PA Proposed Constitutional Amendments: What You Need to Know

On July 15th, the Pennsylvania legislature recessed until September after voting on a constitutional amendment package that would dramatically shift the balance of government power in Pennsylvania and call multiple rights into question, including the right to abortion healthcare. You can read our statement from last week here .

The League strongly opposes this bill package ( SB106 ) and is disappointed at the misuse of legislative power coming from Harrisburg. We are in the process of identifying different options for opposition, including speaking with lawmakers and coalition partners to develop a strategy to protect the rights of Pennsylvania citizens. As an organization founded to defend democracy, we will bring the strength of our network, power, and resources to this fight.

Here’s what you need to know: The bill ( SB106 ) contained FIVE proposed constitutional amendments which would greatly impact Pennsylvania citizens.

These amendments would:

  1. Declare that the state constitution does not grant any right relating to abortion, including no right to public funding for the procedure.Currently in PA, public funding is available for abortion only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest. This amendment not only adds a funding ban to the state constitution, but removes the right to abortion altogether. The Pennsylvania constitution is meant to grant rights, rather than explicitly remove them for over half of the population. The League will continue to advocate for those who can become pregnant to access abortion healthcare.
  2. Give the legislature power to stop any regulation with a simple majority that is not subject to governor signature or veto. Currently, regulations are crafted through a multi-step process that involves public and legislator input. This change would substantially alter the separation and balance of powers, as defined in the constitution. The greatest impact of this change would be to prevent environmental regulations such as the RGGI rule, on which the PA House and Senate passed Resolutions of Disapproval. These resolutions were vetoed by Gov. Wolf and as such, PA joined RGGI. If this proposed amendment had been part of the Constitution, then Gov. Wolf would not have been able to veto the resolution.
  3. Create additional voter ID requirements in a state with already strict voter ID law: Pennsylvanians must currently present a government-issued or student ID when they register to vote, or vote at a new location. As such, there is already a system in place to confirm voter identity. The justification for tightening voter ID rules is to prevent fraud. But significant voter fraud, especially voter impersonation, is virtually nonexistent . Furthermore, requiring voter ID does not require a constitutional amendment. Voter ID can - and should be - a change that is legislatively enacted by amending the Election Code.
  4. Imposes stricter residency and age requirements on new voters: The latest version of SB106 requires a 90-day residency within the Commonwealth (changed from 30 days) to vote. This means anyone who moves to Pennsylvania between August and November of an election year is denied their right to vote in a general election. It also bizarrely restates an old provision of PA law, which set the voting age at 21, which is out of date, as the 26th Amendment of the U.S. constitution sets the voting age at 18.
  5. Require that elections be audited by the PA Auditor General: The Pennsylvania Department of State is the office with election oversight. They already conduct risk-limiting audits to help affirm the integrity of the process. This amendment reinforces a lack of trust in election administration at both the county and state levels, and aims to shift power away from actual election officials and place it under the authority of another agency.
  6. Changes the selection process for Lieutenant Governor: this amendment would take power away from voters by eliminating the election of the Lt Governor and give it to political parties by giving them the power to choose the nominee. While the League of Women Voters of PA hasn’t studied this issue in depth, right now, the position of Lt Governor is more independent and the voters have a say. Making this position one that is selected by a political party seems to give more power to partisan politics and less to voters.

SB106 represents an attack on many of the issues the League has advocated for over the years, including the right to safely and easily vote and the right to bodily autonomy.

Furthermore, the passage of Senate Bill 106 is emblematic of how broken the legislative process in Harrisburg is. Legislative leaders manipulated long standing procedural rules to ram through a bill with multiple contentious topics AFTER 11 pm at night, late in the day, just before summer recess, with no public hearings, no genuine minority party input, and little opportunity for the public to engage or even see what was taking place.

Here’s what happens next:

What League members and supporters can do: It’s time to turn our anger into activism. The November election is just around the corner, and it’s our responsibility to speak up in the meantime. We need your voice to hold our legislators accountable for their actions.

This is a difficult time for Pennsylvanians, but the fight is far from over. Thank you for your commitment to making democracy work for everyone.