Md. Code Ann., State Gov't § 2-1238

Redline — January 1, 2019 → current.View current text →

Current — January 1, 2020

As of January 1, 2019

In addition to any duties set forth elsewhere, the Office shall:

(1) on request of a member of the General Assembly, analyze and report on:

(i) the laws of any state on a specific subject and all of the available information about the practical operation and effect of those laws; and

(ii) the acts and records of any state;

(2) compile information on and analyze any matter that is the subject of proposed legislation;

(3) on request of a member of the General Assembly, prepare or help to prepare a bill or resolution that, unless the member specifies otherwise, conforms to the style manual of the Office;

(4) provide analyses of proposed and emergency regulations of Executive Branch agencies;

(5) make recommendations for the reclassification, rearrangement, renumbering, rewording, and other formal revision of the public general laws of Maryland;

(6) make recommendations for appropriate systems to collect and publish:

(i) the public local laws;

(ii) executive orders; and

(iii) the regulations of units of the Executive Branch of the State government;

(7) complete the formal revision of statutory law for the General Assembly by preparing and submitting to the General Assembly recommendations for the repeal or modification of statutes that are obsolete, inconsistent with another statute, unconstitutional, or otherwise in need of formal revision;

(8) correct manifest spelling, grammatical, or clerical errors or errors of addition or omission in the Code maintained by the Department, and include any such correction in the Annual Corrective Bill for ratification by the General Assembly;

(9) maintain the clarity, simplicity, and consistency of style of statutory law;

(10) have a style manual for statutory law;

(11) include in the style manual a drafting rule that requires, to the extent practicable, the use of words that are neutral as to gender except for a subject matter that specifically applies only to one gender and except for a name or organizational title;

(12) assign a chapter number to each bill, and a joint resolution number to each joint resolution, that, by operation of law, becomes law without the signature of the Chief Executive, and notify the Secretary of State in writing of these assignments; and

(13) carry out any other function related to legal affairs required by the Executive Director.

(a) This section does not apply to a performance evaluation conducted in accordance with the Maryland Program Evaluation Act.

(b) On the completion of each performance evaluation, the Director shall submit a full and detailed report to the Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee.

(1) a summary of significant legislative and regulatory changes;

(2) the findings of the performance evaluation;

(3) specific recommendations for making the program or activity more efficient or effective, including recommendations for consolidation or elimination of any duplicative programs or activities;

(4) an estimate of the costs or savings, if any, expected from implementing the findings and recommendations;

(5) recommended legislation needed to implement the findings and recommendations; and

(6) any response of the unit or body that is the subject of the report, subject to procedures approved by the Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee.

(d) (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, an employee or authorized representative of the Office may submit a draft report of findings only to the Director or the Executive Director.

(2) A draft report shall be provided to the unit or body that is the subject of the report for the purpose of soliciting the response of the unit or body that is required to be included in the full and detailed report under subsection (c)(6) of this section.

(e) The Director shall send a copy of the full and detailed report to:

(1) the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates;

(2) the committees of jurisdiction;

(3) members of the General Assembly, in accordance with § 2–1257 of this subtitle;

(4) the Governor;

(5) the unit or body that is the subject of the report;

(6) the Secretary of Budget and Management;

(7) the Executive Director; and

(8) any other person whom the Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee specifies.

(f) After the expiration of any period that the Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee specifies, the Director shall make a report available to the public online and under the Public Information Act.

(g) (1) The Director shall review each unit’s response and advise the unit of the results of the review.

(2) The Director shall advise the Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee when:

(i) a unit does not submit a response to a recommendation;

(ii) a unit does not indicate action, as relevant, to be taken in response to a recommendation;

(iii) a unit requests a modification of or a waiver from a recommendation; or

(iv) the response by the unit is not considered appropriate to carry out the recommendation.

(3) The Executive Director or the Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee may direct the Director to undertake a review to determine the extent to which action has been taken by a unit to implement a report recommendation.

(4) With respect to performance–related findings and recommendations, the Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee may make recommendations to the Governor or propose legislation after reviewing a unit’s response to a recommended action.

(h) (1) The Governor shall implement systems and processes to monitor the efforts of the Executive Departmental Units to address performance evaluation findings reported by the Office.

(2) Within 9 months of a performance evaluation report, any unit directed to do so shall report to the Office for each finding or recommendation in that performance evaluation report:

(i) the actions taken to address the finding or recommendation; or

(ii) a schedule for when specific actions will be implemented.

Official source: Maryland General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain Maryland statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.