(e) Upon introduction of an emergency bill the president of the
board of county commissioners shall schedule a public hearing
thereon, which shall not be less than three calendar days after its
introduction. The public hearing may but need not be held on a
legislative session day and may be adjourned from time to time.
After public hearing, the bill may be passed with or without amend-
ment on a legislative session day by an affirmative vote of at least
four-fifths of the total membership of the board of county commis-
sioners or two-thirds where total Board membership is three mem-
bers. Emergency bills which are amended are not subject to the re-
quirement for reprinting or reproduction contained in subsection (d)
of this section.

(h) Any public local law enacted by the board of county commis-
sioners of a code county shall take effect forty-five days after it is
enacted, unless by a provision of the public local law it is to take
effect at a later date. If a public local law is passed as an emergency
bill or if a bill is declared by at least a four-fifths vote of the total
membership of the board of county commissioners or two-thirds
where total Board membership is three members to be an emergency
bill affecting the public health, safety, or welfare of the county, the
law shall take effect from the date of its passage. The term "emer-
gency bill" shall not include one abolishing or creating any office,
changing any salary, term, or duty of any officer, granting any fran-
chise or special privilege or creating any vested right or interest.

(1) The citizens of a code county, by petition, may submit to the
registered voters of the county any public local law or portion thereof
enacted under this subtitle. The submission shall be at the next regu-