Regular Session 2023-2024 House Bill 1348 P.N. 1490

PRIOR PASSAGE - NONE

PRINTER'S NO. 1490

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

1348

Session of

2023

INTRODUCED BY KEEFER, JAMES, KAUFFMAN, ROWE, GLEIM AND T. JONES,

JUNE 7, 2023

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JUNE 7, 2023

A JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing integrated amendments to the Constitution of the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, abolishing the office of

Lieutenant Governor.

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 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 shall elect one of its members as Speaker. Each

House shall choose its other officers, and shall judge of the

election and qualifications of its members.

(2) 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.

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

[§ 4. Lieutenant Governor.

A Lieutenant Governor 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.]

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

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

Attorney General.

No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor[,

Lieutenant Governor] 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.

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

§ 6. Disqualification for offices of Governor[, Lieutenant

Governor] 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] or Attorney General.

(6) 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 in a docket kept

for that purpose.

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

Governor] Attorney General who shall be chairman[, the Attorney

General and three] and four members appointed by the Governor

with the consent of a majority of the members elected to the

Senate for terms of six years. The [three] members appointed by

the Governor shall be residents of Pennsylvania. One shall be a

crime victim, one a corrections expert [and the third], one a

doctor of medicine, psychiatrist or psychologist and one a law

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enforcement officer. The board shall keep records of its

actions, which shall at all times be open for public inspection.

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

§ 13. When [Lieutenant Governor] President pro tempore of the

Senate to act as Governor.

(a) In the case of the death, conviction on impeachment,

failure to qualify or resignation of the Governor, the

[Lieutenant Governor] President pro tempore of the Senate shall

become Governor for the remainder of the term [and in].

(b) In the case of the disability of the Governor, the

powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon

the [Lieutenant Governor] President pro tempore of the Senate

until the disability is removed.

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

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

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] 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]

and Attorney General shall exercise the duties of their

respective offices until their successors shall be duly

qualified.

(9) 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

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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,] 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. The Lieutenant Governor who holds office on the

passage of these constitutional amendments shall be entitled to

complete such term of office.

Section 3. (a) Upon 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 to permit publication

at least three months before the next general election.

(b) Upon the second passage of these proposed constitutional

amendments by the General Assembly, 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 to permit publication

at least three months before the next general election. The

Secretary of the Commonwealth shall submit these proposed

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constitutional amendments to the qualified electors of this

Commonwealth at the first general or municipal election

occurring at least three months after the proposed

constitutional amendments are passed by the General Assembly and

conforming to section 1 of Article XI of the Constitution of

Pennsylvania.

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