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Pennsylvania State Senate
04/24/2024 04:55 AM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=S&SPick=20130&cosponId=10042
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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2013 - 2014 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: December 13, 2012 12:07 PM
From: Senator Jim Ferlo
To: All Senate members
Subject: Limited Constitutional Convention
 
In the near future I plan to re-introduce legislation requiring a constitutional convention with limited powers. If the bill passes quickly it would allow for a referendum in the primary of 213 which will ask voters if they want a constitutional convention to take place to revise the following sections:

Article II – The Legislature
Section 4 (Sessions) – For the discussion of prohibiting lame duck sessions after November elections.
Section 8 (Compensation) – For the discussion of prohibiting of unvouchered expenses.
Section 16 (Legislative Districts) – For the discussion of reducing the size of the legislature.

Article III -- Legislation
Section 4 (Consideration of Bills) – For the discussion of a more public and open process for passing legislation and amendments to bills.
Section 13 (Vote Denied Members with Personal Interest) – For discussion of strengthening the language
Section 26 (Extra Compensation Prohibited; Claims Against the Commonwealth; Pensions) – For further discussion of compensation.

Article V – Judiciary
Section 16 (Compensation and Retirement of Justices, Judges and Justices of the Peace) – For discussion of judicial pay raises.

If the referendum is approved, a convention would be formed of three delegates from each Senate district as well as the Lieutenant Governor, and the top three leaders from each of the four caucuses. The three delegates from each Senate district would be elected at the November 2013 election. The convention will begin on December 1, 2013 with sine die adjournment occurring on Feb. 28, 2014. The convention will make recommendations and frame the ballot questions to be voted on at the primary in 2014 by the state’s electors.

While I am myself not a proponent of some measures that may arise from such a constitutional convention, I believe that past events have shown that we need to revisit and strengthen our state’s most important document to help once again restore faith in our legislature and government.


Introduced as SB416