HARRY HUGHES, Governor

4149

under a worker's compensation law; the title, on the other hand,
states that the bill is intended to include as wages only those
sickness or accident disability payments that are made under a
worker's compensation law.

Article III, Section 29 of the Maryland Constitution
requires that "every law enacted by the General Assembly shall
embrace but one subject, and that shall be described in its
title." It has been held that the purpose of the second part of
this provision is to fairly advise the General Assembly and the
public of the real nature of pending legislation. Kelly v.
State, 139 Md. 204 (1921). It has also been held that one of the
essentials of a good title is that it shall not be misleading.
Baltimore v. Deegan, 163 Md. 234 (1932); and that the title must
not apparently limit the enactment to a much narrower scope than
the body of the bill embraces, State v. King, 124 Md. 471 (1914).
Clearly, the discrepancy between the title of House Bill 1541 and
the body of the bill is so great and obvious that there can be no
doubt that the title fails altogether to comply with the
constitutional requirements.

In sum, then, we are unable to approve House Bill 1541 for
constitutionality. We note, however, that the federal law with
which House Bill 1541 was designed to conform does not become
effective until January 1, 1985. (For this reason, House Bill
1541 itself was introduced with a proposed delayed effective date
of January 1, 1985.) We believe, therefore, that the purposes of
House Bill 1541 can be accomplished at the next Regular Session
of the General Assembly by enactment of an emergency bill, with a
corrected title, that would amend Article 95A, § 20(n) so as to
apply to all benefits paid on or after January 1, 1985. An
emergency bill is urged so that it could be enacted early in the
session and become effective well before employers are required
to make their first federal or state quarterly reports for
calendar year 1985.

Very truly yours,
Stephen H. Sachs
Attorney General

House Bill No. 1541

AN ACT concerning

Unemployment Insurance - Taxable Wages

FOR the purpose of including in an employee's wages, under the
Unemployment Insurance Law, payments made under an
employer's plan on account of illness or accident disability
under a workmen's compensation law; and providing for a
delayed effective date.