HARRY HUGHES, Governor

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years, retired state employees have seen their annual
pension benefits increased by 86% while benefits for state
legislators have remained unadjusted.

I am confident that the Legislative Compensation
Commission did not intend for legislators and their spouses
to be treated in such a disadvantageous fashion.

The constitutional defects of S.B. 314 preclude me from
signing this legislation. However, I would urge the
Legislative Compensation Commission to address this problem
prior to submitting its next Resolution to the General
Assembly.

Sincerely,
Harry Hughes
Governor

May 21, 1980

Honorable Harry Hughes
Governor of Maryland
State House
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Re: Senate Bill 314

Dear Governor Hughes:

Senate Bill 314 would add a new paragraph (h) to Sec.
11(13) of Article 73B of the Maryland Code to provide a
cost-of-living increase in legislative pensions awarded
under Article 73B or a resolution of the General Assembly
Compensation Commission to the surviving spouses of members
who served before 1979. Because cost-of-living adjustments
are already included in the legislative pension payable to a
surviving spouse under Article 73B, and because the General
Assembly Compensation Commission has exclusive jurisdiction
with respect to the subject of legislative pensions awarded
under its resolutions, we conclude that in part this bill is
mere surplusage and in part it is unconstitutional.

Article III, Sec. 15(2) of the State Constitution
provides that "[a]ny compensation and allowances paid to
members of the General Assembly shall be established by a
commission known as the General Assembly Compensation
Commission." This office has previously said that the term
"allowances," includes "pensions." Unpublished Opinion of
Jan. 11, 1971, as published as Exhibit "A," 59 Opinions of
the Attorney General 374, 384 (1974). In the same 1971
opinion it was concluded that the Commission was not merely
authorized, but was required to provide a pension plan as
part of the allowances for legislators, and that the