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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY CALTAGIRONE, DALEY, GIBBONS, HARHAI, HARKINS, MAHONEY, MARSHALL, McILVAINE SMITH, PRESTON, SWANGER AND YOUNGBLOOD, APRIL 20, 2010 |
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| REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, APRIL 20, 2010 |
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| A JOINT RESOLUTION |
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1 | Proposing integrated amendments to the Constitution of the |
2 | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, reorganizing local government |
3 | with a county basis. |
4 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
5 | hereby resolves as follows: |
6 | Section 1. The following integrated amendments to the |
7 | Constitution of Pennsylvania are proposed in accordance with |
8 | Article XI: |
9 | (1) That section 1 of Article IX be amended to read: |
10 | § 1. Local government. |
11 | (a) The General Assembly shall provide by general law for |
12 | local government within the Commonwealth. |
13 | (b) Such general law shall [be]: |
14 | (1) Establish the county as the basic unit of local |
15 | government, with jurisdiction over: |
16 | (i) personnel; |
17 | (ii) law enforcement; |
18 | (iii) land use; |
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1 | (iv) sanitation; and |
2 | (v) health and safety. |
3 | (2) Establish municipalities under the jurisdiction of the |
4 | county and determine the relationship among these municipalities |
5 | and the county. |
6 | (3) Establish classes of counties and municipalities on the |
7 | basis of population. |
8 | (4) Be uniform as to all classes of local government |
9 | regarding procedural matters. |
10 | (2) That section 5 of Article IX be amended to read: |
11 | § 5. Intergovernmental cooperation. |
12 | A municipality by act of its governing body may, upon its own |
13 | volition or upon being required by initiative and referendum in |
14 | the area affected [shall], and with the approval of the |
15 | governing body of the county in which it is located, cooperate |
16 | or agree in the exercise of any function, power or |
17 | responsibility with, or delegate or transfer any function, power |
18 | or responsibility to, one or more other governmental units |
19 | including other municipalities or districts, the Federal |
20 | government, any other state or its governmental units, or any |
21 | newly created governmental unit. |
22 | (3) That section 7 of Article IX be amended to read: |
23 | § 7. Area-wide powers. |
24 | The General Assembly may grant powers to [area governments or |
25 | to municipalities] counties within a given geographical area in |
26 | which there exists intergovernmental cooperation or area |
27 | government and designate the classes of municipalities subject |
28 | to such legislation. |
29 | (4) That section 9 of Article IX be amended to read: |
30 | § 9. Appropriation for public purposes. |
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1 | The General Assembly shall not authorize any county, |
2 | municipality or incorporated district to become a stockholder in |
3 | any company, association or corporation, or to obtain or |
4 | appropriate money for, or to loan its credit to, any |
5 | corporation, association, institution or individual. The General |
6 | Assembly may provide standards by which counties, municipalities |
7 | or school districts may give financial assistance or lease |
8 | property to public service, industrial or commercial enterprises |
9 | if it shall find that such assistance or leasing is necessary to |
10 | the health, safety or welfare of the Commonwealth or any county, |
11 | municipality or school district. Existing authority of any |
12 | municipality or incorporated district to obtain or appropriate |
13 | money for, or to loan its credit to, any corporation, |
14 | association, institution or individual, is preserved. |
15 | (5) That section 10 of Article IX be amended to read: |
16 | § 10. Local government debt. |
17 | Subject only to the restrictions imposed by this section, the |
18 | General Assembly shall prescribe the debt limits of all units of |
19 | local government [including municipalities and school |
20 | districts]. For such purposes, the debt limit base shall be a |
21 | percentage of the total revenue, as defined by the General |
22 | Assembly, of the unit of local government computed over a |
23 | specific period immediately preceding the year of borrowing. The |
24 | debt limit to be prescribed in every such case shall exclude all |
25 | indebtedness (1) for any project to the extent that it is self- |
26 | liquidating or self-supporting or which has heretofore been |
27 | defined as self-liquidating or self-supporting, or (2) which has |
28 | been approved by referendum held in such manner as shall be |
29 | provided by law. The provisions of this paragraph shall not |
30 | apply to the City or County of Philadelphia. |
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1 | Any unit of local government[, including municipalities and |
2 | school districts,] incurring any indebtedness, shall at or |
3 | before the time of so doing adopt a covenant, which shall be |
4 | binding upon it so long as any such indebtedness shall remain |
5 | unpaid, to make payments out of its sinking fund or any other of |
6 | its revenues or funds at such time and in such annual amounts |
7 | specified in such covenant as shall be sufficient for the |
8 | payment of the interest thereon and the principal thereof when |
9 | due. |
10 | (6) That section 11 of Article IX be amended to read: |
11 | § 11. Local reapportionment. |
12 | Within the year following that in which the Federal decennial |
13 | census is officially reported as required by Federal law, and at |
14 | such other times as the governing body [of any municipality] |
15 | shall deem necessary, each county or municipality having a |
16 | governing body not entirely elected at large shall be |
17 | reapportioned, by its governing body or as shall otherwise be |
18 | provided by uniform law, into districts which shall be composed |
19 | of compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal in |
20 | population as practicable, for the purpose of describing the |
21 | districts for those not elected at large. |
22 | (7) That the definition of "municipality" in section 14 of |
23 | Article IX be amended to read: |
24 | § 14. Definitions. |
25 | As used in this article, the following words shall have the |
26 | following meanings: |
27 | "Municipality" means a [county,] city, borough, incorporated |
28 | town, township or any similar general purpose unit of government |
29 | which shall hereafter be created by the General Assembly. |
30 | * * * |
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1 | Section 2. (a) Upon the first passage by the General |
2 | Assembly of these proposed constitutional amendments, the |
3 | Secretary of the Commonwealth shall proceed immediately to |
4 | comply with the advertising requirements of section 1 of Article |
5 | XI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania and shall transmit the |
6 | required advertisements to two newspapers in every county in |
7 | which such newspapers are published in sufficient time after |
8 | passage of these proposed constitutional amendments. |
9 | (b) Upon the second passage by the General Assembly of these |
10 | proposed constitutional amendments, the Secretary of the |
11 | Commonwealth shall proceed immediately to comply with the |
12 | advertising requirements of section 1 of Article XI of the |
13 | Constitution of Pennsylvania and shall transmit the required |
14 | advertisements to two newspapers in every county in which such |
15 | newspapers are published in sufficient time after passage of |
16 | these proposed constitutional amendments. The Secretary of the |
17 | Commonwealth shall submit the proposed constitutional amendments |
18 | under section 1 to the qualified electors of this Commonwealth |
19 | as a single ballot question at the first primary, general or |
20 | municipal election which meets the requirements of and is in |
21 | conformance with section 1 of Article XI of the Constitution of |
22 | Pennsylvania and which occurs at least three months after the |
23 | proposed constitutional amendments are passed by the General |
24 | Assembly. |
25 | Section 3. Upon the first passage of these proposed |
26 | constitutional amendments, the Local Government Commission and |
27 | the Legislative Reference Bureau shall prepare legislation to |
28 | implement the reorganization of local government in accordance |
29 | with the amendment section 1(b)(1), (2) and (3) of Article IX. |
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