BLAIR LEE III,

Acting Governor

3213

Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Be: Senate Bill 834 and House Bill 1889

Dear Governor Lee:

We have reviewed House Bill 1889 and Senate Bill 834,
which are identical bills, and it is our opinion that these
bills are unconstitutional because the title of each bill
limits the enactment to a much narrower scope than the body
of the act embraces in violation of Article 3, Section 29 of
the Maryland Constitution.

Article 3, Section 29 provides in relevant part that:

"[E]very Law enacted by the General Assembly
shall embrace but one subject, and that shall be
described in its title; and no law, nor section of Law,
shall be revived, or amended by reference to its title,
or section only; nor shall any Law be construed, by
reason of its title, to grant powers, or confer rights
which are not expressly contained in the body of the
act ....."

That constitutional provision has been the subject of
much litigation, and the Court of Appeals, in order that the
intent of the Legislature not be defeated, has given it a
liberal construction. However, the Court has held that
although the title need not contain an abstract of the bill,
nor detail the provisions of the act, it must not be
misleading by apparently limiting the enactment to a much
narrower scope than is contained in the body of the bill

(Nutwell v. Anne Arundel County, 110 Md. 667, 671 (1909))

and that a statute can be given no more extended operation
than that explained in the title. Barrett v. Clark, 189 Md.
116 (1947).

In Nutwell, supra, the statute in question was
described in the title as requiring all owners of vehicles
using the public streets and roads in Anne Arundel County to
have a license, but in the body of the bill were also
contained provisions exempting a large group of vehicles
from the licensing requirements and exempting licensed
vehicles from other forms of taxation. The Court found the
title to be too narrow and misleading, and, therefore,
declared the law unconstitutional.

The titles of Senate Bill 834 and House Bill 1889 read
as follows:

"For the purpose of clarifying the procedures which
stay collection of certain property taxes by the
posting of an appeal bond.."

The body of the bill contains amendment to Section 260
of Article 81 as follows: