4098

VETOES

office on the issue of the constitutionality of the legislative
veto, viz:

"Essentially, this Office has said that the power
of the General Assembly consists of several species of
legislative power, only one of which is the power to
make laws. Another species of legislative power is the
power of oversight authority making power. We
concluded that, in exercising this oversight authority,
the General Assembly may enact legislation making the
exercise of rulemaking authority subject to approval by
one of the Houses or committees of the General
Assembly. Because such approval would not constitute
the making of a law, it need not be given by both
Houses or subject to veto by the Governor. Moreover,
as it would be a species of legislative power, -- i.e.,
the oversight power -- its exercise would not violate
separation of powers by infringing on the power of the
Executive or Judiciary." (Emphasis supplied).

In that letter we were discussing the constitutionality of the
interaction between the Executive and Legislative Branches
contained in several provisions of existing law.

House Bill 1255 goes substantially beyond what was found to
be constitutionally defensible in that letter. Of major
constitutional significance is the authority granted to the AELR
Committee to suspend the adoption of a regulation or any portion
of it "if the Committee finds the regulation or the suspended
portion thereof: (i) is unconstitutional; (ii) exceeds the
statutory authority of the promulgating unit; (iii) fails to
comply with the legislative intent of the statute authorizing it;
or (iv) is unreasonable or unnecessarily burdensome." The bill
raises more than a legislative veto of executive power issue;
rather it raises the question of the General Assembly's ability
to perform functions exclusively the prerogative of the judicial
branch.

The separation of powers clause of the Declaration of
Rights, Article 8, provides:

"That the Legislative, Executive and Judicial
power of Government ought to be forever separate and
distinct from each other, and no person exercising the
functions of one of said Departments shall assume or
discharge the duties of any other."

The purpose of this separation of powers provision has been
stated as follows:

"The evident purpose of the declaration last
quoted, is to parcel out and separate the powers of
government, and to confide particular classes of them
to particular branches of the supreme authority. That