MARVIN MANDEL, Governor

4033

collected by the Commission are paid over to the State
Treasurer "and shall become general funds of the State."
They may, thereafter, be disbursed by the Comptroller
"only pursuant to an appropriation made in accordance
with §§32 and 52 of Article 3 of the Constitution or
pursuant to the provisions of §§1 through 15, inclusive,
of Article 15A of this Code..." The Constitutional
sections referred to are those relating to the required
methods and procedures for appropriating and expending
State funds; the statutory references pertain to approved
budget amendments.

The bill repeals the requirement that the
Comptroller disburse the moneys from the general funds in
accordance with these Constitutional or statutory
provisions. In substitution therefor, it provides that
the Comptroller shall disburse such of these moneys as
will provide the Commission with sufficient funds to
administer the subtitle, in accordance with these
Constitutional and statutory sections. It provides
further, however, that at the end of the fiscal year, the
Comptroller shall disburse the balance to the
subdivisions in accordance with a formula set forth in
the bill. There is no requirement that these excess
proceeds be appropriated by the General Assembly, but
merely a direction to the Comptroller to distribute them.

Article III, Section 32 of the Constitution provides
that "no money shall be drawn from the Treasury of the
State, by any order or resolution, nor except in
accordance with an appropriation Law..." Section 52 of
Article III prohibits the General Assembly from
appropriating any money out of the Treasury except
through either the Budget Bill or a supplementary
appropriation bill.

Clearly, this bill is neither. As stated by the
Court of Appeals in the analogous, and, in my judgment,
controlling, case of Baltimore v. O'Conor, 147 Md. 639,
646 (1925), "once these excess fees are paid into the
treasury, as contemplated by the act itself, they must
remain in the treasury until withdrawn therefrom in
accordance with the provisions of [Section 52]."

This bill, as noted, purports to direct the
Comptroller to disburse funds out of the State Treasury
which have not otherwise been appropriated in accordance
with law, which is the very thing the Court said in
Baltimore v. O'Conor may not be done. In my judgment,
House Bill 1054 is clearly unconstitutional; and for that
reason, I have vetoed it.

Sincerely,

/s/ Marvin Mandel