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![handle is hein.sag/sagmd0035 and id is 1 raw text is: STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION
VEHICLE LAWS - LEGISLATIVE HISTORY - STATUTE
BARRING THE SOLICITATION OF A RIDE,
EMPLOYMENT, OR BUSINESS FROM ROADWAY
NOT INTENDED TO ENCOMPASS CHARITABLE
SOLICITATION
May 18, 2012
The Honorable Anne R. Kaiser
Maryland Senate
You asked for our opinion on whether the fire fighters'
annual Fill the Boot campaign to raise money for the Muscular
Dystrophy Association is prohibited by § 21-507(a) of the
Transportation Article, which prohibits any person from
stand[ing] in a roadway to solicit a ride, employment, or
business. Specifically, you have asked whether the General
Assembly intended its use of the word business in § 21-507(a)
to include charitable solicitations. After a thorough review of the
legislative history of the provision, both before and after its
enactment in 1970, we now conclude that the Legislature did not
intend the term business to include charitable solicitations. In
reaching this conclusion, we depart from the interpretation we
adopted in a previous opinion, see 93 Opinions of the Attorney
General 31, 35-36 (2008), but do so without disturbing its
ultimate determination that the local ordinance at issue in the
earlier opinion was preempted by State law. We also recognize
that the interpretation we reach here raises First Amendment
concerns that a reviewing court might choose to avoid with a
broader reading of the word business. However, in our view,
interpreting § 21-507(a) to allow charitable solicitation within the
roadway does not make the law clearly unconstitutional, although
additional legislation may be advisable to ensure that charitable
contributions, which would include panhandling, are solicited in a
manner that is consistent with the public safety goals of the
statute.
I
Background
The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is
one of the national sponsors of the Muscular Dystrophy
Association (MDA) and has since 1954 supported the MDA
through a variety of volunteer and fund-raising activities. Perhaps
the most recognizable aspect of the IAFF's activities on behalf of
the MDA is the annual Fill the Boot campaign, in which members](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagmd0035&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)