Bill Text: PA HB2701 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: A Joint Resolution proposing integrated amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, abolishing the office of Lieutenant Governor.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 11-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-09-28 - Referred to STATE GOVERNMENT [HB2701 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-HB2701-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 4338
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 2701 Session of2010
INTRODUCED BY GROVE, GILLESPIE, BOYD, BROOKS, CUTLER, GABLER, GODSHALL, HAHN, HARRIS, KAUFFMAN AND SWANGER, SEPTEMBER 28, 2010
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, SEPTEMBER 28, 2010
A JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing integrated amendments to the Constitution of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, abolishing the office of
Lieutenant Governor.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby resolves as follows:
Section 1. The following integrated amendments to the
Constitution of Pennsylvania are proposed in accordance with
Article XI:
(1) That section 9 of Article II be amended to read:
§ 9. Election of officers; judge of election and qualifications
of members.
The Senate shall, at the beginning and close of each regular
session and at such other times as may be necessary, elect one
of its members President pro tempore[, who shall perform the
duties of the Lieutenant Governor, in any case of absence or
disability of that officer, and whenever the said office of
Lieutenant Governor shall be vacant]. The House of
Representatives shall elect one of its members as Speaker. Each
House shall choose its other officers, and shall judge of the
election and qualifications of its members.
(2) That section 1 of Article IV be amended to read:
§ 1. Executive Department.
The Executive Department of this Commonwealth shall consist
of a Governor, [Lieutenant Governor,] Attorney General, Auditor
General, State Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public
Instruction and such other officers as the General Assembly may
from time to time prescribe.
(3) That section 4 of Article IV be amended to read:
[§ 4. Lieutenant Governor.
A Lieutenant Governor shall be chosen jointly with the
Governor by the casting by each voter of a single vote
applicable to both offices, for the same term, and subject to
the same provisions as the Governor; he shall be President of
the Senate. As such, he may vote in case of a tie on any
question except the final passage of a bill or joint resolution,
the adoption of a conference report or the concurrence in
amendments made by the House of Representatives.]
(4) That section 5 of Article IV be amended to read:
§ 5. Qualifications of Governor[, Lieutenant Governor] and
Attorney General.
No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor[,
Lieutenant Governor] or Attorney General except a citizen of the
United States, who shall have attained the age of 30 years, and
have been seven years next preceding his election an inhabitant
of this Commonwealth, unless he shall have been absent on the
public business of the United States or of this Commonwealth. No
person shall be eligible to the office of Attorney General
except a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
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(5) That section 6 of Article IV be amended to read:
§ 6. Disqualification for offices of Governor[, Lieutenant
Governor] and Attorney General.
No member of Congress or person holding any office (except of
attorney-at-law or in the National Guard or in a reserve
component of the armed forces of the United States) under the
United States or this Commonwealth shall exercise the office of
Governor[, Lieutenant Governor] or Attorney General.
(6) That section 9 of Article IV be amended to read:
§ 9. Pardoning power; Board of Pardons.
(a) In all criminal cases except impeachment the Governor
shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, to grant
reprieves, commutation of sentences and pardons; but no pardon
shall be granted, nor sentence commuted, except on the
recommendation in writing of a majority of the Board of Pardons,
and, in the case of a sentence of death or life imprisonment, on
the unanimous recommendation in writing of the Board of Pardons,
after full hearing in open session, upon due public notice. The
recommendation, with the reasons therefor at length, shall be
delivered to the Governor and a copy thereof shall be kept on
file in the office of the [Lieutenant] Governor in a docket kept
for that purpose.
(b) The Board of Pardons shall consist of the [Lieutenant
Governor] Attorney General who shall be chairman[, the Attorney
General and three] and four members appointed by the Governor
with the consent of a majority of the members elected to the
Senate for terms of six years. The [three] members appointed by
the Governor shall be residents of Pennsylvania. One shall be a
crime victim, one a corrections expert [and the third], one a
doctor of medicine, psychiatrist or psychologist and one a law
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enforcement officer. The board shall keep records of its
actions, which shall at all times be open for public inspection.
(7) That section 13 of Article IV be amended to read:
§ 13. When [Lieutenant Governor] President pro tempore of the
Senate to act as Governor.
(a) In the case of the death, conviction on impeachment,
failure to qualify or resignation of the Governor, the
[Lieutenant Governor] President pro tempore of the Senate shall
become Governor for the remainder of the term [and in] if there
are fewer than 60 days remaining to that term or, if there are
60 days or more remaining to that term, the President pro
tempore of the Senate shall become Governor until a special
election is convened and a Governor is sworn in as provided by
law.
(b) In the case of the disability of the Governor, the
powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon
the [Lieutenant Governor] President pro tempore of the Senate
until the disability is removed or if there are fewer than 60
days remaining to the term of office for the Governor or, if
there are 60 days or more remaining to the term of office for
the Governor, the President pro tempore of the Senate shall
become Governor until a special election is convened and a
Governor is sworn in as provided by law.
(8) That section 17 of Article IV be amended to read:
§ 17. Contested elections of Governor[, Lieutenant Governor]
and Attorney General; when succeeded.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside upon the
trial of any contested election of Governor[, Lieutenant
Governor] or Attorney General and shall decide questions
regarding the admissibility of evidence, and shall, upon request
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of the committee, pronounce his opinion upon other questions of
law involved in the trial. The Governor[, Lieutenant Governor]
and Attorney General shall exercise the duties of their
respective offices until their successors shall be duly
qualified.
(9) That section 7 of Article VI be amended to read:
§ 7. Removal of civil officers.
All civil officers shall hold their offices on the condition
that they behave themselves well while in office, and shall be
removed on conviction of misbehavior in office or of any
infamous crime. Appointed civil officers, other than judges of
the courts of record, may be removed at the pleasure of the
power by which they shall have been appointed. All civil
officers elected by the people, except the Governor, [the
Lieutenant Governor,] members of the General Assembly and judges
of the courts of record, shall be removed by the Governor for
reasonable cause, after due notice and full hearing, on the
address of two-thirds of the Senate.
Section 2. (a) Upon the first passage by the General
Assembly of these proposed integrated constitutional amendments,
the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall proceed immediately to
comply with the advertising requirements of section 1 of Article
XI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania and shall transmit the
required advertisements to two newspapers in every county in
which such newspapers are published in sufficient time after
passage of these proposed constitutional amendments.
(b) Upon the second passage by the General Assembly of these
proposed integrated constitutional amendments, the Secretary of
the Commonwealth shall proceed immediately to comply with the
advertising requirements of section 1 of Article XI of the
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Constitution of Pennsylvania and shall transmit the required
advertisements to two newspapers in every county in which such
newspapers are published in sufficient time after passage of
these proposed constitutional amendments. The Secretary of the
Commonwealth shall submit these proposed constitutional
amendments to the qualified electors of this Commonwealth at the
first primary, general or municipal election which meets the
requirements of and is in conformance with section 1 of Article
XI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania and which occurs at least
three months after the proposed constitutional amendments are
passed by the General Assembly.
(c) Upon approval of these proposed constitutional
amendments by the qualified electors of this Commonwealth, any
act or part of an act of the General Assembly that is in effect
upon such approval and that refers to the Lieutenant Governor
shall not be deemed to include the Lieutenant Governor, and
where such act or part of an act requires the Lieutenant
Governor to have any power or to exercise any duty, such power
or duty shall be abolished.
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