VETOES

RUNNING WITH THE LAND TO COLLECT PAYMENTS OR CHARGES BASED ON THE
VALUE OF REAL PROPERTY.

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall
take effect July June 1, 1987.

June 2, 1987
The Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller
President of the Senate
State House
Annapolis, Maryland 21404

Dear Mr. President:

In accordance with Article II, Section 17 of the Maryland
Constitution, I have today vetoed Senate Bill 946.

Senate Bill 946 provides that in paternity proceedings, a
copy of a laboratory report of blood test results signed by the
technician or analyst who performed the test is admissible as
evidence without the presence of the technician or analyst. The
bill further requires that the laboratory report must identify
the technician or analyst as a "qualified person" as defined in
Section 10-304 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article.

While Senate Bill 946 was intended only to clarify and
permit the current practice of admitting blood test reports
without the presence of the laboratory technician or analyst, an
inadvertent error has been found in the definition of a
"qualified person" under this bill. Section 10-304 of the Courts
and Judicial Proceedings Article defines "qualified person" as
being "a person who has received training in the use of the
equipment in a training program approved by the toxicologist
under the Postmortem Examiner's Commission and who is either a
police officer, a police employee, or an employee of the office
of the Chief Medical Examiner." The "equipment" referred to in
Section 10-304 is equipment used to test breath or blood for
alcohol content when the individual is accused of driving while
intoxicated or impaired.

I have been advised by the Department of Human Resources
that the laboratory technicians and analysts who perform the
paternity blood testing are not police officers, police
employees, or employees of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Furthermore, these technicians and analysts are not approved by
the toxicologist under the Postmortem Examiners Commission, but
rather operate under permits issued by the Laboratory
Administration of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

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