PRIOR PASSAGE - NONE
PRINTER'S NO. 950
No. 861 Session of 1991
INTRODUCED BY DALEY, MARCH 19, 1991
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 19, 1991
A JOINT RESOLUTION
1 Proposing amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of
2 Pennsylvania, providing for a unicameral General Assembly
3 composed of 125 members.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby resolves as follows:
6 Section 1. The following amendments to the Constitution of
7 Pennsylvania are proposed in accordance with Article XI:
8 (1) That sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13
9 of Article II be amended to read:
10 § 1. Legislative power.
11 The legislative power of this Commonwealth shall be vested in
12 a General Assembly, which shall consist of [a Senate and a House
13 of Representatives] 125 members.
14 § 2. Election of members; vacancies.
15 Members of the General Assembly shall be chosen at the
16 general election [every second year]. Their term of service
17 shall begin on the first day of December next after their
1 election. Whenever a vacancy shall occur [in either House], the
2 presiding officer [thereof] shall issue a writ of election to
3 fill such vacancy for the remainder of the term.
4 § 3. Terms of members.
5 [Senators] (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), members
6 shall be elected for the term of four years [and Representatives
7 for the term of two years].
8 (b) At the first general election after the adoption of the
9 amendment adding this subsection, members from odd-numbered
10 districts shall be elected for a term of two years and members
11 from even-numbered districts shall be elected for terms of four
12 years.
13 § 4. Sessions.
14 The General Assembly shall be a continuing body during the
15 term for which its [Representatives] members are elected. It
16 shall meet at 12 o'clock noon on the first Tuesday of January
17 each year. Special sessions shall be called by the Governor on
18 petition of a majority of the members [elected to each House] or
19 may be called by the Governor whenever in his opinion the public
20 interest requires.
21 § 5. Qualifications of members.
22 [Senators] Members of the General Assembly shall be at least
23 25 years of age [and Representatives 21 years of age]. They
24 shall have been citizens and inhabitants of the State four
25 years, and inhabitants of their respective districts one year
26 next before their election (unless absent on the public business
27 of the United States or of this State), and shall reside in
28 their respective districts during their terms of service.
29 § 6. Disqualification to hold other office.
30 No [Senator or Representative] member of the General Assembly
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1 shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to
2 any civil office under this Commonwealth to which a salary, fee
3 or perquisite is attached. No member of Congress or other person
4 holding any office (except of attorney-at-law or in the National
5 Guard or in a reserve component of the armed forces of the
6 United States) under the United States or this Commonwealth to
7 which a salary, fee or perquisite is attached shall be a member
8 of [either House] the General Assembly during his continuance in
9 office.
10 § 8. Compensation.
11 The members of the General Assembly shall receive such salary
12 and mileage for regular and special sessions as shall be fixed
13 by law, and no other compensation whatever, whether for service
14 upon committee or otherwise. No member of [either House] the
15 General Assembly shall during the term for which he may have
16 been elected, receive any increase of salary, or mileage, under
17 any law passed during such term.
18 § 9. Election of officers; judge of election and qualifications
19 of members.
20 [The Senate shall, at the beginning and close of each regular
21 session and at such other times as may be necessary, elect one
22 of its members President pro tempore, who shall perform the
23 duties of the Lieutenant Governor, in any case of absence or
24 disability of that officer, and whenever the said office of
25 Lieutenant Governor shall be vacant. The House of
26 Representatives] The General Assembly shall elect one of its
27 members as Speaker. [Each House] It shall choose its other
28 officers, and shall judge of the election and qualifications of
29 its members.
30 § 10. Quorum.
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1 A majority of [each House] the General Assembly shall
2 constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from day
3 to day and compel the attendance of absent members.
4 § 11. Powers of [each house] the General Assembly; expulsion.
5 [Each House] The General Assembly shall have power to
6 determine the rules of its proceedings and punish its members or
7 other persons for contempt or disorderly behavior in its
8 presence, to enforce obedience to its process, to protect its
9 members against violence or offers of bribes or private
10 solicitation, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, to expel
11 a member, but not a second time for the same cause, and shall
12 have all other powers necessary for the Legislature of a free
13 State. A member expelled for corruption shall not thereafter be
14 eligible to [either House] the General Assembly, and punishment
15 for contempt or disorderly behavior shall not bar an indictment
16 for the same offense.
17 § 12. Journals; yeas and nays.
18 [Each House] The General Assembly shall keep a journal of its
19 proceedings and from time to time publish the same, except such
20 parts as require secrecy, and the yeas and nays of the members
21 on any question shall, at the desire of any two of them, be
22 entered on the journal.
23 § 13. Open sessions.
24 The sessions of [each House] the General Assembly and of
25 committees of the whole shall be open, unless when the business
26 is such as ought to be kept secret.
27 (2) That section 14 of Article II be repealed.
28 (3) That sections 15, 16 and 17(b) of Article II be amended
29 to read:
30 § 15. Privileges of members.
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1 The members of the General Assembly shall in all cases,
2 except treason, felony, violation of their oath of office, and
3 breach or surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest during
4 their attendance at the sessions of [their respective Houses]
5 the General Assembly and in going to and returning from the
6 same; and for any speech or debate in [either House] the General
7 Assembly, they shall not be questioned in any other place.
8 § 16. Legislative districts.
9 The Commonwealth shall be divided into [50 senatorial and 203
10 representative] 125 legislative districts, which shall be
11 composed of compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal in
12 population as practicable. [Each senatorial district shall elect
13 one Senator, and each representative district one
14 Representative.] Unless absolutely necessary no county, city,
15 incorporated town, borough, township or ward shall be divided in
16 forming [either a senatorial or representative] a legislative
17 district.
18 § 17. Legislative Reapportionment Commission.
19 * * *
20 (b) The commission shall consist of [five] three members:
21 [four] two of whom shall be the majority and minority leaders of
22 [both the Senate and the House of Representatives] the General
23 Assembly, or deputies appointed by each of them, and a chairman
24 selected as hereinafter provided. No later than 60 days
25 following the official reporting of the Federal decennial census
26 as required by Federal law, the [four] two members shall be
27 certified by the [President pro tempore of the Senate and the]
28 Speaker of the [House of Representatives] General Assembly to
29 the elections officer of the Commonwealth who under law shall
30 have supervision over elections.
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1 The [four] two members within 45 days after their
2 certification shall select the [fifth] third member, who shall
3 serve as chairman of the commission, and shall immediately
4 certify his name to such elections officer. The chairman shall
5 be a citizen of the Commonwealth other than a local, State or
6 Federal official holding an office to which compensation is
7 attached.
8 If the [four] two members fail to select the [fifth] third
9 member within the time prescribed, a majority of the entire
10 membership of the Supreme Court within 30 days thereafter shall
11 appoint the chairman as aforesaid and certify his appointment to
12 such elections officer.
13 Any vacancy in the commission shall be filled within 15 days
14 in the same manner in which such position was originally filled.
15 * * *
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