laws on a given subject. Any bills relating to their
assigned subject matter received committee review
before any final action on the floor.
To review proposed legislation today, the House
of Delegates has six standing committees: Appro-
priations, Commerce and Government Matters,
Economic Matters, Environmental Matters, Judici-
ary, and Ways and Means. Two additional standing
committees, assigned other duties, are Rules and
Executive Nominations, and Consent Calendars.
CONSENT CALENDARS COMMITTLE
Casper R. Taylor, Jr., House Speaker
John Adams Hurson, Majority Leader
Robert H. Kittleman, Minority Leader
The Consent Calendars Committee determines
the bills and joint resolutions proposed for inclu-
sion on the consent calendar (House Rule 18).
APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Howard P. Rawlings, Chair
Norman H. Conway, Vice-Chair
Lowe House Office Building, Room 131
6 Governor Bladen Blvd
Annapolis, MD 21401 (410) 841-3407
The Appropriations Committee originated in
1692 as the Committee on Accounts. By the Revo-
lutionary War era, it had become the Committee
on Claims (upon the Treasury) The Claims Com-
mittee functioned from 1776 to 1968 when its
responsibilities were shifted briefly to the Economic
Matters Committee. In 1971, budgetary and other
duties were assigned to the Appropriations Com-
mittee created in that year.
The Appropriations Committee reviews legisla-
tion relating to State operating and capital budgets,
including supplementary appropriations. State and
county bond authorizations, collective bargaining,
higher education, State personnel and pension mat-
ters, Program Open Space, social services, and State
and local government procedures and programs.
Twenty-seven delegates serve on this committee.
The Committee has five subcommittees: Capital
Budget, Education and Economic Development,
Health and Human Services, Public Safety and Ad-
ministration, and Transportation and the Environ-
ment. The Committee also is aided by three oversight
committees: Pensions, Personnel, and Program Open
Space and Agricultural Land Preservation.
COMMERCE & GOVERNMENT MATTERS
COMMITTEE
Gerald J. Curran, Chair
John F. Wood, Jr., Vice-Chair
Lowe House Office Building, Room 141
6 Governor Bladen Blvd
Annapolis, MD 21401 (410) 841-3502
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The Commerce and Government Matters Com-
mittee was created in January 1994. The Commit-
tee is asssigned legislation relating to banks, credit
unions, and financial institutions; civil rights; elec-
tions; ethics; local government; minority business
enterprises; procurement; and transportation, in-
cluding highways, bridges, light rail, and vehicles.
Twenty-three delegates serve on this committee.
In 1995, the Committee formed five subcom-
mittees: Ethics and Elections, Financial Institu-
tions, Procurement, State Government and Civil
Rights, and Transportation and Motor Vehicles.
ECONOMIC MATTERS COMMITTEE
Michael E. Busch, Chair
Michael R. Gordon, Vice-Chair
Lowe House Office Building, Room 151
6 Governor Bladen Blvd
Annapolis, MD 21401 (410) 841-3519
Functions of the Economic Matters Committee
trace to the Committee on Accounts formed in
1692. That committee was renamed the Commit-
tee on Claims (upon the Treasury) in the 1770s and
continued as the Claims Committee from 1776 to
1968. In 1968, it was reformed as the Economic
Matters Committee. Its budgetary and certain
other duties were assigned to the Appropriations
Committee in 1971.
The Economic Matters Committee considers
legislation relating to alcoholic beverages, com-
mercial law, consumer protection, corporations
and associations, economic development, insur-
ance regulation, licensing and regulation of busi-
nesses and labor, including related occupations
and professions, procurement, real property, and
unemployment insurance. Twenty-three dele-
gates serve on this committee.
In 1995, the Committee began four subcom-
mittees: Health Insurance, Real Property, Unem-
ployment Insurance, and Workers' Compensation.
A fifth subcommittee—Science and Technology—
was added in 1996.
ENVIRONMENTAL MATTFRS COMMITTEE
Ronald A. Guns, Chair
Michael H. Weir, Vice-Chair
Lowe House Office Building, Room 161
6 Governor Bladen Blvd
Annapolis, MD 21401 (410) 841-3534
In 1969, the Environmental Matters Committee
was established. The House of Delegates, however,
had formed earlier standing committees concerned
with the environment. The Committee on
Chesapeake Bay and its Tributaries, for example, had
functioned from 1872 to 1968. Created in 1947, the
Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee also
had continued until 1968, when the Natural Re-
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