PRIOR PASSAGE - NONE
PRINTER'S NO. 789
No. 712 Session of 1991
INTRODUCED BY SAURMAN, FARGO, GERLACH, WILLIAMS, COLAIZZO,
SCHEETZ, NICKOL, LEVDANSKY, VANCE, HERMAN, WILSON, HECKLER,
FREEMAN, FAIRCHILD, BELARDI, SCRIMENTI, JOHNSON, BUNT,
DeLUCA, FARMER, BROUJOS, GODSHALL, LANGTRY, E. Z. TAYLOR,
KING, MERRY, ARMSTRONG, CAWLEY, TANGRETTI, TELEK AND BILLOW,
MARCH 13, 1991
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 13, 1991
A JOINT RESOLUTION
1 Ratifying the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the
2 United States relating to compensation for services of
3 Senators and Representatives.
4 WHEREAS, On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the
5 United States submitted to the states for ratification a
6 proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States to
7 require an intervening election of Representatives before any
8 increase in compensation accrues to Senators or Representatives;
9 and
10 WHEREAS, The proposed amendment was one of the original 12
11 amendments to the Constitution submitted to the states for
12 ratification, ten of which were ratified and became the "Bill of
13 Rights"; and
14 WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States, upon proposing
15 the amendment, did not place any time limitation on its final
16 adoption; and
1 WHEREAS, Section 27 of Article III of the Pennsylvania
2 Constitution provides that "No law shall extend the term of any
3 public officer, or increase or diminish his salary or
4 emoluments, after his election or appointment"; and
5 WHEREAS, Our founding fathers proposed that there be a
6 comparable restriction applicable to members of Congress; and
7 WHEREAS, The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of
8 Pennsylvania finds that the proposed amendment is still
9 meaningful and needed as part of the United States Constitution
10 and that the present political, social and economic conditions
11 are the same as or are even more demanding today than they were
12 when the proposed amendment was submitted for its adoption.
13 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
14 hereby resolves as follows:
15 Section 1. The following proposed amendment to the
16 Constitution of the United States is hereby ratified by the
17 General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania:
18 "No law varying the compensation for the services of the
19 Senators and Representatives shall take effect, until an
20 election of Representatives shall have intervened."
21 Section 2. A certified copy of this resolution shall be
22 forwarded to the Archivist of the United States, in accordance
23 with 1 U.S.C. § 106, to the President of the United States
24 Senate and to the Speaker of the United States House of
25 Representatives.
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