PRIOR PASSAGE - NONE
PRINTER'S NO. 4082
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2656
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY WHITE, DIAMOND, ROAE, MILLARD, TOOHIL, ROWE,
BARRAR, PYLE, NEILSON AND GLEIM, JULY 8, 2020
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JULY 8, 2020
A JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing integrated amendments to the Constitution of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, further providing for action by
Lieutenant Governor as Governor and for vacancy in office of
Lieutenant Governor; and providing for an initiative to
recall certain elected Statewide and local officers.
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 sections 13 and 14 of Article IV be amended to
read:
§ 13. When Lieutenant Governor to act as Governor.
In the case of the death, conviction on impeachment, failure
to qualify or resignation of the Governor, the Lieutenant
Governor shall become Governor for the remainder of the term
[and in]. In the case of the recall of the Governor, the
Lieutenant Governor shall become Governor until a Governor is
sworn in after a successor election under section 20(c). In the
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case of the disability of the Governor, the powers, duties and
emoluments of the office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant
Governor until the disability is removed.
§ 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 recall of
the Lieutenant Governor, the President pro tempore of the Senate
shall become Lieutenant Governor until a Lieutenant Governor is
sworn in after a successor election under section 20(c). 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.
(2) That Article IV be amended by adding a section to read:
§ 20. Initiative to recall elected Statewide and local
officers.
(a) The recall of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor,
Attorney General, Auditor General, State Treasurer or a mayor or
district attorney may be proposed by a petition signed by a
number of electors equal in number to at least 25% of the total
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votes cast for that position in the preceding election. A recall
petition for a mayor or district attorney cannot contain
signatures from any one election district in excess of one fifth
of the total number required. A petition must be signed by the
petitioning electors not more than 150 days after an affidavit
has been filed with the Bureau of Commissions, Elections and
Legislation providing notice of intent to circulate a petition
to recall. The affidavit may be filed no sooner than one year
after the beginning of the term of office nor within the last
six months of the term of office for that position.
(b) The form of the petition, circulation and procedure for
determining the validity and sufficiency of a petition shall be
as provided by law. If the petition is valid and sufficient, the
Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation shall certify
the petition and notify the Statewide or local officer named in
the petition that the petition has been certified. Upon receipt
of the notice the Statewide or local officer may resign from
office and the recall proceeding shall terminate.
(c) If the Statewide or local officer against whom a recall
petition is directed does not resign from office within 10 days
after notice of the certification of the petition, the Bureau of
Commissions, Elections and Legislation shall arrange a recall
election. If a general, municipal, primary or special election
is to be held not less than 60 days nor more than 90 days after
the resignation period has expired, the recall question "Shall
(name) be recalled from the office of (position)?" must be
placed before the electors at that election. Otherwise a special
recall election shall be fixed for a date not earlier than 60
days nor later than 90 days after the expiration period has
expired. The Statewide or local officer against whom a recall
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petition is directed may resign at any time prior to the recall
election and the election shall not be held.
(d) A recall petition certified by the Bureau of
Commissions, Elections and Legislation may not be withdrawn and
another recall petition may not be initiated against the elected
Statewide or local officer during the remainder of the current
term of office. A recall petition or recall election pending on
the date of the next general election at which a candidate for
the office is elected is moot.
(e) If a petition to recall the Governor, Lieutenant
Governor, Attorney General, Auditor General or State Treasurer
or a mayor or district attorney has been filed with the Bureau
of Commissions, Elections and Legislation , a person eligible to
serve in the position may propose his candidacy by a petition
signed by a number of electors equal in number to the
requirement for petitions for an established party candidate for
the office, signed by petitioning electors not more than 50 days
after a recall petition has been filed with the Bureau of
Commissions, Elections and Legislation . The form of a successor
election petition, circulation and procedure for determining the
validity and sufficiency of a petition shall be as provided by
law. If the successor election petition is valid and sufficient,
the Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation shall
certify the petition not more than 100 days after the date the
recall petition was filed. Names of candidates for nomination to
serve as the candidate of an established political party must be
submitted to the electors at a special primary election, if
necessary, called by the Bureau of Commissions, Elections and
Legislation to be held at the same time as the special election
on the question of recall established under subsection (b).
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Names of candidates for the successor election must be submitted
to the electors at a special successor election called by the
Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation , which must
occur not more than 60 days after the date of the special
primary election or on a date established by law.
(f) The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General,
Auditor General, State Treasurer or a mayor or district attorney
shall be immediately removed upon certification of the recall
election results if a majority of the electors voting on the
question vote to recall the elected Statewide or local officer.
(g) No person who has been removed from the office under
this section or who has resigned from the office after a recall
petition directed to him has been filed may be eligible for
election or appointment to any State or local office within two
years after removal or resignation.
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
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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 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.
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