Amendment 6201 to Senate Bill 1166 P.N. 1753, Regular Session 2019-2020

S1166B1753A06201 MAB:EJH 06/10/20 #90 A06201

AMENDMENTS TO SENATE BILL NO. 1166

Sponsor: SENATOR BOSCOLA

Printer's No. 1753

Amend Bill, page 1, line 1, by striking out "an amendment"

and inserting

distinct amendments

Amend Bill, page 1, line 1, by inserting after "in"

legislature, providing for powers reserved to the people; and,

Amend Bill, page 1, lines 5 and 6, by striking out all of

said lines and inserting

Section 1. The following distinct amendments to the

Constitution of Pennsylvania are proposed in accordance with

Article XI:

(1) That Article III be amended by adding a section to read:

§ 33. Powers reserved to the people.

(a) (1) The legislative power of this Commonwealth shall be

vested in the Senate and the House of Representatives, but the

people reserve to themselves the power to propose laws and

amendments to this Constitution at the polls, independently of

the General Assembly.

(2) The initiative is the power of the electors to propose

statutes and amendments to this Constitution.

(3) An initiative measure may be proposed by presenting to

the Secretary of the Commonwealth a petition that provides the

text of the proposed statute or amendment to this Constitution

and is certified by the Secretary of the Commonwealth to have

been signed by registered electors equal in number to 5% of the

votes for all candidates for Governor at the last gubernatorial

election in not less than 45 counties in this Commonwealth.

(4) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall only certify a

measure on which all signatures on petitions are obtained and

affixed to the petitions for the measure during the same regular

session of the General Assembly and which is submitted by 5 p.m.

on Friday after the second Thursday of February in the second

year of that session.

(5) An initiative measure embracing more than one subject

may not be submitted to the electors or have any effect.

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(6) No measure that relates to religion, religious practices

and institutions; the appointment, qualification, tenure,

removal, recall or compensation of judges; the reversal of a

judicial decision; the powers, creation or abolition of courts;

the making of a specific appropriation of money from the

treasury; and the naming of a private corporation to perform a

function or to have a power or duty may be proposed by an

initiative petition.

(7) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall submit the

measure at the next general, municipal, primary or special

statewide election held at least 75 days after it qualifies. The

measure shall be referred to a vote of the qualified electors

and shall become law when approved by a majority of the votes

cast on the measure and upon proclamation of the Governor.

(b) (1) The legislative power of this Commonwealth shall be

vested in the Senate and the House of Representatives, but the

people reserve to themselves the power, at their own option, to

reject statutes or parts of statutes passed by the General

Assembly.

(2) The referendum is the power of the electors to reject

statutes or parts of statutes except urgency statutes or

statutes calling elections.

(3) A referendum measure may be proposed by presenting to

the Secretary of the Commonwealth, within 90 days after the

enactment date of the statute, a petition certified to have been

signed by registered electors equal in number to 5% of the votes

for all candidates for Governor at the last gubernatorial

election in not less than 45 counties in this Commonwealth

asking that the statute or part of it be submitted to the

electors.

(4) If a petition is certified to have been signed by

registered electors equal to 10% of the votes for all candidates

for Governor at the last gubernatorial election in not less than

45 counties in this Commonwealth, the effective date of the

enacted legislation is suspended until the next election at

which time the measure shall be submitted to the electors.

(5) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall submit the

measure at the next general, municipal, primary or special

Statewide election held at least 75 days after it qualifies. The

measure shall be referred to a vote of the qualified electors

and shall become law when approved by a majority of the votes

cast on the measure and upon proclamation of the Governor.

which petitions shall be circulated, presented and certified and

require by law measures to ensure full disclosure of

disbursements made and receipts obtained by parties who have an

interest in initiative and referendum measures and who have

exceeded a statutory threshold for these disbursements and

receipts for any one initiative or referendum measure in each

election. The General Assembly shall also require by law

reasonable limits on contributions made to parties who have an

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interest in the passage or defeat of an initiative or referendum

measure for each measure and in each election. The General

Assembly shall also require by law the full disclosure of any

disbursements made by a person or corporation from another state

to advocate the passage or defeat of an initiative or referendum

measure. The General Assembly shall, within 90 days following

approval of this section, enact the legislation outlined in this

paragraph.

(2) An initiative or referendum petition, in order to be

eligible for certification by the Secretary of the Commonwealth,

shall first be signed by 100 registered electors of the

Commonwealth, the originators, who shall pay an administrative

fee not exceeding the fee required by law for the filing of

nomination petitions by candidates for public office to be

filled by the electors of the State-at-large. If the Secretary

of the Commonwealth shall certify that the petition contains the

entire text of the measure, that the measure is not, either

affirmatively or negatively, substantially the same as any

measure which has been previously submitted to the electors

during the same session of the General Assembly and that it

contains only one subject which is not excluded from

consideration under this section, then the Secretary of the

Commonwealth shall provide blanks for the use of subsequent

signers and shall print at the top of each blank the names of

the first 10 originators and a fair, concise summary, as

determined by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, of the proposed

measure as the summary will appear on the ballot.

(3) The Department of State shall, within 10 days of the

certification of an initiative or referendum petition upon which

the required number of signatures has been affixed, prepare an

explanation or argument, or both, for and also an explanation or

argument, or both, against the same. The Secretary of the

Commonwealth shall then publish the summary and explanations and

arguments, together with the entire text of the measure, in as

many newspapers of general circulation as deemed by the

Secretary of the Commonwealth to be sufficient to give notice

throughout this Commonwealth at least 20 days before the

election in which the measure is presented to the electors. This

information shall also be made available to the general public

in printed form.

(4) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall certify no more

than two initiatives or two referendum measures in an election.

Each measure shall be limited to only one subject. If more than

two measures are submitted to the Secretary of the Commonwealth,

the two measures with the largest numbers of signatures shall be

certified. If two or more measures are substantially similar in

subject matter, whether or not they conflict, only the measure

with the largest number of signatures shall be certified.

(5) No more than three initiative and three referendum

measures may be certified by the Secretary of the Commonwealth

in any two-year period.

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(6) No measure may appear on the ballot in an election more

often than once during a legislative session.

(7) The veto power of the Governor shall not extend to an

initiative measure approved by a majority of the votes cast on

the measure or to a referendum measure decided by a majority of

the votes cast on the measure.

(8) The General Assembly may not repeal an initiative

measure or a referendum measure, approved by a majority of the

votes cast on the measure.

(9) The General Assembly may not amend an initiative measure

approved by a majority of the votes cast on the measure, or

amend a referendum measure decided by a majority of the votes

cast on the measure, unless the amending legislation furthers

the purposes of the measure and at least three-fourths of the

members of the Senate and the House of Representatives vote to

amend the measure.

(10) The General Assembly may not appropriate or divert

funds created or allocated to a specific purpose by an

initiative measure approved by a majority of the votes cast on

the measure, or by a referendum measure decided by a majority of

the votes cast on the measure, unless the appropriation or

diversion of funds furthers the purposes of the measure and at

least three-fourths of the members of the Senate and the House

of Representatives vote to appropriate or divert the funds.

(2)

Amend Bill, page 2, lines 5 through 27, by striking out all

of said lines and inserting

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 of this resolution to the qualified electors of

this Commonwealth as separate ballot questions 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

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three months after the proposed constitutional amendments are

passed by the General Assembly.

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