PRINTER'S NO. 500
No. 480 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY M. WHITE, PICCOLA, BOSCOLA, CONTI, ROBBINS, COSTA,
KUKOVICH, MELLOW, BELL, HOLL, WOZNIAK, THOMPSON, RHOADES,
MUSTO, O'PAKE, MURPHY AND LEMMOND, FEBRUARY 15, 2001
REFERRED TO RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS, FEBRUARY 15, 2001
AN ACT
1 Establishing the Consolidation Committee.
2 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
3 hereby enacts as follows:
4 Section 1. Short title.
5 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Consolidation
6 Committee Act.
7 Section 2. Declaration of policy.
8 The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
9 (1) Judges, lawyers, government officials and the
10 general public would be better able to understand, interpret,
11 implement and obey the laws of this Commonwealth if the
12 Commonwealth statutes were written in plain concise English
13 and organized by subject matter.
14 (2) The plan set forth in the act of November 25, 1970
15 (P.L.707, No.230), known as the Pennsylvania Consolidated
16 Statutes, provides a well-organized structure for the
17 Commonwealth's statutes.
1 (3) Since the enactment of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
2 Statutes, more than half the session laws of the Commonwealth
3 have not been codified into consolidated statutes
4 contemplated by that act.
5 (4) The principal obstacle to completing the
6 codification of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes is the
7 lack of oversight by the General Assembly to ensure the
8 quality of technical draftsmanship of this consolidation and
9 the enactment according to a schedule which will complete the
10 process within the next ten years.
11 Section 3. Definitions.
12 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
13 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
14 context clearly indicates otherwise:
15 "Bureau." The Legislative Reference Bureau.
16 "Commission." The Joint State Government Commission.
17 "Committee." The Consolidation Committee established in
18 section 4.
19 Section 4. Committee.
20 (a) Establishment.--The Consolidation Committee is
21 established as a joint committee of the General Assembly. The
22 committee shall be composed of 12 members of the General
23 Assembly:
24 (1) Six senators, three appointed by the Majority Leader
25 of the Senate and three appointed by the Minority Leader of
26 the Senate.
27 (2) Six representatives, three appointed by the Majority
28 Leader of the House of Representatives and three appointed by
29 the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
30 (b) Terms.--
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1 (1) A member shall serve a term of two years.
2 (2) A vacancy in office shall be filled for the
3 remainder of the term in the same manner as an original
4 appointment was made.
5 (c) Quorum.--Seven members constitute a quorum.
6 (d) Chair.--The members shall elect a chair from among the
7 members. The chair shall serve a term of two years.
8 (e) Staff.--The bureau and the commission shall serve as
9 staff for the committee.
10 (f) Outside assistance.--The committee may draw on the
11 expertise of the bar and the academic profession in this
12 Commonwealth.
13 Section 5. Program.
14 (a) Long term.--The committee shall set long-term goals for
15 the consolidation of all of the statutes of the Commonwealth.
16 (b) Short term.--For each session of the General Assembly,
17 the committee shall introduce at least one bill adding a part to
18 a title of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes.
19 (c) Report.--In September of each even-numbered year, the
20 committee shall make a progress report to the General Assembly.
21 Section 6. Effective date.
22 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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