THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY GRUCELA, BEYER, CONKLIN, DALEY, EVERETT, GIBBONS, GROVE, HARHAI, HARKINS, HORNAMAN, HUTCHINSON, KOTIK, McILVAINE SMITH, MUNDY, MURT, MUSTIO, M. O'BRIEN, ROCK, SCAVELLO AND WALKO, FEBRUARY 5, 2009

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 5, 2009  

A JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing integrated amendments to the Constitution of the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, providing for a unicameral

General Assembly.

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 II be amended to read:

§ 1.  Legislative power.

The legislative power of this Commonwealth shall be vested in

a General Assembly, which shall consist of [a Senate and a House

of Representatives] 203 members.

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

§ 2.  Election of members; vacancies.

Members of the General Assembly shall be chosen at the

general election [every second year]. Their term of service

shall begin on the first day of December next after their

election. Whenever a vacancy shall occur [in either House], the

presiding officer [thereof] shall issue a writ of election to

fill such vacancy for the remainder of the term.

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

§ 3.  Terms of members.

[Senators] (a)  Except as provided in subsection (b), members 

shall be elected for the term of four years [and Representatives

for the term of two years].

(b)  At the first general election after the adoption of the

amendment adding this subsection, members from odd-numbered

districts shall be elected for a term of two years, and members

from even-numbered districts shall be elected for a term of four

years.

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

§ 4.  Sessions.

The General Assembly shall be a continuing body during the

term for which its [Representatives] members are elected. It

shall meet at 12 o'clock noon on the first Tuesday of January

each year. Special sessions shall be called by the Governor on

petition of a majority of the members [elected to each House] or

may be called by the Governor whenever in his opinion the public

interest requires.

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

§ 5.  Qualifications of members.

[Senators] Members of the General Assembly shall be at least

25 years of age [and Representatives 21 years of age]. They

shall have been citizens and inhabitants of the State four

years, and inhabitants of their respective districts one year

next before their election (unless absent on the public business

of the United States or of this State), and shall reside in

their respective districts during their terms of service.

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

§ 6.  Disqualification to hold other office.

No [Senator or Representative] member of the General Assembly 

shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to

any civil office under this Commonwealth to which a salary, fee

or perquisite is attached. No member of Congress or other 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 to

which a salary, fee or perquisite is attached shall be a member

of [either House] the General Assembly during his continuance in

office.

(7)  That section 8 of Article II be amended to read:

§ 8.  Compensation.

The members of the General Assembly shall receive such salary

and mileage for regular and special sessions as shall be fixed

by law, and no other compensation whatever, whether for service

upon committee or otherwise. No member of [either House] the

General Assembly shall during the term for which he may have

been elected, receive any increase of salary, or mileage, under

any law passed during such term.

(8)  That section 9 of Article II be amended to read:

§ 9.  Election of officers; judge of election and qualifications

of members.

[The Senate shall, at the beginning and close of each regular

session and at such other times as may be necessary, elect one

of its members President pro tempore, who shall perform the

duties of the Lieutenant Governor, in any case of absence or

disability of that officer, and whenever the said office of

Lieutenant Governor shall be vacant. The House of

Representatives] The General Assembly shall elect one of its

members as Speaker. [Each House] It shall choose its other

officers, and shall judge of the election and qualifications of

its members.

(9)  That section 10 of Article II be amended to read:

§ 10.  Quorum.

A majority of [each House] the General Assembly shall

constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from day

to day and compel the attendance of absent members.

(10)  That section 11 of Article II be amended to read:

§ 11.  Powers of [each house] the General Assembly; expulsion.

[Each House] The General Assembly shall have power to

determine the rules of its proceedings and punish its members or

other persons for contempt or disorderly behavior in its

presence, to enforce obedience to its process, to protect its

members against violence or offers of bribes or private

solicitation, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, to expel

a member, but not a second time for the same cause, and shall

have all other powers necessary for the Legislature of a free

State. A member expelled for corruption shall not thereafter be

eligible to [either House] the General Assembly, and punishment

for contempt or disorderly behavior shall not bar an indictment

for the same offense.

(11)  That section 12 of Article II be amended to read:

§ 12.  Journals; yeas and nays.

[Each House] The General Assembly shall keep a journal of its

proceedings and from time to time publish the same, except such

parts as require secrecy, and the yeas and nays of the members

on any question shall, at the desire of any two of them, be

entered on the journal.

(12)  That section 13 of Article II be amended to read:

§ 13.  Open sessions.

The sessions of [each House] the General Assembly and of

committees of the whole shall be open, unless when the business

is such as ought to be kept secret.

(13)  That section 14 of Article II be repealed:

[§ 14.  Adjournments.

Neither House shall, without the consent of the other,

adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than

that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.]

(14)  That section 15 of Article II be amended to read:

§ 15.  Privileges of members.

The members of the General Assembly shall in all cases,

except treason, felony, violation of their oath of office, and

breach or surety of the peace, be privileged from arrest during

their attendance at the sessions of [their respective Houses]

the General Assembly and in going to and returning from the

same; and for any speech or debate in [either House] the General

Assembly, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

(15)  That section 16 of Article II be amended to read:

§ 16.  Legislative districts.

The Commonwealth shall be divided into [50 senatorial and 203

representative] 203 legislative districts, which shall be

composed of compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal in

population as practicable. [Each senatorial district shall elect

one Senator, and each representative district one

Representative.] Unless absolutely necessary no county, city,

incorporated town, borough, township or ward shall be divided in

forming [either a senatorial or representative] a legislative 

district.

(16)  That section 17(b) of Article II be amended to read:

§ 17.  Legislative Reapportionment Commission.

* * *

(b)  The commission shall consist of [five] three members:

[four] two of whom shall be the majority and minority leaders of

[both the Senate and the House of Representatives] the General

Assembly, or deputies appointed by each of them, and a chairman

selected as hereinafter provided. No later than 60 days

following the official reporting of the Federal decennial census

as required by Federal law, the [four] two members shall be

certified by the [President pro tempore of the Senate and the

Speaker of the House of Representatives] General Assembly to the

elections officer of the Commonwealth who under law shall have

supervision over elections.

The [four] two members within 45 days after their

certification shall select the [fifth] third member, who shall

serve as chairman of the commission, and shall immediately

certify his name to such elections officer. The chairman shall

be a citizen of the Commonwealth other than a local, State or

Federal official holding an office to which compensation is

attached.

If the [four] two members fail to select the [fifth] third 

member within the time prescribed, a majority of the entire

membership of the Supreme Court within 30 days thereafter shall

appoint the chairman as aforesaid and certify his appointment to

such elections officer.

Any vacancy in the commission shall be filled within 15 days

in the same manner in which such position was originally filled.

* * *

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.