The following proposed amendments to the Constitution of Pennsylvania were first approved by the General Assembly during the 1998 session (Joint Resolution 1998-3), and were approved by the General Assembly for the second time during the 2000 session (Joint Resolution 2000-1). Pursuant to Article XI, § 1 of the Constitution, the Secretary of the Commonwealth has caused the proposed amendments to be published here.

      Pursuant to Joint Resolution 2000-1, the Constitution and other laws, the Secretary will cause the proposed amendments to be presented to the electors of Pennsylvania in the form of ballot questions at the Primary Election to be held on Tuesday, May 15, 2001. If a ballot question is approved by a majority of the electors voting on it, the corresponding amendment becomes part of the Constitution.

      The underlined words in the proposed amendments would be added to the Constitution and the bracketed words would be deleted.

      Following each proposed amendment is the text of the question that will be placed on the ballot. Below each question is a Statement of the Attorney General, prepared according to statute, indicating the purpose, limitations and effects of the ballot question on the people of the Commonwealth.

      Anyone who needs help reading this advertisement or who needs the text of the advertisement in an alternative format may call or write the Pennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation, Room 210 North Office Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120, (717) 787-5280.

      Proposing amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, providing for the election of senators in certain circumstances; and further providing for retirement of justices, judges and justices of the peace.

      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby resolves as follows:

      Section 1. The following distinct amendments to the Constitution of Pennsylvania are proposed in accordance with Article XI:

      (1) That section 17 (f), (g) and (h) of Article II be amended and the section be amended by adding a subsection to read:

§ 17. Legislative Reapportionment Commission.

       (f) Any district which does not include the residence from which a member of the Senate was elected whether or not scheduled for election at the next general election shall elect a senator at such election.

       [(f)](g) The General Assembly shall appropriate sufficient funds for the compensation and expenses of members and staff appointed by the commission, and other necessary expenses. The members of the commission shall be entitled to such compensation for their services as the General Assembly from time to time shall determine, but no part thereof shall be paid until a preliminary plan is filed. If a preliminary plan is filed but the commission fails to file a revised or final plan within the time prescribed, the commission members shall forfeit all right to compensation not paid.

       [(g)](h) If a preliminary, revised or final reapportionment plan is not filed by the commission within the time prescribed by this section, unless the time be extended by the Supreme Court for cause shown, the Supreme Court shall immediately proceed on its own motion to reapportion the Commonwealth.

       [(h)](i) Any reapportionment plan filed by the commission, or ordered or prepared by the Supreme Court upon the failure of the commission to act, shall be published by the elections officer once in at least one newspaper of general circulation in each senatorial and representative district. The publication shall contain a map of the Commonwealth showing the complete reapportionment of the General Assembly by districts, and a map showing the reapportionment districts in the area normally served by the newspaper in which the publication is made. The publication shall also state the population of the senatorial and representative districts having the smallest and largest population and the percentage variation of such districts from the average population for senatorial and representative districts.

       Shall the Constitution of Pennsylvania be amended with regard to legislative reapportionment to provide that when a reapportionment plan, upon attaining the force of law, contains a state senate district which does not include the residence from which an incumbent senator was elected, an election for the office of senator for that district shall be held at the next general election irrespective of when an election for the district is otherwise scheduled?

Statement of the Attorney General Regarding the First Amendment to the Constitution of Pennsylvania Proposed by Joint Resolution 2000-1 Providing for Election of Senators in Reapportioned Senatorial Districts

       The purpose of the ballot question is to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to address a particular possible consequence of the reapportionment of the legislative districts of the Commonwealth.

       The Pennsylvania Constitution provides that, following each decennial federal census, a Legislative Reapportionment Commission shall be constituted to prepare a reapportionment plan for each of Pennsylvania’s state senatorial and representative districts in response to changes in population.

       The Pennsylvania Constitution also provides for the terms and qualifications of members of the General Assembly. It provides that state senators shall be elected for terms of four years. It requires that they live in their respective districts for one year preceding their election, and that they reside in their respective districts during their terms of service.

       State senators are elected at general elections, which are held in even-numbered years. Voters in odd-numbered senatorial districts elect their senators at one general election. Voters in even-numbered senatorial districts elect their senators at the next general election.

       The proposed amendment would address the following situation. A reapportionment plan redraws a senatorial district. The newly drawn district does not contain the residence from which the senator who represented the previously drawn district was elected, and the newly drawn district is not scheduled to elect a senator at the next general election.

       The effect of the proposed amendment would be to assure the voters in a senatorial district presented with this situation the opportunity to elect a senator at the next general election. The senator so elected would serve the final two years of the senatorial term for that district.

       A limitation of the proposed amendment is that it would apply only to senatorial districts, and not to districts of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Members of the House are elected to two-year terms at every general election.

       (2) That Section 16 (b) of Article V be amended to read:

§ 16. Compensation and retirement of justices, judges and justices of the peace.

       (b) Justices, judges and justices of the peace shall be retired [upon attaining] on the last day of the calendar year in which they attain the age of 70 years. Former and retired justices, judges and justices of the peace shall receive such compensation as shall be provided by law. Except as provided by law, no salary, retirement benefit or other compensation, present or deferred, shall be paid to any justice, judge or justice of the peace who, under section 18 or under Article VI, is suspended, removed or barred from holding judicial office for conviction of a felony or misconduct in office or conduct which prejudices the proper administration of justice or brings the judicial office into disrepute.