BLAIR LEE III, Acting Governor

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the House of Delegates and the Senate shall,
before it becomes a law, be presented to the
Governor of the State; if he approves he shall
sign it, but if not he shall return it with his
objections to the House in which it originated,
... If any Bill presented to the Governor while
the General Assembly is in session shall not be
returned by him with his objections within six
days (Sundays excepted), the same shall be a law
in like manner as if he signed it, unless the
General Assembly shall, by adjournment, prevent
its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

"Any Bill presented to the Governor within six
days (Sundays excepted) , prior to adjournment of
any session of the General Assembly, or after
such adjournment, shall become law without the
Governor's signature unless it shall be vetoed by
the Governor within 30 days after its
presentment."

In testing the legislative veto provision before it
under a presentment clauses' challenge, the Atkins Court
observed that the language of Article I. Sec. 7, Clause 3 of
the U.S. Constitution literally applies only to actions "to
which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of
Representatives may be necessary." Since the majority had
previously concluded that the exercise of the legislative
"veto" before it was not an act requiring such an
occurrence, it had no difficulty in concluding that the form
of the mechanism did not contravene the presentment clause
of the U.S. Constitution. 556 F.2d at 1065. Because of the
relatively narrow reach of Maryland's presentment clauses,
we believe that that analysis applies with even more vigor
to the provisions here under review.

In Warfield v. Vandiver, 101 Md. 78 (1925), the Court
of Appeals was presented with the issue of whether a
proposed constitutional amendment, adopted by the General
Assembly, required Executive approval (or passage over
Executive disapproval) before being submitted to the
Electorate. The question was resolved in the negative, the
Court (per Chief Judge McSherry) holding:

"The right which the Governor has to sign or veto
is strictly confined to bills which when signed,
or if vetoed, when passed by the requisite vote
over the veto, become laws." (Emphasis in
original) . 24

Since Article II, Sec. 17 is consistent with Article III,
Sec. 30,25 it necessarily follows that, under the
Constitution of Maryland, only a bill embodying distinct
legislation must be presented to the Governor and only such
a bill is subject to gubernatorial veto. Thus, the question