Evening star., 1953-04-08
Important Bills
inConfused
Assembly Close
Prince Georges Cut
In Inventory Tex
Dies in Hiding
By Gene Goodwin
Sfor Sfoff Correspondenf

important bills were lost In the
circus of confusion marking the
final hours of the Maryland Gen.
eral Assembly, which stumbled to
a weary finale here at 6:25 am.
yesterday.
Example: The measure to cut
the inventory tax in Prince
Georges County by 25 per cent is
still in a drawer in the Senate
Finance Committee.
Ironically, a Statewide bill re-
ducing the merchants levy in
several counties, including Mont
gomery, was enacted last week.
The Prince Georges House mem
bers, banking on passage of their
own inventory tax cut measure,
exempted their county from the
Statewide bill.
Some Cut 40 Pct.
That means that Montgomery
and Frederick County business
men will receive Is per cent
reduction in the per cent an
nual tax levied against the value
of stock on hand. Businessmen
In Anne Arundel, Calvert and
st. Marys and some other coun-
ties will get a 40 per cent reduc-
ton.
Prince Georges businessmen
will get no cut at all.
Another measure buried in a
drawer is the Montgomery
County bill to put Juvenile Court
Judge Alfred D. NoyeS on a full
time basis, raise his salary from
$500 to $4,000 a year and pro-
vide for filling the post by elec-
ton every four years, instead of
appointment by the Governor
every two.
That bill passed the House on
Monday. 1t was sent to the
Senate and referred to Senator
Anders R. Lofstrand, jr., Repub-
lican. Of Montgomery. He sat
on it.
On the other hand, Mont
gomery House members, who
have been at odds with their
Senator throughout most Of this
session. got their lick in by
bottling up a bill Mr.. Lofstrand
wanted-the measure to grant
Sheriff Charles S. Lawrenson
a pay raise of from $4,000 to
$4,000 a year.
Roads Bill Dies.
Another bill that collected
dust in Senator Lofstrand'S
drawer was the House delega-
tion'S measure to authorize
Montgomery County to con-
struct county roads through a
town, if the town government
consented, and assess the cost
against abutting property owners.
Rockville officials didn't like
that one.
Three Of the 43 bills intro
duced by Senator John Ray
mond Fletcher, Republican, of
Prince Georges got lost in the
closing shuttle.
One of them would have ceded
the Federal Government A
acres for use at Andrews Air
Base. That was substantially
the same bill as one Gov. Nc
Keldin vetoed last year because
of technical error. He won't
even have to ponder the 1858
version-the House judiciary
Committee vetoed it.
That committee also buried
the Senator's bill to tighten the
State bribery law to enable
prosecution Of a gambler who
comes into Maryland to fix
games to be played outside the
State. The law now allows the
accused to evade prosecution be-
cause the fixed game is played
outside Maryland.
Hospital Bill Lost.
Lost somewhere in the House
was the Senator's bill to re-
move Prince Georges Hospital
employees from the State retire
ment system SO they could come
under Federal social security.
which they prefer. That bill
was asked by hospital officials.
The Senate Judiciary Commit
tee bottled up the Prince Georges
House bill to tighten the law
against sale of alcoholic bever-
ages to minors to include agents
acting in behalf of" liquor Ii
cense holders.
Legislation to ban trucks from
the Maryland section of the new
Baltimore-W Washington express
way passed the House in Febru-
ary, but was entombed in the
Senate Finance Committee. Last
minute attempts to revive 1t
were unsuccessful.
The much-publicized bill to
give the majority of property
owners the guaranteed right to
block alcoholic beverage estab-
lishments in their neighborhood
also suffcoated in the Senate
Judiciary Committee, after pass
ing the House by good mar
gin.
That bill, introduced by
A. Gordon Boone, Democrat, of
Baltimore County, had caused a
3-to-3 split in both the Mont
gomery and Prince Georges del
egations on the question of
whether their counties should be
exempted. When the bill passed
the House, Montgomery was in
cluded in the bill, but Prince
Georges was exempted.