THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY GIBBONS, BENNINGHOFF, GRUCELA, DALEY, HORNAMAN AND McILVAINE SMITH, APRIL 7, 2010

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, APRIL 7, 2010  

A JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing integrated amendments to the Constitution of the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, eliminating the office of

Lieutenant Governor and providing for State Treasurer.

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 IV be amended to read:

§ 1.  Executive Department.

The Executive Department of this Commonwealth shall consist

of a Governor, [Lieutenant Governor,] Attorney General, Auditor

General, State Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public

Instruction and such other officers as the General Assembly may

from time to time prescribe.

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

§ 4.  [Lieutenant Governor] State Treasurer.

A [Lieutenant Governor] State Treasurer shall be chosen

jointly with the Governor by the casting by each voter of a

single vote applicable to both offices, for the same term, and

subject to the same provisions as the Governor[; he shall be

President of the Senate. As such, he may vote in case of a tie

on any question except the final passage of a bill or joint

resolution, the adoption of a conference report or the

concurrence in amendments made by the House of Representatives].

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

§ 5.  Qualifications of Governor, [Lieutenant Governor] State

Treasurer and Attorney General.

No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor,

[Lieutenant Governor] State Treasurer or Attorney General except

a citizen of the United States, who shall have attained the age

of 30 years, and have been seven years next preceding his

election an inhabitant of this Commonwealth, unless he shall

have been absent on the public business of the United States or

of this Commonwealth. No person shall be eligible to the office

of Attorney General except a member of the bar of the Supreme

Court of Pennsylvania.

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

§ 6.  Disqualification for offices of Governor, [Lieutenant

Governor] State Treasurer and Attorney General.

No member of Congress or 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 shall exercise the office of

Governor, [Lieutenant Governor] State Treasurer or Attorney

General.

(5)  That section 9 of Article IV be amended to read:

§ 9.  Pardoning power; Board of Pardons.

(a)  In all criminal cases except impeachment the Governor

shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, to grant

reprieves, commutation of sentences and pardons; but no pardon

shall be granted, nor sentence commuted, except on the

recommendation in writing of a majority of the Board of Pardons,

and, in the case of a sentence of death or life imprisonment, on

the unanimous recommendation in writing of the Board of Pardons,

after full hearing in open session, upon due public notice. The

recommendation, with the reasons therefor at length, shall be

delivered to the Governor and a copy thereof shall be kept on

file in the office of the [Lieutenant Governor] Attorney General 

in a docket kept for that purpose.

(b)  The Board of Pardons shall consist of the [Lieutenant

Governor who shall be chairman, the] Attorney General and

[three] four members appointed by the Governor with the consent

of a majority of the members elected to the Senate for terms of

six years. One of the members appointed by the Governor shall be

appointed as chairman by the Governor. The [three] members

appointed by the Governor shall be residents of Pennsylvania.

One shall be a crime victim, one shall be a member of the bar, 

one a corrections expert and the [third] fourth a doctor of

medicine, psychiatrist or psychologist. The board shall keep

records of its actions, which shall at all times be open for

public inspection.

(6)  That section 13 of Article IV be amended to read:

§ 13.  When [Lieutenant Governor] State Treasurer to act as

Governor.

In the case of the death, conviction on impeachment, failure

to qualify or resignation of the Governor, the [Lieutenant

Governor] State Treasurer shall become Governor for the

remainder of the term and in the case of the disability of the

Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall

devolve upon the [Lieutenant Governor] State Treasurer until the

disability is removed. Should there be no State Treasurer, the

Auditor General shall become Governor if a vacancy shall occur

in the office of Governor and in case of the disability of the

Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall

devolve upon the Auditor General until the disability is

removed. The order of succession to the office of Governor shall

be the State Treasurer, the Auditor General and then the

Attorney General. Should the State Treasurer, Auditor General or

Attorney General succeed to the Office of the Governor, the

office shall be vacant and shall be filled by election as

provided for that respective office.

(7)  That section 14 of Article IV be repealed:

[§ 14.  Vacancy in office of Lieutenant Governor.

In case of the death, conviction on impeachment, failure to

qualify or resignation of the Lieutenant Governor, or in case he

should become Governor under section 13 of this article, the

President pro tempore of the Senate shall become Lieutenant

Governor for the remainder of the term. In case of the

disability of the Lieutenant Governor, the powers, duties and

emoluments of the office shall devolve upon the President pro

tempore of the Senate until the disability is removed. Should

there be no Lieutenant Governor, the President pro tempore of

the Senate shall become Governor if a vacancy shall occur in the

office of Governor and in case of the disability of the

Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall

devolve upon the President pro tempore of the Senate until the

disability is removed. His seat as Senator shall become vacant

whenever he shall become Governor and shall be filled by

election as any other vacancy in the Senate.]

(8)  That section 17 of Article IV be amended to read:

§ 17.  Contested elections of Governor, [Lieutenant Governor]

State Treasurer and Attorney General; when succeeded.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside upon the

trial of any contested election of Governor, [Lieutenant

Governor] State Treasurer or Attorney General and shall decide

questions regarding the admissibility of evidence, and shall,

upon request of the committee, pronounce his opinion upon other

questions of law involved in the trial. The Governor,

[Lieutenant Governor] State Treasurer and Attorney General shall

exercise the duties of their respective offices until their

successors shall be duly qualified.

(9)  That section 18 of Article IV be amended to read:

§ 18.  [Terms] Term of office of Auditor General [and State

Treasurer]; number of terms; eligibility of State

Treasurer to become Auditor General.

The [terms] term of the Auditor General [and of the State

Treasurer] shall each be four years from the third Tuesday of

January next ensuing his election. [They] He shall be chosen by

the qualified electors of the Commonwealth at general elections

but shall not be eligible to serve continuously for more than

two successive terms. The State Treasurer shall not be eligible

to the office of Auditor General until four years after he has

been State Treasurer.

(10)  That section 7 of Article VI be amended to read:

§ 7.  Removal of civil officers.

All civil officers shall hold their offices on the condition

that they behave themselves well while in office, and shall be

removed on conviction of misbehavior in office or of any

infamous crime. Appointed civil officers, other than judges of

the courts of record, may be removed at the pleasure of the

power by which they shall have been appointed. All civil

officers elected by the people, except the Governor, the

[Lieutenant Governor] State Treasurer, members of the General

Assembly and judges of the courts of record, shall be removed by

the Governor for reasonable cause, after due notice and full

hearing, on the address of two-thirds of the Senate.

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.