What You Need to Know About PA’s Constitutional Amendment Package

From the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania (https://www.palwv.org/):

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 more power, including the right to disregard the Governor’s veto. This is a partisan response to the current legislature’s dissatisfaction with Governor Wolf’s veto record. The legislature is in effect granting itself more power than the executive by saying they can reject the veto power of the Governor. This upsets the longstanding system of checks and balances which define U.S. and PA governmental systems.
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. Impose stricter residency 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. Change the structure and powers of the Lieutenant Governor: This amendment would do two things: change the powers of the Lieutenant Governor, by eliminating their authority to break tie votes on final passage of a bill, and make the Lt. Governor a position that is not elected.

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, and a fair and responsive government held accountable to checks and balances.

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:

The General Assembly returns on September 12th for the House and September 19th for the Senate. In order for the bill to be implemented, it must pass again in the upcoming session of the General Assembly.

The amendment will then be placed on the ballot for Pennsylvanians to vote on. If the bill passes early in the next legislative session, these amendment questions could be on the May 2023 primary ballot.

Constitutional amendments like SB106 do not need the Governor’s signature to be signed, and the Governor cannot veto these amendments if they are approved by the voters.

It’s been decades since Pennsylvania voters rejected a ballot question. If these amendments make it to the ballot, there is a high likelihood that they would be approved.

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.

• Write a letter to the editor expressing your concern and advocating for a fair process. Find more tips for letters to the editor and op-eds here. While this may seem small, sharing your thoughts with your community can have a positive impact in inspiring others to do the same.
• Sign and share the Fix Harrisburg petition: The closed-door process that allowed this bill to pass is a clear example of the broken lawmaking process in Pennsylvania.
• Sign one of the League’s active petitions or letter campaigns and tell your legislators that it’s time to advocate for voting rights, fair elections, and reproductive choice.
• Subscribe to League emails so you never miss out on crucial updates on this issue.
• Donate to the League to help us continue our mission of empowering voters and defending democracy. We will need a wide berth of resources to fight on all fronts, and your support is greatly appreciated.
• Join your local League and lend your talents to our statewide grassroots network of advocates. If you’re already a member, consider joining a statewide committee to advocate for the democracy issues you care about. We will be actively working on this issue – join us!

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.