Part 28 (1/2)

9. Refunding money lawfully paid into the treasury of the State or the treasury of any political subdivision thereof.

10. Granting from the treasury of the State, or granting or authorizing to be granted from the treasury of any political subdivision thereof, any extra compensation to any public officer, servant, agent, or contractor.

11. For conducting elections or designating the places of voting.

12. Regulating labor, trade, mining or manufacturing, or the rate of interest on money.

13. Granting any pension or pensions.

14. Creating, increasing, or decreasing, or authorizing to be created, increased, or decreased, the salaries, fees, percentages, or allowances of public officers during the term for which they are elected or appointed.

15. Declaring streams navigable, or authorizing the construction of booms or dams therein, or the removal of obstructions therefrom.

16. Affecting or regulating fencing or the boundaries of land, or the running at large of stock.

17. Creating private corporations, or amending, renewing or extending the charters thereof.

18. Granting to any private corporation, a.s.sociation, or individual any special or exclusive right, privilege or immunity.

19. Naming or changing the name of any private corporation or a.s.sociation.

20. Remitting the forfeiture of the charter of any private corporation except upon the condition that such corporation shall thereafter hold its charter subject to the provisions of this Const.i.tution and the laws pa.s.sed in pursuance thereof.

SEC. 64. In all the cases enumerated in the last section, and in every other case which, in its judgment, may be provided for by general laws, the General a.s.sembly shall enact general laws. Any general law shall be subject to amendment or repeal, but the amendment or partial repeal thereof shall not operate directly or indirectly to enact, and shall not have the effect of the enactment of a special, private, or local law.

No general or special law shall surrender or suspend the right and power of the State, or any political subdivision thereof, to tax corporations or corporate property, except as authorized by Article Thirteen. No private corporation, a.s.sociation, or individual shall be specially exempted from the operation of any general law, nor shall its operation be suspended for the benefit of any private corporation, a.s.sociation, or individual.

SEC. 65, The General a.s.sembly may by general laws, confer upon the boards of supervisors of counties, and the councils of cities and towns, such powers of local and special legislation, as it may from time to time deem expedient, not inconsistent with the limitations contained in this Const.i.tution.

SEC. 66. The Clerk of the House of Delegates shall be Keeper of the Rolls of the State but shall receive no compensation from the State for his services as such.

The General a.s.sembly by general law shall prescribe the number of employees of the Senate and House of Delegates, including the clerks thereof, and fix their compensation at a per diem for the time actually employed in the discharge of their duties.

SEC. 67. The General a.s.sembly shall not make any appropriation of public funds, of personal property, or of any real estate, to any church, or sectarian society, a.s.sociation, or inst.i.tution of any kind whatever, which is entirely or partly, directly or indirectly, controlled by any church or sectarian society; nor shall the General a.s.sembly make any like appropriation to any charitable inst.i.tution, which is not owned or controlled by the State; except that it may, in its discretion, make appropriations to non-sectarian inst.i.tutions for the reform of youthful criminals; but nothing herein contained shall prohibit the General a.s.sembly from authorizing counties, cities, or towns to make such appropriations to any charitable inst.i.tution or a.s.sociation.

SEC. 68. The General a.s.sembly shall, at each regular session, appoint a standing committee, consisting of two members of the Senate and three members of the House of Delegates, which shall be known as the Auditing Committee. Such committee shall annually, or oftener in its discretion, examine the books and accounts of the First Auditor, the State Treasurer, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and other executive officers at the seat of government whose duties pertain to auditing or accounting for the state revenue, report the result of its investigations to the Governor, and cause the same to be published in two newspapers of general circulation in the State. The Governor shall, at the beginning of each session, submit said reports to the General a.s.sembly for appropriate action. The committee may sit during the recess of the General a.s.sembly, receive such compensation as may be prescribed by law, and employ one or more accountants to a.s.sist in its investigations.

ARTICLE V.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.

SEC. 69. The chief executive power of the State shall be vested in a Governor. He shall hold office for a term of four years, to commence on the first day of February next succeeding his election, and be ineligible to the same office for the term next succeeding that for which he was elected, and to any other office during his term of service.

SEC. 70. The Governor shall be elected by the qualified voters of the State at the time and place of choosing members of the General a.s.sembly. Returns of the election shall be transmitted, under seal, by the proper officers, to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, who shall deliver them to the Speaker of the House of Delegates on the first day of the next session of the General a.s.sembly. The Speaker of the House of Delegates shall, within one week thereafter, in the presence of a majority of the Senate and of the House of Delegates, open the returns, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the highest number of votes shall be declared elected; but if two or more shall have the highest and an equal number of votes, one of them shall lie chosen Governor by the joint vote of the two houses of the General a.s.sembly. Contested elections for Governor shall be decided by a like vote, and the mode of proceeding in such cases shall be prescribed by law.