Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that transfers the authority over writing and advertising constitutional amendments from the Secretary of State to the state House of Representatives.

Highlights:

• Authorizes Amendments to the state constitution of Pennsylvania to be proposed in the Senate or House of Representatives; and if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each House, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on their journals with the yeas and nays taken thereon (Sec. 1).

• Establishes in the event a major emergency threatens or is about to threaten the Commonwealth and if the safety or welfare of the Commonwealth requires prompt amendment of this Constitution, such amendments to this Constitution may be proposed in the Senate or House of Representatives at any regular or special session of the General Assembly, and if agreed to by at least two-thirds of the members elected to each House, a proposed amendment to be entered on the journal of each House with the yeas and nays taken thereon (Sec. 1.a).

• Specifies if an emergency amendment is approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon, it shall become part of this Constitution. When 2 or more emergency amendments are submitted they shall be voted on separately (Sec. 1.b).

• Requires the second publication of a proposed amendment, or publication of a proposed emergency amendment, to include only the language of the amendment along with, as prepared by the Legislative Reference Bureau or a successor legislative agency prescribed by the General Assembly, both the question to be used on the ballot and a summary of the amendment (Sec. 1.c).

• Requires the Secretary of the Commonwealth to issue a report on the publication required under this law to the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives four months before the next general election (Sec. 2.a).

• Requires the Secretary of the Commonwealth to proceed immediately to comply with the advertising requirements of section 1 of Article XI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania and to 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 (Sec. 2.b).

Full Bill Text