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VETOES

with respect to Annapolis residents; moreover, it appears
that it would ultimately require that the differential be
in a specific amount.

While the Home Rule implications of Article 81,
Section 32A are unclear, we believe that this power had
existed with respect to charter counties in light of the
grant of power in Article 25A, Section 5(o) without the
enactment of Article 81, Section 32A. In the Griffin
case, supra, the Court in discussing such a system of tax
differentials in Anne Arundel County detailed
differentials in varying amounts beginning as early as
fiscal 1966 — almost ten years before the enactment of
Article 81, Section 32A. We therefore conclude that
House Bill 990 purports to enact a public local law for a
single charter county on a subject covered by the grant
of express powers to the charter counties of this State.

In Moser's "County Home Rule — Sharing the
Legislative Power with Maryland's Counties," 28 Md. L.
Rev. 327 (1968), the author noted the various methods
available to the General Assembly for circumventing this
constitutional limitation:

"The General Assembly may exempt any number of
charter counties from a 'general law,' may enact a
law on any matter of 'state concern' applicable to
just one county or the city, and may still enact a
law applicable to any two or more charter counties
or the city on subjects included within the express
powers." (Id., at 334).

The provisions of House Bill 990 employ none of
these techniques to avoid the prohibition of the Home
Rule Amendment. Accordingly, we are unable to approve it
for constitutionality.

Very truly yours,
Francis B. Burch
Attorney General

*We identified these problems during the session and
prior to the passage of the bill. We were advised that
the bill would be (and later that it had been) amended so
as to avoid the problems, but the bill as finally passed
indicates that this was not done.

**For a general discussion of municipal tax differentials
(relating particularly to Anne Arundel County and the
City of Annapolis), see Griffin v. Anne Arundel County,
25 Md. App. 115 (1975), where the Court concluded its
opinion with an invitation to the appellants to seek
appropriate legislative relief.