Pa Senate Appropriations Committee has scheduled a meeting Monday June 9, 2014 to consider SB 324.
A Joint Resolution proposing integrated amendments and separate and distinct amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, abolishing the Office of Lieutenant Governor; reducing the size of the General Assembly; and reducing the size of the Supreme Court and the Superior Court.
SB 324 CORRECTIVE REPRINT
PRIOR PASSAGE - NONE
PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 234, 2085
PRINTER'S NO. 2088
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 324
Session of 2013.
INTRODUCED BY VOGEL, KASUNIC, ERICKSON, TOMLINSON, VULAKOVICH, BROWNE, WHITE, FERLO, SOLOBAY, YUDICHAK, WAUGH, BOSCOLA, ALLOWAY, BRUBAKER, TEPLITZ, PILEGGI, BREWSTER AND SMITH, JANUARY 25, 2013
SENATOR SMUCKER, STATE GOVERNMENT, AS AMENDED, JUNE 3, 2014
A JOINT RESOLUTION
1 Proposing <-an amendment integrated amendments and separate and
2 distinct amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth
3 of Pennsylvania,
<-abolishing the Office of Lieutenant Governor;
<- reducing the size of the General Assembly; and
5 reducing the size of the Supreme Court and the Superior Court.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby resolves as follows:
<-9 Section 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of
10 Pennsylvania is proposed in accordance with Article XI:
11 That section 16 of Article II be amended to read:
12§ 16. Legislative districts.
13 The Commonwealth shall be divided into [50] 30 senatorial and
14 [203] 121 representative districts, which shall be composed of
15 compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal in population
16 as practicable. Each senatorial district shall elect one
17 Senator, and each representative district one Representative.
18 Unless absolutely necessary no county, city, incorporated town,
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1borough, township or ward shall be divided in forming either a 2senatorial or representative district.
<-3Section 1. The following integrated amendments to the 4Constitution of Pennsylvania are proposed in accordance with 5Article XI:
6(1) That section 9 of Article II be amended to read:
7§ 9. Election of officers; judge of election and qualifications 8of members.
9The Senate shall, at the beginning and close of each regular 10session and at such other times as may be necessary, elect one 11of its members President pro tempore[, who shall perform the 12duties of the Lieutenant Governor, in any case of absence or 13disability of that officer, and whenever the said office of 14Lieutenant Governor shall be vacant]. The House of 15Representatives shall elect one of its members as Speaker. Each 16House shall choose its other officers, and shall judge of the 17election and qualifications of its members.
18(2) That section 1 of Article IV be amended to read:
19§ 1. Executive Department.
20The Executive Department of this Commonwealth shall consist 21of a Governor, [Lieutenant Governor,] Attorney General, Auditor 22General, State Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public 23Instruction and such other officers as the General Assembly may 24from time to time prescribe.
25(3) That section 4 of Article IV be amended to read:
26[§ 4. Lieutenant Governor.
27A Lieutenant Governor shall be chosen jointly with the 28Governor by the casting by each voter of a single vote 29applicable to both offices, for the same term, and subject to 30the same provisions as the Governor; he shall be President of 20130SB0324PN2088 -2-
1the Senate. As such, he may vote in case of a tie on any 2question except the final passage of a bill or joint resolution, 3the adoption of a conference report or the concurrence in 4amendments made by the House of Representatives.]
5(4) That section 5 of Article IV be amended to read:
6§ 5. Qualifications of Governor[, Lieutenant Governor] and 7Attorney General.
8No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor[, 9Lieutenant Governor] or Attorney General except a citizen of the 10United States, who shall have attained the age of 30 years, and 11have been seven years next preceding his election an inhabitant 12of this Commonwealth, unless he shall have been absent on the 13public business of the United States or of this Commonwealth. No 14person shall be eligible to the office of Attorney General 15except a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
16(5) That section 6 of Article IV be amended to read:
17§ 6. Disqualification for offices of Governor[, Lieutenant 18Governor] and Attorney General.
19No member of Congress or person holding any office (except of 20attorney-at-law or in the National Guard or in a reserve 21component of the armed forces of the United States) under the 22United States or this Commonwealth shall exercise the office of 23Governor[, Lieutenant Governor] or Attorney General.
24(6) That section 9 of Article IV be amended to read:
25§ 9. Pardoning power; Board of Pardons.
26(a) In all criminal cases except impeachment the Governor 27shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, to grant 28reprieves, commutation of sentences and pardons; but no pardon 29shall be granted, nor sentence commuted, except on the 30recommendation in writing of a majority of the Board of Pardons, 20130SB0324PN2088 -3-
1and, in the case of a sentence of death or life imprisonment, on 2the unanimous recommendation in writing of the Board of Pardons, 3after full hearing in open session, upon due public notice. The 4recommendation, with the reasons therefor at length, shall be 5delivered to the Governor and a copy thereof shall be kept on 6file in the office of the [Lieutenant] Governor in a docket kept 7for that purpose.
8(b) The Board of Pardons shall consist of the [Lieutenant 9Governor] Attorney General who shall be chairman[, the Attorney 10General and three] and four members appointed by the Governor 11with the consent of a majority of the members elected to the 12Senate for terms of six years. The [three] members appointed by 13the Governor shall be residents of Pennsylvania. One shall be a 14crime victim, one a corrections expert [and the third], one a 15doctor of medicine, psychiatrist or psychologist and one a law 16enforcement officer. The board shall keep records of its 17actions, which shall at all times be open for public inspection.
18(7) That section 13 of Article IV be amended to read:
19§ 13. When [Lieutenant Governor] President pro tempore of the 20Senate to act as Governor.
21(a) In the case of the death, conviction on impeachment, 22failure to qualify or resignation of the Governor, the 23[Lieutenant Governor] President pro tempore of the Senate shall 24become Governor for the remainder of the term [and in] if there 25are fewer than 60 days remaining to that term or, if there are 2660 days or more remaining to that term, the President pro 27tempore of the Senate shall become Governor until a special 28election is convened and a Governor is sworn in as provided by 29law.
30(b) In the case of the disability of the Governor, the 20130SB0324PN2088 -4-
1powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon 2the [Lieutenant Governor] President pro tempore of the Senate 3until the disability is removed or if there are fewer than 60 4days remaining to the term of office for the Governor or, if 5there are 60 days or more remaining to the term of office for 6the Governor, the President pro tempore of the Senate shall 7become Governor until a special election is convened and a 8Governor is sworn in as provided by law.
9(8) That section 17 of Article IV be amended to read:
10§ 17. Contested elections of Governor[, Lieutenant Governor] 11and Attorney General; when succeeded.
12The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside upon the 13trial of any contested election of Governor[, Lieutenant 14Governor] or Attorney General and shall decide questions 15regarding the admissibility of evidence, and shall, upon request 16of the committee, pronounce his opinion upon other questions of 17law involved in the trial. The Governor[, Lieutenant Governor] 18and Attorney General shall exercise the duties of their 19respective offices until their successors shall be duly 20qualified.
21(9) That section 7 of Article VI be amended to read:
22§ 7. Removal of civil officers.
23All civil officers shall hold their offices on the condition 24that they behave themselves well while in office, and shall be 25removed on conviction of misbehavior in office or of any 26infamous crime. Appointed civil officers, other than judges of 27the courts of record, may be removed at the pleasure of the 28power by which they shall have been appointed. All civil 29officers elected by the people, except the Governor, [the 30Lieutenant Governor,] members of the General Assembly and judges 20130SB0324PN2088 -5-
1of the courts of record, shall be removed by the Governor for 2reasonable cause, after due notice and full hearing, on the 3address of two-thirds of the Senate.
4Section 2. The following separate and distinct amendments to 5the Constitution are proposed in accordance with Article XI:
6(1) That section 16 of Article II be amended to read:
7§ 16. Legislative districts.
8The Commonwealth shall be divided into [50] 45 senatorial and 9203 representative districts, which shall be composed of compact 10and contiguous territory as nearly equal in population as 11practicable. Each senatorial district shall elect one Senator, 12and each representative district one Representative. Unless 13absolutely necessary no county, city, incorporated town, 14borough, township or ward shall be divided in forming either a 15senatorial or representative district.
16(2) That section 2 of Article V be amended to read:
17§ 2. Supreme Court.
18The Supreme Court (a) shall be the highest court of the 19Commonwealth and in this court shall be reposed the supreme 20judicial power of the Commonwealth;
21(b) shall consist of [seven] five justices, one of whom 22shall be the Chief Justice; and
23(c) shall have such jurisdiction as shall be provided by 24law.
25(3) That section 3 of Article V be amended to read:
26§ 3. Superior Court.
27The Superior Court shall be a statewide court, and shall 28consist of the number of judges, which shall be not less than 29seven judges and not more than eleven judges, and have such 30jurisdiction as shall be provided by this Constitution or by the 20130SB0324PN2088 -6-
1General Assembly. One of its judges shall be the president 2judge.
3Section 3. (a) Upon the first passage by the General 4Assembly of the proposed integrated constitutional amendments 5under section 1, the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall proceed 6immediately to comply with the advertising requirements of 7section 1 of Article XI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania and 8shall transmit the required advertisements to two newspapers in 9every county in which such newspapers are published in 10sufficient time after passage of these proposed constitutional 11amendments.
12(b) Upon the second passage by the General Assembly of the 13proposed integrated constitutional amendments under section 1, 14the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall proceed immediately to 15comply with the advertising requirements of section 1 of Article 16XI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania and shall transmit the 17required advertisements to two newspapers in every county in 18which such newspapers are published in sufficient time after 19passage of the proposed constitutional amendments under section 201. The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall submit the proposed 21constitutional amendments under section 1 as a single ballot 22question to the qualified electors of this Commonwealth at the 23first primary, general or municipal election which meets the 24requirements of and is in conformance with section 1 of Article 25XI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania and which occurs at least 26three months after the proposed integrated constitutional 27amendments under section 1 are passed by the General Assembly.
28(c) Upon approval of the proposed integrated constitutional 29amendments under section 1 by the qualified electors of this 30Commonwealth, any act or part of an act of the General Assembly 20130SB0324PN2088 -7-
1that is in effect upon such approval and that refers to the 2Lieutenant Governor shall not be deemed to include the 3Lieutenant Governor, and where such act or part of an act 4requires the Lieutenant Governor to have any power or to 5exercise any duty, such power or duty shall be abolished 6following the expiration of the current Lieutenant Governor's 7term of office.
8Section <-2 4. (a) Upon the first passage by the General 9Assembly of <-this the separate and distinct proposed 10constitutional <-amendment amendments under section 2, the 11Secretary of the Commonwealth shall proceed immediately to 12comply with the advertising requirements of section 1 of Article 13XI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania and shall transmit the 14required advertisements to two newspapers in every county in 15which such newspapers are published in sufficient time after 16passage of <-this the separate and distinct proposed 17constitutional <-amendment amendments under section 2.
18(b) Upon the second passage by the General Assembly of <-this 19the separate and distinct proposed constitutional <-amendment <-20amendments under section 2, the Secretary of the Commonwealth 21shall proceed immediately to comply with the advertising 22requirements of section 1 of Article XI of the Constitution of 23Pennsylvania and shall transmit the required advertisements to 24two newspapers in every county in which such newspapers are 25published in sufficient time after passage of <-this the separate 26and distinct proposed constitutional <-amendment amendments under 27section 2. The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall submit <-this 28the separate and distinct proposed constitutional <-amendment <-29amendments under section 2 as separate ballot questions to the 30qualified electors of this Commonwealth at the first primary, 20130SB0324PN2088 -8-
1general or municipal election which meets the requirements of 2and is in conformance with section 1 of Article XI of the 3Constitution of Pennsylvania and which occurs at least three 4months after <-the the separate and distinct proposed 5constitutional amendment is <-amendments under section 2 are 6passed by the General Assembly.
7Section <-3. The amendment of section 16 of Article II of the 8Constitution of Pennsylvania shall become effective after the 92010 Federal census reapportionment.
10Section 5. Upon ratification<- by the electors, the General 11Assembly shall enact legislation to implement the amendment of 12section 16 of article ii of the Constitution of Pennsylvania so 13that it applies for the first time to the first session of the 14General Assembly which begins after the 2020 reapportionment.
15Section 4<- 6. The Senate and House of Representatives, upon 16the effective date of the amendment of section 16 of Article II 17of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, shall each reduce their 18budgets by 40% compared to the budgets of the prior year. 20130SB0324PN2088 -9-
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