3140                                                 VETOES

May 31, 1974.

Honorable John Hanson Briscoe
Speaker of the House of Delegates
State House
Annapolis, Maryland 21404

Dear Mr. Speaker:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17, of the
Maryland Constitution, I have today vetoed House Bill
967.

This bill modifies the Sunday closing laws in
Charles County to permit certain retail establishments to
remain open, including those establishments which operate
"with not more than 8 persons on any one shift on
Sunday."

Prior to the enactment of House Bill 967, Charles
County was governed by the general provisions of Article
27, §521 which prohibits the sale of merchandise on
Sunday with certain exceptions, in those counties which
have not enacted local laws relating to Sunday sales.
House Bill 967, by adding new Section 534S to Article 27
of the Annotated Code of Maryland, intended to add
Charles County to those counties which have enacted
specific legislation in this area. Its provisions, in
fact, are virtually identical to those existing for Anne
Arundel and Calvert Counties with the exception that the
law of the latter counties provides that automobile
dealers may not be open on Sunday. See Article 27,
§534N. Several other counties have enacted similar
legislation allowing small businesses to remain open but,
in each instance, there are provisions preventing
automobile dealers from operating on Sunday. House Bill
967 does not contain such a prohibition.

I have received an overwhelming amount of
correspondence requesting that I veto House Bill 967.
This has come from not only all but one of the automobile
dealers in Charles County, but also from automobile
dealers throughout the State of Maryland and from a large
number of citizens of Charles County. Their objections
to the bill have been directed principally to the fact
that with the signing of House Bill 967, Charles County
will be the only County allowing automobile sales on
Sunday. Although the bill purports to apply only to
Charles County, it is clear that, if even one automobile
dealer should elect to remain open on Sunday, economic
competitive pressures will eventually force all
automobile dealers in the County, and, as a consequence,
dealers in surrounding counties to remain open. If this
occurs, as is likely, the pressure will be exerted on
other counties to relax their Sunday closing laws to