THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY BOSCOLA, BROWNE, RAFFERTY AND FONTANA, FEBRUARY 25, 2011

REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 25, 2011  

A JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth

of Pennsylvania, authorizing the use of the indirect

initiative and referendum as powers reserved to the people.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby resolves as follows:

Section 1.  The following amendment to the Constitution of

Pennsylvania is proposed in accordance with Article XI:

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.

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

propose statutes and amendments to this Constitution and to

cause the General Assembly to take a vote in each House on the

approved proposal in the current legislative session or, if the

proposal is approved at a general election, no later than the

next legislative session.

(3)  An indirect initiative measure may be proposed by

presenting to the Secretary of the Commonwealth a petition that

sets forth 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 each of the 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 indirect initiative measure embracing more than one

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

(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 shall be proposed by an

indirect 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.

(8)  The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall then submit the

measure to the clerk of the Senate within ten Senate session

days of its receipt and to the clerk of the House of

Representatives within ten House session days of its receipt.

(9)  The measure shall be referred to the appropriate

committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and

the committees shall report out their respective measures for

consideration by the full Senate and the House of

Representatives, respectively. The General Assembly shall not

finally adjourn a legislative session without a vote being taken

by the Senate and the House of Representatives on an indirect

initiative measure that is properly before the General Assembly.

(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 each of the 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 each of the

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.

(c)  (1)  The General Assembly shall provide the manner in

which petitions shall be circulated, presented and certified and

require by law measures to insure full disclosure of

disbursements made and receipts obtained by parties who have an

interest in indirect initiative and referendum measures and who

have exceeded a statutory threshold for these disbursements and

receipts for any one indirect 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

interest in the passage or defeat of an indirect 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 indirect

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 indirect 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 ten 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 ten days of the

certification of an indirect initiative or referendum petition

upon which the required number of signatures have 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 indirect 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 indirect initiative and referendum

measures shall be certified by the Secretary of the Commonwealth

in any two-year period.

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

more often than once during a legislative session.

(7)  The General Assembly shall not finally adjourn a

legislative session without a vote being taken by the Senate and

the House of Representatives on a referendum statute that is

properly before the General Assembly. The General Assembly may

override a referendum statute only upon a vote of two-thirds of

the members elected to the Senate and the House of

Representatives.

Section 2.  (a)  Upon the first passage by the General

Assembly of this proposed constitutional amendment, 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 this proposed constitutional amendment.

(b)  Upon the second passage by the General Assembly of this

proposed constitutional amendment, 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

this proposed constitutional amendment. The Secretary of the

Commonwealth shall submit this proposed constitutional amendment

to the qualified electors of this Commonwealth 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 amendment is

passed by the General Assembly.