BLAIR LEE III, Acting Governor

3217

Dear Governor Lee:

We are unable to approve the above—numbered bill as to
constitutionality in light of what we perceive to be a
defective title.

Maryland Constitution, Article III, Section 29
provides, in pertinent part that:

"[e]very law enacted by the General
Assembly shall embrace but one subject, and that
shall be described in its title; ..."

In testing a bill against the requirement that its subject
be described in its title, a court will be disposed to
uphold, rather than defeat the enactment; a reasonable doubt
in its favor being enough to sustain it. Madison National
Bank v. Newrath, 261 Md. 321 (1971). Nonetheless, the
constitutional requirement is aimed in part at assuring that
the Legislature and the people be fairly appraised of the
nature of new legislation, Kelly v. State, 139 Md. 204
[1921), and a title which is affirmatively misleading must
necessarily cause the statute to fall; see 58 Opinions of
the Attorney General 75 (1973).

House Bill 1255, which would amend Sections 18-601(a)
and 18-603(a) of the Education Article, is entitled "FOR the
purpose of establishing a uniform definition of child for
the purposes of certain scholarships."

Subsequent to its enactment, "child" would be defined,
for purposes of Section 18—601, as any child (at least 16
years old and under 24) of certain public safety personnel
killed in the line of duty, or "any child of a member of the
Maryland National Guard who was a resident of this State at
the time of his death and was killed while on active duty
...." For the purposes of Section 18—603, on the other
hand, "child" would be defined as "any child or stepchild of
a person described in this Section."1 (Emphasis added).
Further, the section sets the age requirement at between 16
and 24, unless the child served in the armed forces, in
which case the upper limit for eligibility is age 28.

The word "uniform" is defined alternately as "having
always the same form, manner, or degree; not varying or
variable; of the same form with others: conforming to one
rule or mode: consonant; presenting an undiversified
appearance of surface, pattern, or color; consistent in
conduct or opinion;" Webster's Seventh New Collegiate
Dictionary, 1967. In view of the fact that for purposes of
Section 18-603, the term "child" would include stepchild,
but not so with respect to Section 18—601, we have concluded
that House Bill 1255 does not result in a uniformity of
definition and its title is therefore affirmatively
misleading.2 We therefore cannot approve House Bill 1255 as
to constitutionality.