In this title the following words have the meanings indicated. “House” means the House of Delegates of Maryland. “President” means the President of the Senate. “Senate” means the Senate of Maryland. “Speaker” means the Speaker of the House. “Standing committee” means: a standing committee of the Senate, as set forth in the Senate rules; or a standing committee of the House, as set forth in the House rules.

The State shall provide the members of the General Assembly with reasonable office space and services, equipment, and secretarial services, as provided in the State budget. A municipal corporation, county, or other political subdivision or its governing body may not subsidize a member of the General Assembly in the maintenance of the space, services, or equipment. This subsection does not prohibit the establishment of an office by a political subdivision to maintain liaison between the subdivision and the General Assembly.

In this section, “permanent part–time legislative employee” means an individual who, for at least 130 days a year, is employed by the General Assembly. A permanent part–time legislative employee shall receive employment rights, privileges, and benefits that: equal at least 50% of the employment rights, privileges, and benefits of a permanent full–time employee of the Department of Legislative Services; and for an individual who is employed for at least 50% of a full workweek, are prorated in proportion to the number of hours worked. For auditing purposes, permanent time records shall be kept for each permanent part–time legislative employee. The President and the Speaker shall administer this section.

All full–time permanent employees of the General Assembly of Maryland and the Department of Legislative Services shall be considered as full–time permanent State employees for the purposes of transferring to a position in the Executive or Judicial Branch of State government. These employees shall receive credit for service with the General Assembly for the purposes of transferring accumulated sick and vacation leave, service credit in the Employees’ Retirement System, and all other benefits. These employees shall be granted the same salary consideration that would be provided to an employee transferring within the Executive or Judicial Branch. On the transfer of a General Assembly employee or an employee of the Department of Legislative Services to a position in the Executive Branch, the Secretary of Budget and Management may request that the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Delegates or their representative certify as to the full–time permanent status of that employee. The certification shall be satisfactory evidence for the purposes of subsection (a) of this section. If any employee of the General Assembly transferred to a position in the Executive or Judicial Branch on or after July 1, 1977, and suffered any loss of compensation or benefits solely as a result of the employee’s prior service with the General Assembly not being recognized as full–time permanent service, the employee’s compensation and benefits shall be reinstated at the appropriate level and the employee shall be reimbursed for any loss in salary from the effective date of the transfer. Any full–time permanent employee of the General Assembly of Maryland or the Department of Legislative Services who separates from State service and returns to State service in the Executive or Judicial Branch within 3 years from the time of separation from active duty, as defined in § 9–901 of this article, shall be eligible for reinstatement and shall receive full credit for any prior State service.

While the General Assembly is in session, each member or employee of the General Assembly who also is employed by the State or any of its political subdivisions: is entitled automatically to a leave of absence from the other employment; and except for a right to a salary or wages, may not be deprived of or otherwise have impaired any incident of the employment, including tenure, seniority, annual or sick leave, promotional rights, or rights to salary increments.

In this section, “Force” means the Legislative Security Force. There is a Legislative Security Force. The Force consists of the members of the Department of State Police who are assigned for duty with the General Assembly. Under the guidance of the presiding officers of the General Assembly, the Force shall maintain order during the conduct of the legislative process.

In this section, “relative” means: a spouse; a parent or stepparent; a sibling or step sibling; a child, stepchild, foster child, or ward; a mother–in–law or father–in–law; a son–in–law or daughter–in–law; a grandparent; or a grandchild. Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a member of the General Assembly may not employ for legislative business the member’s own relative, or the relative of another member from the same legislative district, using public funds over which the member has direct control. Paragraph (1) of this subsection does not apply to a member of the General Assembly who: has a physical impairment that necessitates the employment of a particular relative; and discloses the employment to the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics.

Public resources may be used by members of the General Assembly only for public purposes. This section does not prohibit incidental use of public resources for nonpublic purposes.