ARTICLE IV
THE EXECUTIVE
Sec.
1. Executive Department.
2. Duties of Governor; election procedure; tie or contest.
3. Terms of office of Governor; number of terms.
4. Lieutenant Governor.
4.1. Attorney General.
5. Qualifications of Governor, Lieutenant Governor and
Attorney General.
6. Disqualification for offices of Governor, Lieutenant
Governor and Attorney General.
7. Military power.
8. Appointing power.
9. Pardoning power; Board of Pardons.
10. Information from department officials.
11. Messages to the General Assembly.
12. Power to convene and adjourn the General Assembly.
13. When Lieutenant Governor to act as Governor.
14. Vacancy in office of Lieutenant Governor.
15. Approval of bills; vetoes.
16. Partial disapproval of appropriation bills.
17. Contested elections of Governor, Lieutenant Governor and
Attorney General; when succeeded.
18. Terms of office of Auditor General and State Treasurer;
number of terms; eligibility of State Treasurer to become
Auditor General.
19. State seal; commissions.
20. Disaster emergency declaration and management.
Adoption. Unless otherwise noted, the provisions of Article IV were adopted December 16, 1873, 1874 P.L.3, effective January 1, 1874.
§ 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.
(May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4)
References in Text. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, referred to in section 1, is now the Secretary of Education.
§ 2. Duties of Governor; election procedure; tie or contest.
The supreme executive power shall be vested in the Governor, who shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed; he shall be chosen on the day of the general election, by the qualified electors of the Commonwealth, at the places where they shall vote for Representatives. The returns of every election for Governor shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government, directed to the President of the Senate, who shall open and publish them in the presence of the members of both Houses of the General Assembly. The person having the highest number of votes shall be Governor, but if two or more be equal and highest in votes, one of them shall be chosen Governor by the joint vote of the members of both Houses. Contested elections shall be determined by a committee, to be selected from both Houses of the General Assembly, and formed and regulated in such manner as shall be directed by law.
§ 3. Terms of office of Governor; number of terms.
The Governor shall hold his office during four years from the third Tuesday of January next ensuing his election. Except for the Governor who may be in office when this amendment is adopted, he shall be eligible to succeed himself for one additional term.
(May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4)
§ 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.
(May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4)
§ 4.1. Attorney General.
An Attorney General shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the Commonwealth on the day the general election is held for the Auditor General and State Treasurer; he shall hold his office during four years from the third Tuesday of January next ensuing his election and shall not be eligible to serve continuously for more than two successive terms; he shall be the chief law officer of the Commonwealth and shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as may be imposed by law.
(May 16, 1978, 1977 P.L.365, J.R.4)
1978 Amendment. Joint Resolution No.4 added section 4.1.
Vacancy in Existing Office. Section 2 of Joint Resolution No.4 provided that upon approval of this amendment by the electors, there shall be a vacancy in the office of Attorney General which shall be filled as provided herein.
§ 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.
(May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4; May 16, 1978, 1977 P.L.365, J.R.4)
§ 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.
(May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4; May 16, 1978, 1977 P.L.365, J.R.4)
§ 7. Military power.
The Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the military forces of the Commonwealth, except when they shall be called into actual service of the United States.
(May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4)
§ 8. Appointing power.
(a) The Governor shall appoint a Secretary of Education and such other officers as he shall be authorized by law to appoint. The appointment of the Secretary of Education and of such other officers as may be specified by law, shall be subject to the consent of two-thirds or a majority of the members elected to the Senate as is specified by law.
(b) The Governor shall fill vacancies in offices to which he appoints by nominating to the Senate a proper person to fill the vacancy within 90 days of the first day of the vacancy and not thereafter. The Senate shall act on each executive nomination within 25 legislative days of its submission. If the Senate has not voted upon a nomination within 15 legislative days following such submission, any five members of the Senate may, in writing, request the presiding officer of the Senate to place the nomination before the entire Senate body whereby the nomination must be voted upon prior to the expiration of five legislative days or 25 legislative days following submission by the Governor, whichever occurs first. If the nomination is made during a recess or after adjournment sine die, the Senate shall act upon it within 25 legislative days after its return or reconvening. If the Senate for any reason fails to act upon a nomination submitted to it within the required 25 legislative days, the nominee shall take office as if the appointment had been consented to by the Senate. The Governor shall in a similar manner fill vacancies in the offices of Auditor General, State Treasurer, justice, judge, justice of the peace and in any other elective office he is authorized to fill. In the case of a vacancy in an elective office, a person shall be elected to the office on the next election day appropriate to the office unless the first day of the vacancy is within two calendar months immediately preceding the election day in which case the election shall be held on the second succeeding election day appropriate to the office.
(c) In acting on executive nominations, the Senate shall sit with open doors. The votes shall be taken by yeas and nays and shall be entered on the journal.
(Nov. 2, 1909, P.L.948, J.R.1; May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4; May 20, 1975, P.L.619, J.R.1; May 16, 1978, 1977 P.L.365, J.R.4)
§ 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 who shall be chairman, the Attorney General and three 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 a doctor of medicine, psychiatrist or psychologist. The board shall keep records of its actions, which shall at all times be open for public inspection.
(May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4; May 20, 1975, P.L.619, J.R.1; Nov. 4, 1997, P.L.634, J.R.2)
§ 10. Information from department officials.
The Governor may require information in writing from the officers of the Executive Department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.
(May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4)
§ 11. Messages to the General Assembly.
He shall, from time to time, give to the General Assembly information of the state of the Commonwealth, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may judge expedient.
§ 12. Power to convene and adjourn the General Assembly.
He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General Assembly, and in case of disagreement between the two Houses, with respect to the time of adjournment, adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper, not exceeding four months. He shall have power to convene the Senate in extraordinary session by proclamation for the transaction of Executive business.
§ 13. When Lieutenant Governor to act as Governor.
In the case of the death, conviction on impeachment, failure to qualify or resignation of the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor shall become Governor for the remainder of the term and in the case of the disability of the Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Governor until the disability is removed.
(May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4)
Cross References. Section 13 is referred to in section 14 of this article.
§ 14. Vacancy in office of Lieutenant Governor.
In case of the death, conviction on impeachment, failure to qualify or resignation of the Lieutenant Governor, or in case he should become Governor under section 13 of this article, the President pro tempore of the Senate shall become Lieutenant Governor for the remainder of the term. In case of the disability of the Lieutenant Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon the President pro tempore of the Senate until the disability is removed. Should there be no Lieutenant Governor, the President pro tempore of the Senate shall become Governor if a vacancy shall occur in the office of Governor and in case of the disability of the Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon the President pro tempore of the Senate until the disability is removed. His seat as Senator shall become vacant whenever he shall become Governor and shall be filled by election as any other vacancy in the Senate.
(May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4)
§ 15. Approval of bills; vetoes.
Every bill which shall have passed both Houses shall be presented to the Governor; if he approves he shall sign it, but if he shall not approve he shall return it with his objections to the House in which it shall have originated, which House shall enter the objections at large upon their journal, and proceed to re-consider it. If after such re-consideration, two-thirds of all the members elected to that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent with the objections to the other House by which likewise it shall be re-considered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to that House it shall be a law; but in such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journals of each House, respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within ten days after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall be a law, unless he shall file the same, with his objections, in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and give notice thereof by public proclamation within 30 days after such adjournment.
§ 16. Partial disapproval of appropriation bills.
The Governor shall have power to disapprove of any item or items of any bill, making appropriations of money, embracing distinct items, and the part or parts of the bill approved shall be the law, and the item or items of appropriation disapproved shall be void, unless re-passed according to the rules and limitations prescribed for the passage of other bills over the Executive veto.
§ 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 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.
(May 16, 1978, 1977 P.L.365, J.R.4)
§ 18. Terms of office of Auditor General and State Treasurer; number of terms; eligibility of State Treasurer to become Auditor General.
The terms of the Auditor General and of the State Treasurer shall each be four years from the third Tuesday of January next ensuing his election. They shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the Commonwealth at general elections but shall not be eligible to serve continuously for more than two successive terms. The State Treasurer shall not be eligible to the office of Auditor General until four years after he has been State Treasurer.
(May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4)
1967 Amendment. Joint Resolution No.4 repealed former section 18 and added present section 18. The subject matter of present section 18 was contained in former section 21.
Initial Terms of Office. For terms of office of State Treasurer and Auditor General first elected under present section 18, see the schedule to Joint Resolution No.4 of 1967 in the appendix to the Constitution.
§ 19. State seal; commissions.
The present Great Seal of Pennsylvania shall be the seal of the State. All commissions shall be in the name and by authority of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and be sealed with the State seal and signed by the Governor.
(May 16, 1967, P.L.1044, J.R.4)
1967 Amendment. Joint Resolution No.4 repealed former section 19 and renumbered former section 22 to present section 19.
§ 20. Disaster emergency declaration and management.
(a) A disaster emergency declaration may be declared by executive order or proclamation of the Governor upon finding that a disaster has occurred or that the occurrence or threat of a disaster is imminent that threatens the health, safety or welfare of this Commonwealth.
(b) Each disaster emergency declaration issued by the Governor under subsection (a) shall indicate the nature, each area threatened and the conditions of the disaster, including whether the disaster is a natural disaster, military emergency, public health emergency, technological disaster or other general emergency, as defined by statute. The General Assembly shall, by statute, provide for the manner in which each type of disaster enumerated under this subsection shall be managed.
(c) A disaster emergency declaration under subsection (a) shall be in effect for no more than twenty-one (21) days, unless otherwise extended in whole or part by concurrent resolution of the General Assembly.
(d) Upon the expiration of a disaster emergency declaration under subsection (a), the Governor may not issue a new disaster emergency declaration based upon the same or substantially similar facts and circumstances without the passage of a concurrent resolution of the General Assembly expressly approving the new disaster emergency declaration.
(May 18, 2021, P.L.493, J.R.1)
2021 Amendment. Joint Resolution 1 added section 20.