THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY CALTAGIRONE, DALEY, GIBBONS, HARHAI, HARKINS, MAHONEY, MARSHALL, McILVAINE SMITH, PRESTON, SWANGER AND YOUNGBLOOD, APRIL 20, 2010

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, APRIL 20, 2010  

A JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing integrated amendments to the Constitution of the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, reorganizing local government

with a county basis.

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 1 of Article IX be amended to read:

§ 1.  Local government.

(a)  The General Assembly shall provide by general law for

local government within the Commonwealth.

(b)   Such general law shall [be]:

(1)  Establish the county as the basic unit of local

government, with jurisdiction over:

(i)  personnel;

(ii)  law enforcement;

(iii)  land use;

(iv)  sanitation; and

(v)  health and safety.

(2)  Establish municipalities under the jurisdiction of the

county and determine the relationship among these municipalities

and the county.

(3)  Establish classes of counties and municipalities on the

basis of population.

(4)  Be uniform as to all classes of local government

regarding procedural matters.

(2)  That section 5 of Article IX be amended to read:

§ 5.  Intergovernmental cooperation.

A municipality by act of its governing body may, upon its own

volition or upon being required by initiative and referendum in

the area affected [shall], and with the approval of the

governing body of the county in which it is located, cooperate

or agree in the exercise of any function, power or

responsibility with, or delegate or transfer any function, power

or responsibility to, one or more other governmental units

including other municipalities or districts, the Federal

government, any other state or its governmental units, or any

newly created governmental unit.

(3)  That section 7 of Article IX be amended to read:

§ 7.  Area-wide powers.

The General Assembly may grant powers to [area governments or

to municipalities] counties within a given geographical area in

which there exists intergovernmental cooperation or area

government and designate the classes of municipalities subject

to such legislation.

(4)  That section 9 of Article IX be amended to read:

§ 9.  Appropriation for public purposes.

The General Assembly shall not authorize any county, 

municipality or incorporated district to become a stockholder in

any company, association or corporation, or to obtain or

appropriate money for, or to loan its credit to, any

corporation, association, institution or individual. The General

Assembly may provide standards by which counties, municipalities

or school districts may give financial assistance or lease

property to public service, industrial or commercial enterprises

if it shall find that such assistance or leasing is necessary to

the health, safety or welfare of the Commonwealth or any county, 

municipality or school district. Existing authority of any

municipality or incorporated district to obtain or appropriate

money for, or to loan its credit to, any corporation,

association, institution or individual, is preserved.

(5)  That section 10 of Article IX be amended to read:

§ 10.  Local government debt.

Subject only to the restrictions imposed by this section, the

General Assembly shall prescribe the debt limits of all units of

local government [including municipalities and school

districts]. For such purposes, the debt limit base shall be a

percentage of the total revenue, as defined by the General

Assembly, of the unit of local government computed over a

specific period immediately preceding the year of borrowing. The

debt limit to be prescribed in every such case shall exclude all

indebtedness (1) for any project to the extent that it is self-

liquidating or self-supporting or which has heretofore been

defined as self-liquidating or self-supporting, or (2) which has

been approved by referendum held in such manner as shall be

provided by law. The provisions of this paragraph shall not

apply to the City or County of Philadelphia.

Any unit of local government[, including municipalities and

school districts,] incurring any indebtedness, shall at or

before the time of so doing adopt a covenant, which shall be

binding upon it so long as any such indebtedness shall remain

unpaid, to make payments out of its sinking fund or any other of

its revenues or funds at such time and in such annual amounts

specified in such covenant as shall be sufficient for the

payment of the interest thereon and the principal thereof when

due.

(6)  That section 11 of Article IX be amended to read:

§ 11.  Local reapportionment.

Within the year following that in which the Federal decennial

census is officially reported as required by Federal law, and at

such other times as the governing body [of any municipality]

shall deem necessary, each county or municipality having a

governing body not entirely elected at large shall be

reapportioned, by its governing body or as shall otherwise be

provided by uniform law, into districts which shall be composed

of compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal in

population as practicable, for the purpose of describing the

districts for those not elected at large.

(7)  That the definition of "municipality" in section 14 of

Article IX be amended to read:

§ 14.  Definitions.

As used in this article, the following words shall have the

following meanings:

"Municipality" means a [county,] city, borough, incorporated

town, township or any similar general purpose unit of government

which shall hereafter be created by the General Assembly.

* * *  

Section 2.  (a)  Upon the first passage by the General

Assembly of these proposed 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 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. The Secretary of the

Commonwealth shall submit the proposed constitutional amendments

under section 1 to the qualified electors of this Commonwealth

as a single ballot question 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.

Section 3.  Upon the first passage of these proposed

constitutional amendments, the Local Government Commission and

the Legislative Reference Bureau shall prepare legislation to

implement the reorganization of local government in accordance

with the amendment section 1(b)(1), (2) and (3) of Article IX.