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Proceedings and Debates of the 1967 Constitutional Convention
Volume 104, Volume 1, Debates 1455   View pdf image (33K)
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[Nov. 30] DEBATES 1455

governor shall have the authority to con-
vene the legislature in special session.

I wonder if I could ask the Chairman of
the Committee on the Legislative Branch,
Delegate Gallagher, a question.

Was it the intention of the Legislative
Branch that the governor should be able to
delegate the authority to call special ses-
sions of the legislature to the lieutenant
governor.

THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gallagher.

DELEGATE GALLAGHER: The Com-
mittee had not contemplated that the gov-
ernor would be able to delegate that power.

THE CHAIRMAN: I do not believe that
quite answers the question.

Had the Committee contemplated that
the governor would not be able to delegate
that power or do you mean had not con-
sidered that matter at all?

DELEGATE GALLAGHER: In reality,
it had not considered it at all. I think it
would be the sense of the Committee that
the power was vested rather exclusively in
the governor and was not a power to be
delegated.

THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Penniman.

DELEGATE PENNIMAN: Mr. Presi-
dent, I would hope that we would be very
careful about making changes with respect
to the power of the governor to delegate
legislation here on the floor; simply that as
far as our Committee is concerned, we are
likely to get a hodge-podge that would be
virtually impossible to dig ourselves out
of, without getting into the realm of sub-
stantive decision.

THE CHAIRMAN: The Chair would
like to inquire of Delegate Morgan whether
the Committee on the Executive Branch
had any feeling or had considered the
question put by Delegate Penniman and
Delegate Gallagher as to the power of the
governor to delegate to the lieutenant gov-
ernor authority to convene a special session
of the legislature.

DELEGATE MORGAN: Mr. Chairman,
we did not specifically consider that prob-
lem or any other power or function of the
governor. I think we did, however, intend
that any power or function of the governor,
could be delegated to the lieutenant gov-
ernor, and we intended to give the gov-
ernor discretion in that respect.

THE CHAIRMAN: The Chair would
like to have one thing clear on the record.

I think it is implicit in what you said,
but it might make a world of difference to
the Committee on Style, Drafting and Ar-
rangement.

I understood from your earlier answers
and the way you just gave your last an-
swer that the Committee on the Executive
Branch intended to draw no distinction
whatsoever between the word, "power",
and the word, "duty", and that regardless
of the distinction in the WEBSTER'S DIC-
TIONARY between the two, and that the
Committee on the Executive Branch used
the word, "duty, " in these lines in the
same sense as though it had read, "such
powers or duties".

Delegate Morgan.

DELEGATE MORGAN: Mr. Chairman,
we just did not look up the distinction be-
tween powers and duties in the dictionary.
I just thought they were kind of inter-
changeable.

THE CHAIRMAN: I am not trying to
get the dictionary distinction. I am trying
to get the intent of the Committee.

I take it from your earlier answers that
what you intended by this section was that
the legislature could, by law, and the gov-
ernor, by act, delegate either powers or
duties.

Is that the intent?

DELEGATE MORGAN: That was the
intent, Mr. Chairman.

THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Penniman,
with that clear statement of intent, would
this not leave to the Committee on Style
the decision as to whether the word "pow-
ers" is necessary in addition to the word
"duties"?

DELEGATE PENNIMAN: Yes, I think
so, but it still leaves confused, it seems to
me, what is the intent of this Convention
in adopting 3. 12 or the intent of this Con-
vention —

THE CHAIRMAN: I understand it does
not resolve that question.

I am just trying to resolve the one.
Delegate Henderson.

DELEGATE HENDERSON: Mr. Chair-
man, fellow delegates, the discussion on this
particular amendment has taken a wide
range and it suggests that if it was the in-
tention that the legislature, that is, the
General Assembly might choose which pow-
ers it would assign to the lieutenant gov-



 

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Proceedings and Debates of the 1967 Constitutional Convention
Volume 104, Volume 1, Debates 1455   View pdf image (33K)
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