PRIOR PASSAGE - NONE
PRINTER'S NO. 1322
No. 1090 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY HART, EARLL, DENT, BELL AND KUKOVICH,
SEPTEMBER 16, 1999
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, SEPTEMBER 16, 1999
A JOINT RESOLUTION
1 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth
2 of Pennsylvania, authorizing the use of the initiative and
3 referendum as powers reserved to the people.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby resolves as follows:
6 Section 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of
7 Pennsylvania is proposed in accordance with Article XI:
8 That Article III be amended by adding a section to read:
9 § 33. Powers reserved to the people.
10 (a) Powers relating to initiative shall be as follows:
11 (1) The legislative power of this Commonwealth shall be
12 vested in the Senate and the House of Representatives, but the
13 people reserve to themselves the power to propose laws and to
14 adopt or reject the same at the polls, independent of the
15 General Assembly.
16 (2) The initiative is the power of the electors to propose
17 statutes and to adopt or reject them.
1 (3) An initiative measure may be proposed by presenting to
2 the Secretary of the Commonwealth a petition that sets forth the
3 text of the proposed statute and is certified by the Secretary
4 of the Commonwealth to have been signed by registered electors
5 equal in number to 8% of the votes for all candidates for
6 Governor at the last gubernatorial election.
7 (4) Signatures on initiative petitions must be obtained
8 within 180 days of the date on which the initiative measure was
9 first circulated for signatures.
10 (5) Signatures on initiative petitions must be obtained from
11 at least 5% of the registered electors in each of 22 counties in
12 this Commonwealth. No more than 25% of such signatures may be
13 obtained from residents of a single county.
14 (6) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall then submit the
15 measure at the next general, municipal or primary statewide
16 election held at least 90 days after the measure qualifies. The
17 Secretary of the Commonwealth shall only certify a measure
18 wherein all signatures on petitions are obtained and affixed to
19 the petitions for the measure during the same regular session of
20 the General Assembly.
21 (7) An initiative measure embracing more than one subject
22 may not be submitted to the electors or have any effect.
23 (8) No measure that relates to religion, religious practices
24 or religious institutions, or naming an individual to hold
25 office, or naming or identifying a private corporation to
26 perform a function or to have a power or duty, or appropriations
27 for the usual current expenses of the Commonwealth shall be
28 proposed by an initiative petition.
29 (b) Powers relating to referendum shall be as follows:
30 (1) The legislative power of this Commonwealth shall be
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1 vested in the Senate and the House of Representatives, but the
2 people reserve to themselves the power, at their own option, to
3 approve or reject statutes or parts of statutes passed by the
4 General Assembly.
5 (2) The referendum is the power of the electors to approve
6 or reject statutes or parts of statutes except statutes calling
7 elections or statutes providing for appropriations for the usual
8 current expenses of the Commonwealth.
9 (3) A referendum measure may be proposed by presenting to
10 the Secretary of the Commonwealth, within 120 days after the
11 enactment date of the statute, a petition certified to have been
12 signed by registered electors equal in number to 5% of the votes
13 for all candidates for Governor at the last gubernatorial
14 election asking that the statute or part of it be submitted to
15 the electors.
16 (4) Signatures on referendum petitions must be obtained from
17 at least 5% of the registered electors as of the date of the
18 last gubernatorial election in each of 22 counties in this
19 Commonwealth. No more than 25% of such signatures may be
20 obtained from residents of a single county.
21 (5) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall submit the
22 measure at the next general, municipal or primary statewide
23 election held at least 90 days after the measure qualifies.
24 (c) Provisions governing both initiative and referendum
25 shall be as follows:
26 (1) The General Assembly shall provide the manner in which
27 petitions shall be circulated, presented and certified and shall
28 require by law measures to insure full disclosure of
29 disbursements made and receipts obtained by parties who have an
30 interest in initiative and referendum measures and who have
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1 exceeded a statutory threshold for such disbursements and
2 receipts for any one initiative or referendum measure in each
3 election. The General Assembly shall also require by law
4 reasonable limits on contributions made to parties who have an
5 interest in the passage or defeat of an initiative or referendum
6 measure for each measure and in each election. The General
7 Assembly shall also require by law the full disclosure of any
8 disbursements made by a person or corporation from another state
9 to advocate the passage or defeat of an initiative or referendum
10 measure.
11 (2) An initiative or referendum petition, in order to be
12 eligible for certification by the Secretary of the Commonwealth,
13 shall first be signed by 200 registered electors of the
14 Commonwealth, who shall pay an administrative fee as established
15 by the General Assembly. If the Secretary of the Commonwealth
16 shall certify that the petition contains the entire text of the
17 measure, that the measure is not, either affirmatively or
18 negatively, substantially the same as any measure which has been
19 submitted to the electors in the previous five years and that it
20 contains only one subject which is not excluded from
21 consideration under this section, then the Secretary of the
22 Commonwealth shall provide blanks for the use of subsequent
23 signers and shall print at the top of each blank a fair, concise
24 summary, as determined by the Legislative Reference Bureau, of
25 the proposed measure as such summary will appear on the ballot.
26 (3) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall publish the
27 entire text of the measure, in as many newspapers of general
28 circulation as deemed by the Secretary of the Commonwealth to be
29 sufficient to give notice throughout the Commonwealth at least
30 20 days before the election in which the measure is presented to
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1 the electors.
2 (4) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall certify no more
3 than five initiative or referendum measures in an election. Each
4 measure shall be limited to only one subject. If more than five
5 measures are submitted to the Secretary of the Commonwealth in
6 one election, the five measures with the largest numbers of
7 signatures shall be certified. If two or more measures are
8 substantially similar in subject matter, whether or not they
9 conflict, only the measure with the largest number of signatures
10 shall be certified. The restriction regarding substantially
11 similar measures shall not apply to the Constitution of
12 Pennsylvania or to measures submitted through an act of the
13 General Assembly.
14 (5) An initiative statute or a referendum approved by a
15 majority of votes thereon takes effect 30 days after the
16 election unless the measure provides otherwise.
17 (6) No measure shall appear on the ballot in an election
18 more often than once in five years.
19 (7) For five years following the approval of an initiative
20 or referendum statute, the General Assembly may amend or repeal
21 the initiative or referendum statute only upon a vote of two-
22 thirds of the members elected to the Senate and the House of
23 Representatives.
24 (8) The veto power of the Governor shall not extend to an
25 initiative or referendum statute approved by the electors.
26 (d) Local initiative and referendum powers may be exercised
27 by the electors of each political subdivision under procedures
28 that the General Assembly shall provide.
29 Section 2. (a) Upon the first passage by the General
30 Assembly of this proposed constitutional amendment, the
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1 Secretary of the Commonwealth shall proceed immediately to
2 comply with the advertising requirements of section 1 of Article
3 XI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania and shall transmit the
4 required advertisements to two newspapers in every county in
5 which such newspapers are published in sufficient time after
6 passage of this proposed constitutional amendment.
7 (b) Upon the second passage by the General Assembly of this
8 proposed constitutional amendment, the Secretary of the
9 Commonwealth shall proceed immediately to comply with the
10 advertising requirements of section 1 of Article XI of the
11 Constitution of Pennsylvania and shall transmit the required
12 advertisements to two newspapers in every county in which such
13 newspapers are published in sufficient time after passage of
14 this proposed constitutional amendment. The Secretary of the
15 Commonwealth shall submit this proposed constitutional amendment
16 to the qualified electors of this Commonwealth at the first
17 primary, general or municipal election occurring at least three
18 months after the proposed constitutional amendment is passed by
19 the General Assembly which meets the requirements of and is in
20 conformance with section 1 of Article XI of the Constitution of
21 Pennsylvania.
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