Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 1874/Amendments

Section 15: Special Criminal Tribunals.
No commission shall issue creating special temporary criminal tribunals to try particular individuals or particular classes of cases. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws. 1035]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 19: Attainder Limited.
No attainder shall work corruption of blood, nor, except during the life of the offender, forfeiture of estate to the Commonwealth. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1035]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16,1967

Section 25: Reservation of Powers in People.
To guard against the transgressions of the high powers which we have delegated, we declare that everything in this article is excepted out of the general powers of government and shall forever remain inviolate. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1035]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 26: No Discrimination by Commonwealth and Its Political Subdivisions.
Neither the Commonwealth nor any political subdivision thereof shall deny to any person the enjoyment of any civil right, nor discriminate against any person in the exercise of any civil right. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1035]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 4: Sessions.
The General Assembly shall meet at twelve o'clock noon on the first Tuesday of January of the year following such adoption, and shall meet at such time annually thereafter, and at other times when convened by the Governor. At regular sessions convening in even-numbered years the General Assembly shall not enact any laws, except laws raising revenue and laws making appropriations. [Source: 1959 Pa. Laws 2158]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 3, 1959

Section 4: Sessions.
The General Assembly shall be a continuing body during the term for which its Representatives are elected. It shall meet at twelve o'clock noon on the first Tuesday of January each year. Special sessions shall be called by the Governor on petition of a majority of the members elected to each House or may be called by the Governor whenever in his opinion the public interest requires. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1036]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 6: Disqualification to Hold Other Office.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under this Commonwealth to which a salary, fee of perquisite is attached. No member of Congress or other person holding any office (except of attorney-at law or in the national guard or in a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States) under the United States of this Commonwealth to which a salary, fee or perquisite is attached shall be a member of either House during his continuance in office. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1036]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 2: Reference to Committee; Printing.
No bill shall be considered unless referred to a committee, printed for the use of the members and returned therefrom. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 3: Form of Bills.
No bill shall be passed containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title, except a general appropriation bill or a bill codifying or compiling the law or a part thereof.[Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967.

Section 4: Consideration of Bills.
Every bill shall be considered on three different days in each House. All amendments made thereto shall be printed for the use of the members before the final vote is taken on the bill and before the final vote is taken, upon written request addressed to the presiding officer of either House by at least twenty-five percent of the members elected to that House, any bill shall be read at length in that House. No bill shall become a law, unless on its final passage the vote is taken by yeas and nays, the names of the persons voting for and against it are entered on the journal, and a majority of the members elected to each House is recorded thereon as voting in its favor. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967.

Section 7: Certain Special and Local Laws.
The General Assembly shall pass no local or special law in any case which has been or can be provided for by general law and specifically the General assembly shall not pass any local or special law.
 * 1. Regulating the affairs of counties, cities, townships, wards, boroughs, or school districts:
 * 2. Vacating roads, town plats, streets or alleys:
 * 3. Locating or changing county seats, erecting new counties or changing county lines:
 * 4. Erecting new townships or boroughs, changing township lines, borough limits or school districts:
 * 5. Remitting fines, penalties and forfeitures, or refunding moneys legally paid into the treasury:
 * 6. Exempting property from taxation:
 * 7. Regulating labor, trade, mining or manufacturing:
 * 8. Creating corporations, or amending, renewing or extending the charters thereof: Nor shall the General Assembly indirectly enact any special or local law by the partial repeal of a general law; but laws repealing local or special acts may be passed. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 32, Certain Special and Local Laws.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 8
Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 7. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 9
Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 8. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 10
Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 17. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 11: Extra Compensation Prohibited.
No bill shall be passed giving any extra compensation to any public officer, servant, employe, agent or contractor, after services shall have been rendered or contract made, nor providing for the payment of any claim against the Commonwealth, without previous authority of law. [Source: 1955 Pa. Laws 2055]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 8, 1955

Section 11
Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 26. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 12
REPEALED, MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Section 13
Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 27. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 14
Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 10. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 15: Appropriations.
The general appropriation bill shall embrace nothing but appropriations for the executive,legislative and judicial departments of the Commonwealth, for the public debt and for public schools. All other appropriations shall be made by separate bills, each embracing but one subject. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Renumbered as Section 11.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 16: Paying Out Public Moneys.
No money shall be paid out of the treasury, except on appropriations made by law and on warrant issued by the proper officer; but cash refunds of taxes, licenses, fees and other charges paid or collected, but not legally due, may be paid, as provided by law, without appropriation from the fund into which they were paid, on warrant of the proper officer. [Source: 1961 Pa. Laws 1783]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1961

Section 16
Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 24. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 17
Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 30. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 18: Certain Appropriations Forbidden.
No appropriations, except for pensions or gratuities for military services and to blind persons twenty-one years of age and upwards, shall be made for charitable, educational or benevolent purposes, to any person or community, nor to any denominational or sectarian institution, corporation or association. [Source: 1933 Pa. Laws 1557]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1933

Section 18: Certain Appropriations Forbidden.
No appropriation shall be made for charitable, educational or benevolent purposes to any person or community nor to any denominational or sectarian institution, corporation or association: Provided, That appropriations may be made for pensions or gratuities for military services, and to blind persons twenty-one years of age and upwards, and for assistance to mothers having dependent children, and to aged persons without adequate means of support. [Source: 1937 Pa. Laws 2875]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1937

Section 18: Certain Appropriations Forbidden.
No appropriation shall be made for charitable, educational or benevolent purposes to any person or community nor to any denominational or sectarian institution, corporation or association: Provided, That appropriations may be made for pensions or gratuities for military service and to blind persons twenty-one years of age and upwards, and for assistance to mothers having dependent children and to aged persons without adequate means of support, and in the form of scholarship grants or loans for higher educational purposes to residents of the Commonwealth enrolled in institutions of higher learning, except that no scholarship, grants or loans for higher educational purposes shall be given to persons enrolled in a theological seminary or school of theology. [Source: 1963 Pa. Laws 1401]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 5, 1963

Section 18
Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 29. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 19: Appropriations for Support of Widows and Orphans of Persons Who Served in the Armed Forces.
The General Assembly may make appropriations of money to institutions wherein the widows of persons who served in the armed forces are supported or assisted, or the orphans of persons who served in the armed forces are maintained and educated; but such appropriations shall be applied exclusively to the support of such widows and orphans. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 20: Delegation of Certain Powers Prohibited.
The General Assembly shall not delegate to any special commission, private corporation or association, any power to make, supervise or interfere with any municipal improvement, money, property or effects, whether held in trust or otherwise, or to levy taxes or perform any municipal function whatever. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 31.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 21: Employers Liability.
Workmen's Compensation. Damages for Injuries to Person or Property. Section 21. The General Assembly may enact laws requiring the payment by employers, or employers and employes jointly, of reasonable compensation for injuries to employes arising in the course of their employment, and for occupational diseases of employes, whether or not such injuries or diseases result in death, and regardless of fault of employer or employe, and fixing the basis of ascertainment of such compensation and the maximum and minimum limits thereof, and providing special or general remedies for the collection thereof; but in no other cases shall the General Assembly limit the amount to be recovered for injuries resulting in death, or for injuries to persons or property, and in case of death from such injuries, the right of action shall survive, and the General Assembly shall prescribe for whose benefit such actions shall be prosecuted. No act shall prescribe any limitations of time within which suits may be brought against corporations for injuries to persons or property, or for other causes, different from those fixed by general laws regulating actions against natural persons, and such acts now existing are avoided. [Source: 1915 Pa. Laws 1103]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1915

Section 21
Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 18. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 22: Investment of Trust Funds.
The General Assembly may, from time to time, by law, prescribe the nature and kind of investments for trust funds to be made to executors, administrators, trustees, guardians and other fiduciaries. [Source: 1933 Pa. Laws 1558]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1933

Section 22
REPEALED, MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Section 22: State Purchases.
The General Assembly shall maintain by law a system of competitive bidding under which all purchases of materials, printing, supplies or other personal property used by the government of this Commonwealth shall so far as practicable be made. The law shall provide that no officer or employee of the Commonwealth shall be in any way interested in any purchase made by the Commonwealth under contract or otherwise. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 24
REPEALED, MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Section 25
Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 12. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 26
Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 9. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 27
REPEALED, MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Section 28: Change of Permanent Location of State Capital.
No law changing the permanent location of the Capital of the State shall be valid until the same shall have been submitted to the qualified electors of the Commonwealth at a general election and ratified and approved by them. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 29
REPEALED, MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Section 30
REPEALED, MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Section 31
REPEALED, MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Section 31: Delegation of Certain Powers Prohibited.
The General Assembly shall not delegate to any special commission, private corporation or association, any power to make, supervise or interfere with any municipal improvement, money, property or effects, whether held in trust or otherwise, or to levy taxes or perform any municipal function whatever. Notwithstanding the foregoing limitation or any other provision of the Constitution, the General Assembly may enact laws which provide that the findings of panels or commissions, selected and acting in accordance with law for the adjustment or settlement of grievances or disputes or for collective bargaining between policemen and firemen and their public employers shall be binding upon all parties and shall constitute a mandate to the head of the political subdivision which is the employer or to the appropriate officer of the Commonwealth if the Commonwealth is the employer, with respect to matters which can be remedied by administrative action, and to the lawmaking body of such political subdivision or of the Commonwealth, with respect to matters which require legislative action, to take the action necessary to carry out such findings. [Source: ]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1967

Section 32
REPEALED, MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Section 33
Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 13. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 34: Classification of Counties, Cities, Boroughs, School Districts and Townships.
The Legislature shall have power to classify counties, cities, boroughs, school districts and townships according to population, and all laws passed relating to each class, and all laws passed relating to, and regulating procedure and proceedings in court with reference to, any class, shall be deemed general legislation within the meaning of this Constitution; but counties shall not be divided into more than eight classes, cities into not more than seven classes, school districts into not more than five classes, and boroughs into not more than three classes. [Source: 1923 Pa. Laws 1119]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1923

Section 34: Classification of Municipalities.
The Legislature shall have power to classify counties, cities, boroughs, school districts, and townships according to population, and all laws passed relating to each class, and all laws passed relating to, and regulating procedure and proceedings in court with reference to, any class, shall be deemed general legislation within the meaning of this Constitution. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Renumbered as ARTICLE III. Section 20.

Section 35: Emergency Government in Case of Attack.
(a)The General Assembly may provide, by law, during any session, for the continuity of the executive, legislative and judicial functions of the government of the Commonwealth, and its political subdivisions, and the establishment of emergency seats thereof. Such legislation shall become effective in the event of an attack by an enemy of the United States.

(b) No law shall be held to be invalid for the sole reason that it was enacted prior to the effective date of this amendment. [Source: 1963 Pa. Laws 1401]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 5, 1963

Section 35: Emergency Seats of Government.
The General Assembly may provide, by law, during any session, for the continuity of the executive, legislative, and judicial functions of the government of the Commonwealth, and its political subdivisions, and the establishment of emergency seats thereof and any such laws heretofore enacted are validated. Such legislation shall become effective in the event of an attack by an enemy of the United States. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 25

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 1: Executive Department.
The Executive Department of this Commonwealth shall consist of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Auditor General, State Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction and such other officers as the General Assembly may from time to time prescribe. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 3: Terms of Office of Governor; Number of Terms.
The Governor shall hold his office during four years from the third Tuesday of January new ensuing his election. Except for the Governor who may be in office when this amendment is adopted, he shall be eligible to succeed himself for one additional term. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 4: Lieutenant Governor.
A Lieutenant Governor shall be chosen jointly with the Governor by the casting by each voter of a single vote applicable to both offices, for the same term, and subject to the same provisions as the Governor; he shall be President of the Senate. As such, he may vote in case of a tie on any question except the final passage of a bill or joint resolution, the adoption of a conference report or the concurrence in amendments made by the House of Representatives. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 5: Qualifications of Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General.
No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor or Attorney General except a citizen of the United States, who shall have attained the age of thirty years, and have been seven years next preceding his election an inhabitant of this Commonwealth, unless he shall have been absent on the public business of the United States or of this Commonwealth. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 6: Disqualification for Offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor.
No member of Congress or person holding any office (except of attorney-at-law or in the National Guard or in a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States) under the United States or this Commonwealth shall exercise the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 7: Military Power.
The Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the military forces of the Commonwealth, except when they shall be called into actual service of the United States. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 8: Appointing Power of Governor. Vacancies. Confirmation by Senate.
He shall nominate and, by and with the consent of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate, appoint a Secretary of the Commonwealth and an Attorney General during pleasure, a Superintendent of Public Instruction for four years, and such other officers of the Commonwealth as he is or may be authorized by the Constitution or by law to appoint; he shall have power to fill all vacancies that may happen, in offices to which he may appoint, during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session; he shall have power to fill any vacancy that may happen, during the recess of the Senate, in the office of Auditor General, State Treasurer, Secretary of Internal Affairs or Superintendent of Public Instruction, in a judicial office, or in any other elective office which he is or may be authorized to fill; if the vacancy shall happen during the session of the Senate, the Governor shall nominate to the Senate, before their final adjournment, a proper person to fill said vacancy; but in any such case of vacancy, in an elective office a person shall be chosen to said office on the next election day appropriate to such office according to the provisions of this Constitution, unless the vacancy shall happen within two calendar months immediately preceding such election day, in which case the election for said office shall be held on the second succeeding election day appropriate to such office. In acting on executive nominations the Senate shall sit with open doors, and, in confirming or rejecting the nominations of the Governor, the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays and shall be entered on the journal. [Source: 1909 Pa. Laws 948]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1909

Section 8: Appointing Power.
(a) The Governor shall appoint an Attorney General, a Superintendent of Public Instruction and such other officers as may be specified by law, shall be subject to the consent of two-thirds of the members elected to the Senate.

(b) Except as may nor or hereafter be otherwise provided in this Constitution as to appellate and other judges, he may, during the recess of the Senate, fill vacancies happening in offices in which he appoints by granting commissions expiring at the end of its session and fill offices in the office of the Auditor General or State Treasurer or in any other elective office he is authorized to fill. If the vacancy happens during the session of the Senate except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, he shall nominate to the Senate, before its final adjournment, a proper person to fill the vacancy. In the case of an elective office, a person shall be elected to the office on the next election day appropriate to the office unless the vacancy happens within two calendar months immediately preceding the election day in which case the election shall be held on the second succeeding election day appropriate to the office.

(c) In acting on executive nominations, the Senate shall sit with open doors. The votes shall be taken by yeas and nays and shall be entered on the journal. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 9: Pardoning Power; Board of Pardons.
(a) In all criminal cases except impeachment, the Governor shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, to grant reprieves, commutation of sentences and pardons; but no pardon shall be granted, nor sentence commuted, except on the recommendation in writing of a majority of the Board of Pardons, after full hearing in open session, upon due public notice. The recommendation, with the reasons therefor at length, shall be delivered to the Governor and a copy thereof shall be kept on file in the office of the Lieutenant Governor in a docket kept for that purpose.

(b) The Board of Pardons shall consist of the Lieutenant Governor who shall be chairman, the Attorney General and three members appointed by the Governor with the consent of two-thirds of the members elected to the Senate, one for two years, one for four years, and one for six years, and thereafter for full terms of six years. The three members appointed by the Governor shall be residents of Pennsylvania and shall be recognized leaders in their fields; one shall be a member of the bar, one a penologist, and the third a doctor of medicine, psychiatrist or psychologist. The board shall keep records of its actions, which shall at all times be open for public inspection [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 10: Information from Department Officials.
The Governor may require information in writing from the officers of the Executive Department, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 13: When Lieutenant Governor to Act as Governor.
In the case of the death, conviction on impeachment, failure to qualify or resignation of the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor shall become Governor for the remainder of the term and in the case of the disability of the Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon the Lieutenant Governor until the disability is removed. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 14: Vacancy in Office of Lieutenant Governor.
In case of the death, conviction on impeachment, failure to qualify or resignation of the Lieutenant Governor, or in case he should become Governor under the preceding section, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall become Lieutenant Governor for the remainder of the term. In case of the disability of the Lieutenant Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon the President Pro Tempore of the Senate until the disability is removed. Should there be no Lieutenant Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall become Governor if a vacancy shall occur in the office of Governor and in case of the disability of the Governor, the powers, duties and emoluments of the office shall devolve upon the President Pro Tempore of the Senate until the disability is removed. His seat as Senator shall become vacant whenever he shall become Governor and shall be filled by election as any other vacancy in Senate. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 18
REPEALED ON MAY 16, 1967. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

Section 18: Terms of Office of Auditor General and State Treasurer; Number of Terms; Eligibility of State Treasurer to become Auditor General.
The terms of the Auditor General and of the State Treasurer shall each be four years from the third Tuesday of January next ensuing his election. They shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the Commonwealth at general elections but shall not be eligible to serve continuously for more than two successive terms. The State Treasurer shall not be eligible to the office of Auditor General until fours years after he has been State Treasurer. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 19
REPEALED ON MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

Section 20
REPEALED ON MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

Section 21: Term of Executive Department Officers. Ineligibility to Re-election.
The terms of the Secretary of Internal Affairs, the Auditor General, and the State Treasurer shall each be four years; and they shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the State at general elections; but a State Treasurer, elected in the year one thousand nine hundred and nine, shall serve for three years, and his successors shall be elected at the general election in the year one thousand nine hundred and twelve, and in every fourth year thereafter. No person elected to the office of Auditor General or State Treasurer shall be capable of holding the same office for two consecutive terms. [Source: 1909 Pa. Laws 948]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 9, 1909

Section 21: Terms of Office of Secretary of Internal Affairs, Auditor General and State Treasurer.
The terms of the Secretary of Internal Affairs, the Auditor General, and the State Treasurer, shall each be four years. The term of the Secretary of Internal Affairs shall be from the third Tuesday of January next following his election. They shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the State at general elections. No person elected to the office of Auditor General or State Treasurer shall be capable of holding the same office for two consecutive terms. [Source: 1961 Pa. Laws 1784]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1961

Section 21
REPEALED ON MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

Section 22: State Seal; Commission.
The present Great Seal of Pennsylvania shall be the seal of the State. All commissions shall be in the name and by authority of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and be sealed with the State seal and signed by the Governor.[Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

Renumbered as ARTICLE IV, Section 19.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Schedule of Amendments of May 16, 1967
That no incovenience may arise from changes in article IV of the Constitution of the Commonwealth, it is hereby declared that the State Treasurer and Auditor General first elected after this amended article becomes effective shall serve terms beginning the first Tuesday in May next following their election and expiring four years from the first Tuesday in January next ensuing their election. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1044]

Section 6: Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia and Allegheny County.
In the county of Philadelphia all the jurisdiction and powers now vested in the district courts and courts of common pleas, subject to such changes as may be made by this Constitution or by law, shall be in Philadelphia vested in five distinct and separate courts of equal and co-ordinate jurisdiction, composed of three judges each. The said courts in Philadelphia shall be designated respectively as the court of common pleas number one, number two, number three, number four, and number five, but the number of said courts may be by law increased, from time to time, and shall be in like manner designated by consecutive numbers. The number of judges in any of said courts, or in any county where the establishment of an additional court may be authorized by law, may be increased, from time to time, and whenever such increase shall amount in the whole to three, such three judges shall compose a distinct and separate court as aforesaid, which shall be numbered as aforesaid. In Philadelphia all suits shall be instituted in the said courts of common pleas without designating the number of the said court, and the several courts shall distribute and apportion the business among them in such manner as shall be provided by rules of court, and each court, to which any suit shall be thus assigned, shall have exclusive jurisdiction thereof, subject to change of venue, as shall be provided by law. In the county of Allegheny all the jurisdiction and powers now vested in the several numbered courts of common pleas shall be vested in one court of common pleas, composed of all the judges in commission in said courts. Such jurisdiction and power shall extend to all proceedings at law and in equity which shall have been instituted in the several numbered courts, and shall be subject to such changes as may be made by law, and subject to change of venue as provided by law. The president judge of said court shall be selected as provided by law. The number of judges in said court may be by law increased from time to time. This amendment shall take effect on the first day of January succeeding its adoption. [Source: 1911 Pa. Laws 1161]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1911.

Section 11: Justices of the Peace. Aldermen. Term. Residence.
Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, justices of the peace or aldermen shall be elected in the several wards, districts, boroughs or townships, by the qualified electors thereof, at the municipal election, in such manner as shall be directed by law, and shall be commissioned by the Governor for a term of six years. No township, ward, district or borough shall elect more than two justices of the peace or aldermen without the consent of a majority of the qualified electors within such township, ward or borough; no person shall be elected to such office unless he shall have resided within the township, borough, ward or district for one year next preceding his election. In cities containing over fifty thousand inhabitants, not more than one alderman shall be elected in each ward or district. [Source: 1909 Pa. Laws 948]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1909.

Section 12: Magistrates' Courts in Philadelphia. Election. Term. Salaries. Jurisdiction.
In Philadelphia there shall be established, for each thirty thousand inhabitants, one court, not of record, of police and civil causes, with jurisdiction not exceeding one hundred dollars; such courts shall be held by magistrates whose term of office shall be six years, and they shall be elected on general ticket at the municipal election, by the qualified voters at large; and in the election of the said magistrates no voter shall vote for more than two-thirds of the number of persons to be elected when more than one are to be chosen; they shall be compensated only by fixed salaries to be paid by said county; and shall exercise such jurisdiction, civil and criminal, except as herein provided, as is now exercised by aldermen, subject to such changes, not involving an increase of civil jurisdiction or conferring political duties, as may be made by law. In Philadelphia the office of alderman is abolished. [Source: 1909 Pa. Laws 948]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1909

Section 1: Qualifications of Electors.
Every male citizen twenty-one years of age, possessing the following qualifications, shall be entitled to vote at all elections, subject however to such laws requiring and regulating the registration of electors as the General Assembly may enact:
 * 1. He shall have been a citizen of the United States at least one month.
 * 2. He shall have resided in the State one year (or, having previously been a qualified elector or native born citizen of the State, he shall have removed therefrom and returned, then six months) immediately preceding the election.
 * 3. He shall have resided in the election district where he shall offer to vote at least two months immediately preceding the election.
 * 4. If twenty-two years of age and upwards, he shall have paid within two years a State or county tax, which shall have been assessed at least two months and paid at least one month before the election. [Source: 1901 Pa. Laws 881]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 5, 1901

Section 1: Qualifications of Electors.
Every citizen twenty-one years of age, possessing the following qualifications, shall be entitled to vote at all elections, subject, however, to such laws requiring and regulating the registration of electors as the General Assembly may enact. 1. He or she shall have been a citizen of the United States at least one month. 2. He or she shall have resided in the State one year (or, having previously been a qualified elector or native born citizen of the State, he or she shall have removed therefrom and returned, then six months) immediately preceding the election. 3. He or she shall have resided in the election district where he or she shall offer to vote at least two months immediately preceding the election. [Source: 1933 Pa. Laws 1559]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1933

Section 1: Qualifications of Electors.
Every citizen twenty-one years of age, possessing the following qualifications, shall be entitled to vote at all elections subject, however, to such laws requiring and regulating the registration of electors as the General Assembly may enact. 1. He or she shall have been a citizen of the United States at least one month. 2. He or she shall have resided in the State one year (or, having previously been a qualified elector or native born citizen of the State, he or she shall have removed therefrom and returned, then six months) immediately preceding the election. 3. He or she shall have resided in the election district where he or she shall offer to vote at least sixty days immediately preceding the election, except that if qualified to vote in an election district prior to removal of residence, he or she may, if a resident of Pennsylvania, vote in the election district from which he or she removed his or her residence within sixty days preceding the election. [Source: 1959 Pa. Laws 2160]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 3, 1959

Section 1: Qualifications of Electors.
Every citizen 21 years of age, possessing the following qualifications, shall be entitled to vote at all elections subject, however, to such laws requiring and regulating the registration of electors as the General Assembly may enact. 1. He or she shall have been a citizen of the United States at least one month. 2. He or she shall have resided in the State ninety (90) days immediately preceding the election. 3. He or she shall have resided in the election district where he or she shall offer to vote at least sixty (60) days immediately preceding the election, except that if qualified to vote in an election district prior to removal of residence, he or she may, if a resident of Pennsylvania, vote in the election district from which he or she removed his or her residence within sixty (60) days preceding the election. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 2: General Elections.
The general election shall be held biennially on the Tuesday next following the first Monday of November in each even- numbered year, but the General Assembly may be law fix a different day, two-thirds of all the members of each House consenting thereto: Provided, That such election shall always be held in an even-numbered year. [Source 1909 Pa. Laws 948]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1909

Section 2: General Election Day.
The general election shall be held biennially on the Tuesday next following the first Monday of November in each even-numbered year, but the General Assembly may by law fix a different day, two-thirds of all the members of each House consenting thereto: Provided, that such election shall always be held in an even-numbered year. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 3: Municipal Elections. Election of Judges and County Officers.
All judged elected by the electors of the State at large may be elected at either a general or municipal election, as circumstances may require. All elections for judges of the courts for the several judicial districts, and for county, city, ward, borough, and township officers, for regular terms of service, shall be held on the municipal election day; namely, the Tuesday next following the first Monday of November in each odd-numbered year, but the General Assembly may by law fix a different day, two-thirds of all the members of each House consenting thereto: Provided, That such elections shall always be held in an odd-numbered year. [Source: 1909 Pa. Laws 948]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1909

Section 3: Municipal Elections. Election of Judges and County Officers.
All judged elected by the electors of the State at large may be elected at either a general or municipal election, as circumstances may require. All elections for judges of the courts for the several judicial districts, and for county, city, ward, borough, and township officers, for regular terms of service, shall be held on the municipal election day; namely, the Tuesday next following the first Monday of November in each odd-numbered year, but the General Assembly may by law fix a different day, two-thirds of all the members of each House consenting thereto: Provided, That such elections shall be held in an odd-numbered year: Provided further, That all judges for the courts of the several judicial districts holding office at the present time, whose terms of office may end in an odd-numbered year, shall continue to hold their offices until the first Monday of January in the next succeeding even-numbered year. [Source: 1913 Pa. Laws 1477]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 4, 1913

Section 3: Municipal Election Day; Offices to be Filled on Election Day.
All judged elected by the electors of the State at large may be elected at either a general or municipal election, as circumstances may require. All elections for judges of the courts for the several judicial districts, and for county, city, ward, borough, and township officers, for regular terms of service, shall be held on the municipal election day; namely, the Tuesday next following the first Monday of November in each odd-numbered year, but the General Assembly may by law fix a different day, two-thirds of all the members of each House consenting thereto: Provided, That such elections shall be held in an odd-numbered year: Provided further, That all judges for the courts of the several judicial districts holding office at the present time, whose terms of office may end in an odd-numbered year, shall continue to hold their offices until the first Monday of January in the next succeeding even-numbered year. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 4: Method of Conducting Elections. Secrecy.
All elections by the citizens shall be by ballot or by such other method as may be prescribed by law: Provided, That secrecy in voting be preserved. [Source: 1901 Pa. Laws 882]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 5, 1901

Section 6
REPEALED ON MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

Section 7: Uniformity of Election Laws. Registration of Electors.
All laws regulating the holding of elections by the citizens or for the registration of electors shall be uniform throughout the State, but laws regulating and requiring the registration of electors may be enacted to apply to cities only, provided that such laws be uniform for cities of the same class. [Source: 1901 Pa. Laws 881]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 5, 1901

Section 7: Election and Registration Laws; Voting Machines.
All laws regulating the holding of elections by the citizens, or for the registration of electors, shall be uniform throughout the State, except that laws regulating and requiring the registration of electors may be enacted to apply to cities only, provided that such laws be uniform for cities of the same class, and except further, that the General Assembly shall, by general law, permit the use of voting machines, or other mechanical devices for registering or recording and computing the vote, at all elections or primaries, in any county, city, borough or township of the Commonwealth, at the option of the electors of such county, city, borough or township, without being obliged to require the use of such voting machines or mechanical devices in any other county, city, borough or township, under such regulations with reference thereto as the General Assembly may from time to time prescribe. The General Assembly may from time to time prescribe the number and duties of election officers in any political subdivision of the Commonwealth in which voting machines or other mechanical devices authorized by this section may be used. [Source: 1927 Pa. Laws 1050]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1928

Section 7: Election and Registration Laws.
All laws regulating the holding of elections by the citizens, or for the registration of electors, shall be uniform throughout the State, except that laws regulating and requiring the registration of electors may be enacted to apply to cities only, provided that such laws be uniform for cities of the same class, and except further, that the General Assembly shall by general law, permit the use of voting machines, or other mechanical devices for registering or recording and computing the vote, at all elections or primaries, in any county, city, borough, incorporated town or township of the Commonwealth, at the option of the electors of such county, city, borough, incorporated town or township, without being obliged to require the use of such voting machines or mechanical devices in any other county, city, borough, incorporated town or township, under such regulations with reference thereto as the General Assembly may from time to time prescribe. The General Assembly may, from time to time, prescribe the number and duties of election officers in any political subdivision of the Commonwealth in which voting machines or other mechanical devices authorized by this section may be used. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

Section 7 renumbered as Section 6.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 8
AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967 Renumbered to ARTICLE VIII, Section 7.[Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

Section 9
REPEALED ON MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

Section 10
Renumbered to ARTICLE VIII, Section 8.[Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 11: Fixing Election Districts.
Townships and wards of cities or boroughs, shall form or be divided into election district of compact and contiguous territory, in such manner as the court of quarter sessions of the city or county in which the same are located may direct; but the courts of quarter sessions, having jurisdiction therein, shall have power to divide or change the the boundaries of election districts whenever the court of the proper county shall be of opinion that the convenience of the electors and the public interests will be promoted thereby. [Source: 1927 Pa. Laws 1043]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1928

Section 11: Fixing Election Districts.
Townships and wards of cities and boroughs shall form or be divided into election districts of compact and contiguous territory and their boundaries fixed and changed in such manner as may be provided by law. [Source: 1943 Pa. Laws 917]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1943

Section 11
Renumbered as ARTICLE VIII, Section 9. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 12: Viva Voce Elections.
All elections by persons in a representative capacity shall be viva voce or by automatic recording device publicly indicating how each person voted. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

Renumbered as ARTICLE VIII, Section 10.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 13
REPEALED ON MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

Section 14: District Election Officers.
District election boards shall consist of a judge and two inspectors, who shall be chosen at municipal elections for such terms as may be provided by law. Each elector shall have the right to vote for the judge and one inspector, and each inspector shall appoint one clerk. The first election board for any new district shall be selected, and vacancies in election boards filled, a shall be provided by law. Election officers shall be privileged from arrest upon days of election, and while engaged in making up and transmitting returns, except upon a warrant of a court of record or judge thereof, for an election fraud, for felony, or for wanton breach of the peace. In cities they may claim exemption from jury duty during their tenure of service. [Source: 1945 Pa. Laws 1419]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1945

Section 14: Election Officers.
District election boards shall consist of a judge and two inspectors, who shall be chosen at municipal elections for such terms as may be provided by law. Each elector shall have the right to vote for the judge and one inspector, and each inspector shall appoint one clerk. The first election board for any new district shall be selected, and vacancies in election boards filled, as shall be provided by law Election officers shall be privileged from arrest upon days of election, and while engaged in making up and transmitting returns, except upon warrant of a court of record or judge thereof, for an election fraud, for felony, or for wanton breach of the peace. In cities they may claim exemption from jury during their terms of service. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

Renumbered as ARTICLE VIII, Section 11.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 15: Disqualifications for Service as Election Officer.
No person shall be qualified to serve as an election officer who shall hold, or shall within two months have held any office, appointment or employment in or under the government of the United States, or of this State, or of any city, or county, or of any municipal board, commission or trust in any city, save only notaries public and persons in the National Guard or in a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States; nor shall any election officer be eligible to any civil office to be filled at an election at which he shall serve, save only to such subordinate municipal or local offices, below the grade of city or county offices, as shall be designated by general law. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

Renumbered as ARTICLE VIII, Section 12.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 16
REPEALED ON MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

Section 17: Contested Elections.
The trial and determination of contested elections of electors of President and Vice-President, members of the General Assembly, and of all public officers, whether State, judicial, municipal or local, and contests involving questions submitted to the electors at any election shall be by the courts of law, or by one or more of the law judges thereof. The General Assembly shall, by general law, designate the courts and judges by whom the several classes of election contests shall be tried and regulate the manner of trial and all matters incident thereto; but no such law assigning jurisdiction, or regulating its exercise, shall apply to any contest arising out of an election held before its passage. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

Renumbered as ARTICLE VIII, Section 13.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 18: Absentee Voting by Disabled War Veterans.
The General Assembly may, by general law, provide a manner in which, and the time and place at which, qualified war veteran voters, who may, on the occurrence of any election, be unavoidably absent from the State or county of their residence because of their being bedridden or hospitalized due to illness or physical disability contracted or suffered in connection with, or as a direct result of, their military service, may vote and for the return and canvass of their votes in the election district in which they respectively reside. [Source: 1949 Pa. Laws 2138]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 8, 1949

Section 18: Absentee Voting by Disabled War Veterans.
The General Assembly may, by general law, provide a manner in which, and the time and place at which, qualified war veteran voters may vote, who are unable to attend at their proper polling places because of being bed-ridden or otherwise physically incapacitated, and may provide for the return and canvass of their votes in the election district in which they respectively reside. Positive proof of being bed-ridden or otherwise physically incapacitated shall be given by affidavit or by certification of a physician, hospital or other authenticated source. [Source: 1953 Pa. Laws 1496]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 3, 1953

Section 18
REPEALED ON MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

Section 19: Absentee Voting Due to Illness or Absence.
The Legislature may, by general law, provide a manner in which, and the time and place at which, qualified voters who may, on the occurrence of any election, be unavoidably absent from the State or county of their residence because of their duties, occupation or business require them to be elsewhere or who, on the occurrence of any election, are unable to attend at their proper polling places because of illness or physical disability, may vote, and for the return and canvass of their votes in the election district in which they respectively reside. [Source: 1957 Pa. Laws 1019]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 5, 1957

Section 19: Absentee Voting.
(a) The Legislature shall, by general law, provide a manner in which, and the time and place at which, qualified electors who may, on the occurrence of any election, be absent from the municipality of their residence, because their duties, occupation or business require them to be elsewhere or who, on the occurrence of any election, are unable to attend at their proper polling places because of illness or physical disability or who will not attend a polling place because of the observance of a religious holiday or who cannot vote because of election day duties, in the case of a county employee, may vote, and for the return and canvass of their votes in the election district in which they respectively reside. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1048]

Renumbered as ARTICLE VIII, Section 14.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 1: Uniformity of Taxation; Exemptions.
All taxes shall be uniform, upon the same class of subjects, within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax, and shall be levied and collected under general laws; but the General Assembly may, by general laws, exempt from taxation public property used for public purposes, actual places of religious worship, places of burial not used or held for private or corporate profit, institutions of purely public charity, and real and personal property owned, occupied, and used by any branch, post, or camp of honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines. [Source: 1923 Pa. Laws 1117]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1923

Section 1: Uniformity of Taxation; Exemptions.
All taxes shall be uniform, upon the same class of subjects, within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax, and shall be levied and collected under general laws; but the General Assembly may, by general laws, exempt from taxation public property used for public purposes, actual places of religious worship, places of burial not used or held for private or corporate profit, and institutions of purely public charity, and real and personal property owned, occupied, and used by any branch, post, or camp of honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines; and the General Assembly may, by general laws, set up standards and qualifications for private forest reserves, and making special provision for the taxation thereof. [Source: 1957 Pa. Laws 1021]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 4, 1958

Section 1: Uniformity of Taxation; Exemptions.
All taxes shall be uniform, upon the same class of subjects, within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax, and shall be levied and collected under general laws; but the General Assembly may, by general laws, exempt from taxation public property used for public purposes, actual places of religious worship, places of burial not used or held for private or corporate profit, institutions of purely public charity and real and personal property owned, occupied, and used by any branch, post, or camp of honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines; and the General Assembly may, by general laws, set up standards and qualifications for private forest reserves, and make special provision for the taxation thereof. Citizens and residents of this Commonwealth, who served in any war or armed conflict in which the United States was engaged and were honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances from active service, shall be exempt from the payment of all real property taxes upon the residence occupied by the said citizens and residents of this Commonwealth imposed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any of its political subdivisions if, as a result of military service, they are blind, paraplegic, or double or quadruple amputees, and if the State Veterans' Commission determines that such persons are in need of the tax exemptions granted herein. [Source: 1961 Pa. Laws 1785]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1961

Section 1B: Reciprocal Exemptions.
Taxation laws may grant exemptions or rebates to residents, or estates of residents, of other States which grant similar exemptions or rebates to residents, or estates of residents, of Pennsylvania. [Source: 1927 Pa. Laws 1049]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1928

Section 4: Limitation on State Debt.
No debt shall be created by or on behalf of the State, except to supply casual deficiencies of revenue, repel invasion, suppress insurrection, defend the State in war, or to pay existing debt; and the debt created to supply deficiencies in revenue shall never exceed in the aggregate, at any one time, one million dollars: Provided, however, That the General Assembly, irrespective of any debt, may authorize the State to issue bonds to the amount of fifty millions of dollars for the purpose of improving and rebuilding the highways of the Commonwealth. [Source: 1917 Pa. Laws 1264]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 5, 1918

Section 4: Limitation of State Debt.
No debt shall be created by or on behalf of the State, except to supply casual deficiencies of revenue, repel invasions, suppress insurrection, defend the State in war, or to pay existing debt; and the debt created to supply deficiencies in revenue shall never exceed, in the aggregate at any one time, one million dollars: Provided, however, That the General Assembly, irrespective of any debt, may authorize the State to issue bonds, to the amount of one hundred millions of dollars, for the purpose of improving and rebuilding the highways of the Commonwealth. [Source: 1923 Pa. Laws 1118]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1923

Section 8: Municipal Debt.
The debt of any county, city, borough, township, school district, or other municipality or incorporated district, except as herein provided, shall never exceed seven per centum upon the assessed value of the taxable property therein, nor shall any such municipality or district incur any new debt, or increase its indebtedness to an amount exceeding two per centum upon such assessed valuation of property, without the assent of the electors thereof at a public election in such manner as shall be provided by law; but any city, the debt of which now exceeds seven per centum of such assessed valuation, may be authorized by law to increase the same three per centum, in the aggregate, at any one time, upon such valuation, except that any debt or debts hereinafter incurred by the city and county of Philadelphia for the construction and development of subways for transit purposes, or for the construction of wharves and docks, or the reclamation of land to be used in the construction of a system of wharves and docks, as public improvements, owned or to be owned by said city and county of Philadelphia, and which shall yield to the city and county of Philadelphia current net revenue in excess of the interest of said debt or debts and of the annual installments necessary for the cancellation of said debt or debts, may be excluded in ascertaining the power of the city and county of Philadelphia to become otherwise indebted: Provided, That a sinking-fund for their cancellation shall be established and maintained. [Source: 1911 Pa. Laws 1160]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1911

Section 8: Municipal Debt.
The debt of any county, city, borough, township, school district or other municipality or incorporated district, except as herein provided, shall never exceed seven per centum upon the assessed value of the taxable property therein, nor shall any such municipality or district incur any new debt, or increase its indebtedness to an amount exceeding two per centum upon such assessed valuation of property, without the consent of the electors thereof at a public election in such manner as shall be provided by law; but any city, the debt of which on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, exceeded seven per centum of such assessed valuation, and has not since been reduced to less than such per centum, may be authorized by law to increase the same three per centum in the aggregate, at any one time, upon such valuation. The city of Philadelphia, upon the conditions hereinafter set forth, may increase its indebtedness to the extent of three per centum in excess of seven per centum upon such assessed valuation for the specific purpose of providing for all or any of the following purposes,--to wit: For the construction and improvement of subways, tunnels, railways, elevated railways, and other transit facilities; for the construction and improvement of wharves and docks, and for the reclamation of land to be used in the construction of wharves and docks, owned or to be owned by said city. Such increase, however, shall only be made with the assent of the electors thereof at a public election, to be held in such manner as shall be provided by law. In ascertaining the borrowing capacity of said city of Philadelphia, at any time, there shall be excluded from the calculation a credit where the work resulting from any previous expenditure, for any one or more of the specific purposes here above enumerated shall be yielding to said city an annual current net revenue; the amount of which credit shall be ascertained by capitalizing the annual net revenue during the year immediately preceding the time of such ascertainment. Such capitalization shall be accomplished by ascertaining the principal amount which would yield such annual current net revenue, at the average rate of interest, and sinking-fund charges payable upon the indebtedness incurred by said city for such purposes, up to the time of such ascertainment. The method of determining such amount, so to be excluded or allowed as a credit, may be prescribed by the General Assembly. In incurring indebtedness for any one or more of said purposes of construction, improvement, or reclamation, the city of Philadelphia may issue its obligations maturing not later than fifty years from the date thereof, with provision for a sinking-fund sufficient to retire said obligation at maturity, the payments to such sinking-fund to be in equal or graded annual instalments. Such obligations may be in an amount sufficient to provide for and may include the amount of the interest and sinking-fund charges accruing and which may accrue thereon throughout the period of construction and until the expiration of one year after the completion of the work for which said indebtedness shall have been incurred; and said city shall not be required to levy a tax to pay said interest and sinking-fund charges, as required by section ten of article nine of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, until the expiration of said period of one year after the completion of such work. [Source: 1915 Pa. Laws 1101]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1915

Section 8: Municipal Debt.
The debt of any county, city, borough, township, school district, or other municipality or incorporated district, except as provided herein, and in section fifteen of this article, shall never exceed seven (7) per centum upon the assessed value of the taxable property therein, but the debt of the city of Philadelphia may be increased in such amount that the total city debt of said city shall not exceed ten per centum (10) upon the assessed value of the taxable property therein, nor shall any such municipality or district incur any new debt, or increase its indebtedness to an amount exceeding two (2) per centum upon such assessed valuation of property, without the consent of the electors thereof at a public election in such manner as shall be provided by law. In ascertaining the borrowing capacity of the said city of Philadelphia, at any time, there shall be excluded from the calculation and deducted from such debt so much of the debt of said city as shall have been incurred, and the proceeds thereof invested, in any public improvements of any character which shall be yielding to the said city an annual current net revenue. The amount of such deduction shall be ascertained by capitalizing the annual net revenue from such improvement during the year immediately preceding the time of such ascertainment; and such capitalization shall be estimated by ascertaining the principal amount which would yield such annual, current net revenue, at the average rate of interest, and sinking-fund charges payable upon the indebtedness incurred by said city for such purposes, up to the time of such ascertainment. The method of determining such amount, so to be deducted, may be prescribed by the General Assembly. In incurring indebtedness for any purpose the city of Philadelphia may issue its obligations maturing not later than fifty (50) years from the date thereof, with provision for a sinking-fund sufficient to retire said obligations at maturity, the payment to such sinking-fund to be in equal or graded annual or other periodical instalments. Where any indebtedness shall be or shall have been incurred by said city of Philadelphia for the purpose of the construction or improvement of public works of any character from which income or revenue is to be derived by said city, or for the reclamation of land to be used in the construction of wharves or docks owned or to be owned by said city, such obligations may be in an amount sufficient to provide for, and may include the amount of, the interest and sinking-fund charges accruing and which may accrue thereon throughout the period of construction, and until the expiration of one year after the completion of the work for which said indebtedness shall have been incurred; and said city shall not be required to levy a tax to pay said interest and sinking-fund charges as required by section ten, article nine of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, until the expiration of said period of one year after the completion of said work. [Source: 1917 Pa. Laws 1265]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 5, 1918

Section 8: Municipal Debt.
The debt of any county, city, borough, township, school district, or other municipality or incorporated district, except as provided herein, and in section fifteen of this article, shall never exceed seven (7) per centum upon the assessed value of the taxable property therein, but the debt of the city of Philadelphia may be increased in such amount that the total city debt of said city shall not exceed ten per centum (10) upon the assessed value of the taxable property therein, nor shall any such municipality or district incur any new debt, or increase its indebtedness to an amount exceeding two (2) per centum upon such assessed valuation of property, without the consent of the electors thereof at a public election in such manner as shall be provided by law. In ascertaining the borrowing capacity of the city of Philadelphia, at any time, there shall be deducted from such debt so much of the debt of said city as shall have been incurred, or is about to be incurred, and the proceeds thereof expended, or about to be expended, upon any public improvement, or in the construction, purchase, or condemnation of any public utility, or part thereof, or facility therefor, if such public improvement or public utility, or part thereof, whether separately, or in connection with any other public improvement or public utility, or part thereof, may reasonably be expected to yield revenue in excess of operating expenses sufficient to pay the interest and sinking-fund charges thereon. The method of determining such amount, so to be deducted, may be prescribed by the General Assembly. In incurring indebtedness for any purpose the city of Philadelphia may issue its obligations maturing not later than fifty (50) years from the date thereof, with provision for a sinking-fund sufficient to retire said obligations at maturity, the payment to such sinkingfund to be in equal or graded annual or other periodical installments. Where any indebtedness shall be or shall have been incurred by said city of Philadelphia for the purpose of the construction or improvements of public works or utilities of any character, from which income or revenue is to be derived by said city, or for the reclamation of land to be used in the construction of wharves or docks owned or to be owned by said city, such obligations may be in an amount sufficient to provide for, and may include the amount of, the interest and sinking-fund charges accruing and which may accrue thereon throughout the period of construction, and until the expiration of one year after the completion of the work for which said indebtedness shall have been incurred; and said city shall not be required to levy a tax to pay said interest and sinkingfund charges as required by section ten, article nine of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, until the expiration of said period of one year after the completion of said work. [Source: 1919 Pa. Laws 1238]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1920

Section 8: Municipal Debt.
The debt of any county, city, borough, township, school district, or other municipality or incorporated district, except as provided herein, and in section fifteen of this article, shall never exceed seven (7) per centum upon the assessed value of the taxable property therein, nor shall any such county, municipality or district incur any debt, or increase its indebtedness to an amount exceeding two (2) per centum upon such assessed valuation of property, without the consent of the electors thereof at a public election in such manner as shall be provided by law. The debt of the city of Philadelphia may be increased in such amount that the total debt of said city shall not exceed thirteen and one-half (13 1/2) per centum of the average of the annual assessed valuations of the taxable realty therein, during the ten years immediately preceding the year in which such increase is made, but said city shall not increase its indebtedness to an amount exceeding three (3) per centum upon such average assessed valuation of realty, without the consent of the electors thereof at a public election held in such manner as shall be provided by law. No debt shall be incurred by, or on behalf of, the county of Philadelphia. In ascertaining the debt-incurring capacity of the city of Philadelphia at any time, there shall be deducted from the debt of said city so much of such debt as shall have been incurred, or is about to be incurred, and the proceeds thereof expended, or about to be expended, upon any public improvement, or in construction, purchase, or condemnation of any public utility, or part thereof, or facility therefor, if such public improvement or public utility, or part thereof, or facility therefor, whether separately, or in connection with any other public improvement or public utility, or part thereof, or facility therefor, may reasonably be expected to yield revenue in excess of operating expenses sufficient to pay the interest and sinking fund charges thereon. The method of determining such amount, so to be deducted, shall be as now prescribed, or which may hereafter be prescribed by the General Assembly. In incurring indebtedness for any purpose the city of Philadelphia may issue its obligations maturing not later than fifty (50) years from the date thereof, with provision for a sinking fund to be in equal or graded annual or other periodical installments. Where any indebtedness shall be or shall have been incurred by said city of Philadelphia for the purpose of the construction or improvement of public works or utilities of any character, from which income or revenue is to be derived by said city, or for the reclamation of land to be used in the construction of wharves or docks owned or to be owned by said city, such obligations may be in an amount sufficient to provide for, and may include the amount of, the interest and sinking fund charges accruing and which may accrue thereon throughout the period of construction, and until the expiration of one year after the completion of the work for which said indebtedness shall have been incurred; and said city shall not be required to levy a tax to pay said interest and sinking fund charges as required by section ten of this article until the expiration of said period of one year after the completion of said work. [Source: 1951 Pa. Laws 2212]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1951

Section 15: Municipal Indebtedness for Certain Public Works.
Municipal Indebtedness for Certain Public Works. No obligations which have been heretofore issued, or which may hereafter be issued, by any county or municipality, other than Philadelphia, to provide for the construction or acquisition of waterworks, subways, underground railways or street railways, or the appurtenances thereof, shall be considered as a debt of a municipality, within the meaning of section eight of article nine of the Constitution of Pennsylvania or of this amendment, if the net revenue derived from said property for a period of five years, either before or after the acquisition thereof, or, where the same is constructed by the county or municipality, after the completion thereof, shall have been sufficient to pay interest and sinking-fund charges during said period upon said obligations, or if the said obligations shall be secured by liens upon the respective properties, and shall impose no municipal liability. Where municipalities or counties shall issue obligations to provide for the construction of property, as herein provided, said municipalities or counties may also issue obligations to provide for the interest and sinking-fund charges accruing thereon until said properties shall have been completed and in operation for a period of one year; and said municipalities and counties shall not be required to levy a tax to pay said interest and sinking-fund charges, as required by section ten of article nine of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, until after said properties shall have been operated by said counties or municipalities during said period of one year. Any of the said municipalities or counties may incur indebtedness in excess of seven per centum, and not exceeding ten per centum, of the assessed valuation of the taxable property therein, if said increase of indebtedness shall have been assented to by three-fifths of the electors voting at a public election, in such manner as shall be provided by law. [Source: 1913 Pa. Laws 1479]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 4, 1913

Section 16: Soldiers' Bonus.
In addition to the purposes stated in article nine, section four of this Constitution, the State may be authorized by law to create debt and to issue bonds, to the amount of fifty millions of dollars, for the payment of compensation to certain persons from this State who served in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States during the war between the United States and Spain, between the twenty-first day of April, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, and the thirteenth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, or who served in the China Relief Expedition, in the Philippines or Guam, between the twenty-first day of April, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, and the fourth day of July, one thousand nine hundred and two, or who served in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps of the United States during the World War, between the sixth day of April, one thousand nine hundred and seventeen, and the eleventh day of November, one thousand nine hundred and eighteen. [Source: 1933 Pa. Laws 1558]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT NOVEMBER 7, 1933

Section 16: Toll Bridges.
In addition to the purposes stated in article nine, section four, of this Constitution, the General Assembly may provide, by law for the issue of bonds, to the amount of ten millions of dollars, for the purpose of acquiring toll bridges, and may, by law, provide that, upon the acquisition of any such bridge, tolls may be charged for the use thereof, sufficient to pay the interest and sinking fund charges on such bonds and the cost of the maintenance of such bridges, until the bonds issued have been retired and such bridges are freed of tolls. [Source: 1933 Pa. Laws 1566]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT NOVEMBER 7, 1933

Section 17: Authorization of State to Borrow Money.
The Governor, the Auditor General, and the State Treasurer, immediately upon the adoption of this amendment by the electors, may borrow an amount not exceeding twenty-five million dollars to defray the expenses of the State government for the biennium beginning June first, one thousand nine hundred thirty-three; provided the General Assembly, at its regular session of one thousand nine hundred thirty-three, has authorized the borrowing of money for this purpose. [Source: 1933 Pa. Laws 1561]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1933

Section 18: Gasoline Taxes and Motor License Fees Restricted.
All proceeds from gasoline and other motor fuel excise taxes, motor vehicle registration fees and license taxes, operators' license fees and other excise taxes imposed on products used in motor transportation after providing therefrom for (a) cost of administration and collection, (b) payment of obligations incurred in the construction and reconstruction of public highways and bridges shall be appropriated by the General Assembly to agencies of the State or political subdivisions thereof; and used solely for construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repair of and safety on public highways and bridges and air navigation facilities and costs and expenses incident thereto, and for the payment of obligations incurred for such purposes, and shall not be diverted by transfer or otherwise to any other purpose, except that loans may be made by the State from the proceeds of such taxes and fees for a single period not exceeding eight months, but no such loan shall be made within the period of one year from any preceding loan, and every loan made in any fiscal year shall be repayable within one month after the beginning of the next fiscal year. [Source: 1945 Pa. Laws 1418]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1945

Section 19: Special Assessment for Transit Facilities in Philadelphia.
The city of Philadelphia, in constructing, for the benefit of the inhabitants thereof, transit subways, rapid transit railways, or other local transit facilities for the transportation of persons or property, shall have the power, in order the more justly to distribute the benefits and costs of such transit facilities, to levy special assessments against such properties, whether abutting or not abutting upon said transit facilities, as are or will be specially and particularly benefited by the construction or operation of such transit facilities; such power to be exercised in accordance with existing or with future laws or pursuant to statutes enacted prior to the adoption of this amendment but made effective by it. Such special assessments, when so levied, may be made payable presently when levied or in installments over a period of years, with or without interest, and shall immediately, when so levied, be deducted from any indebtedness incurred for such purposes in calculating the debt of such city. Such city may acquire by eminent domain either the fee or less estate or easements in land necessary for the construction or operation of such transit facilities or for the disposal of earth or material excavated in the construction thereof or for other incidental purposes; but this provision shall not create any additional powers for the condemnation of any railroad or street railway in operation. [Source:1933 Pa. Laws 1562]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1933

Section 21: Bonds Authorized for Special Purposes.
In addition to the purposes stated in article nine, section four of this Constitution the Commonwealth may be authorized by law to create debt and to issue bonds to the amount of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) for the construction of public buildings, highways, drainage and sanitary systems, anti-stream pollution and flood control projects for purposes of reforestation, and for the rehabilitation and hospitalization of war veterans. [Source: 1945 Pa. Laws 1420]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1945

Section 22: Soldiers' Bonus.
In addition to the purposes stated in article nine, section four of this Constitution, the Commonwealth may be authorized by law to create debt and to issue bonds to the amount of $500,000,000 for the payment of compensation to certain persons from this Commonwealth who shall have served in the armed forces of the United States or of any of her allies during World War II, between the seventh day of December, one thousand nine hundred forty-one and the second day of September, one thousand nine hundred forty-five, for the service of such persons to their country, whether or not they be living when distribution shall be made, and if such persons shall be deceased when distribution shall be made, such deceased person's compensation shall be paid to his spouse, child, children or parents. [Source: 1949 Pa. Laws 2137]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 8, 1949

Section 23: Korean Veterans' Bonus.
In addition to the purposes stated in article nine, section four of this Constitution, the Commonwealth may be authorized, by law, to create debt and to issue bonds to the amount of one hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000) for the payment of compensation to certain persons from this Commonwealth, who served in the armed forces of the United States or any of her allies during the Korean Conflict, between June twenty-fifth, one thousand nine hundred fifty, and July twenty-seventh, one thousand nine hundred fifty-three, for the service of such persons to their country, whether or not they are living when distribution is made, and, if the person is deceased when distribution is made, the deceased person's compensation shall be paid to his spouse, child, children or parents. The law authorizing the creation of the debt and the issuance of the bonds shall not take effect until revenue-raising measures are enacted, which the Senate and House of Representatives, by concurrent resolution, declare and deem sufficient to amortize the amount to be borrowed and paid. The revenue derived from such revenue-raising measures shall be used only for the payment of the debt created, as herein provided, and the measures shall provide for their termination when sufficient funds are accumulated to pay the debt. [Source: 1957 Pa. Laws 1020]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 5, 1957

Section 24: Project Seventy.
In addition to the purposes stated in article nine, section four of this Constitution, the Commonwealth may be authorized by law to create debt and to issue bonds to the amount of seventy million dollars ($70,000,000) for the acquisition of land for State parks, reservoirs and other conservation and recreation and historical preservation purposes, and for participation by the Commonwealth with political subdivisions in the acquisition of land for parks, reservoirs and other conservation and recreation and historical preservation purposes, subject to such conditions and limitations as the General Assembly may prescribe. [Source: 1963 Pa. Laws 1403]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 5, 1963

Section 25
In addition to the purposes stated in article nine, section four of this Constitution, the Commonwealth may be authorized by law to create a debt and issue bonds in the amount of five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) for a Land and Water Conservation and Reclamation Fund to be used for the conservation and reclamation of land and water resources of the Commonwealth, including the elimination of acid mine drainage, sewage, and other pollution from the streams of the Commonwealth, the provision of State financial assistance to political subdivisions and municipal authorities of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the construction of sewage treatment plants, the restoration of abandoned strip-mined areas, the control and extinguishment of surface and underground mine fires, the alleviation and prevention of subsidence resulting from mining operations, and the acquisition of additional lands and the reclamation and development of park and recreational lands acquired pursuant to the authority of article nine, section twenty-four of this Constitution, subject to such conditions and liabilities as the General Assembly may prescribe.

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 1: Public School System.
The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Renumbered as ARTICLE III. Section 14.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 2: Public School Money Not Available to Sectarian Schools.
Section 15. No money raised for the support of the public schools of the Commonwealth shall be appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Renumbered as ARTICLE III. Section 15.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 3
REPEALED, MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Renumbered
The citizens of this Commonwealth shall be armed, organized and disciplined for its defense when and in such manner as may be directed by law. The General Assembly shall provide for maintaining the National Guard by appropriations from the Treasury of the Commonwealth, and may exempt from State military service persons having conscientious scruples against bearing arms.[Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 16.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Section 1: Election of State and Local Public Officers.
All officers, whose selection is not provided for in this Constitution, shall be elected or appointed as may be directed by law: Provided, That elections of State officers shall be held on a general election day, and elections of local officers shall be held on a municipal election day, except when, in either case, special elections may be required to fill unexpired terms. [Source: 1909 Pa. Laws 948]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1909

Section 1: County Officers.
County officers shall consist of sheriffs, coroners, prothonotaries, register of wills, recorders of deeds, commissioners, treasurers, surveyors, auditors or controllers, clerks of the courts, district attorneys and such others as may be from time to time be established by law; and no treasurer shall be eligible for the term next succeeding the one for which he may be elected. [Source: 1945 Pa. Laws 1419]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1945

Section 2: Election of County Officers. Terms. Vacancies.
County officers shall be elected at the municipal elections and shall hold their offices for the term of four years, beginning on the first Monday of January next after their election, and until their successors shall be duly qualified; all vacancies not otherwise provided for, shall be filled in such manner as may be provided by law. [Source: 1909 Pa. Laws 948]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1909

Section 7: County Commissioners and Auditors.
Three county commissioners and three county auditors shall be elected in each county where such officers are chosen, in the year one thousand nine hundred and eleven and every fourth year thereafter; and in the election of said officers each qualified elector shall vote for no more than two persons, and the three persons having the highest number of votes shall be elected; any casual vacancy in the office of county commissioner or county auditor shall be filled, by the court of common pleas of the county in which such vacancy shall occur, by the appointment of an elector of the proper county who shall have voted for the commissioner or auditor whose place is to be filled. [Source: 1909 Pa. Laws 948]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1909

Section 8: Abolition of County Offices in Philadelphia.

 * (1) In Philadelphia all county offices are hereby abolished, and the city shall henceforth perform all functions of county government within its area through officers selected in such manner as may be provided by law.
 * (2) Local and special laws, regulating the affairs of the city of Philadelphia and creating offices or prescribing the powers and duties of officers of the city of Philadelphia, shall be valid notwithstanding the provisions of section seven of article three of this Constitution.
 * (3) All laws applicable to the county of Philadelphia shall apply to the city of Philadelphia.
 * (4) The city of Philadelphia shall have, assume and take over all powers, property, obligations and indebtedness of the county of Philadelphia.
 * (5) The provisions of article fifteen, section one of the Constitution shall apply with full force and effect to the functions of the county government hereafter to be performed by the city government.
 * (6) This amendment shall become effective immediately upon its adoption.
 * (7) Upon adoption of this amendment all county officers shall become officers of the city of Philadelphia, and, until the General Assembly shall otherwise provide, shall continue to perform their duties and be elected, appointed, compensated and organized in such manner as may be provided by the provisions of this Constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth in effect at the time this amendment becomes effective, but such officers serving when this amendment becomes effective shall be permitted to complete their terms. [Source: 1951 Pa. Laws 2211]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1951

Section 1: Home Rule.
Cities may be chartered whenever a majority of the electors of any town or borough having a population of at least ten thousand shall vote at any general or municipal election in favor of the same. Cities, or cities of any particular class, may be given the right and power to frame and adopt their own charters and to exercise the powers and authority of local self-government, subject, however, to such restrictions, limitations, and regulations, as may be imposed by the Legislature. Laws also may be enacted affecting the organization and government of cities and boroughs, which shall become effective in any city or borough only when submitted to the electors thereof, and approved by a majority of those voting thereon. [Source:1921 Pa. Laws 1234]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1922

Section 4: City of Pittsburgh Charter.
The General Assembly is hereby authorized to provide for the consolidation of the county, poor districts, cities, boroughs and townships of the county of Allegheny, and the offices thereof, into a consolidated city and county, with the constitutional and legal capacity of a municipal corporation, to be known as the City of Pittsburgh, and to provide for a charter for its government. The said charter shall be submitted to the electors of said county, at a special election to be provided for therein. If the majority of the electors voting thereon, in the county as a whole, and at least two-thirds of all the electors voting thereon in each of a majority of the cities, boroughs and townships thereof, vote in the affirmative, the act shall take effect for the whole county. If rejected, the said charter may be resubmitted to the electors in original, new or modified form, at any subsequent election until adopted. It shall be competent, subject to the police power of the State, for the Legislature to provide in said charter:
 * 1. For the exercise, by the consolidated city, of all the powers and duties vested in the county of Allegheny, and the poor districts thereof, and such other powers appropriate to a municipality as may be specified therein, except such powers as are specifically reserved by this section to the municipal divisions herein provided for.
 * 2. For the election, by the people of the consolidated city, of a board of commissioners, the number to be fixed by the charter, in lieu of present county commissioners, in which board shall be vested all the powers of the consolidated city and county, except as otherwise provided in the charter.
 * 3. For the organization of a government for the consolidated city and county, and for the election or appointment of the constitutional and other necessary officers thereof, and for their powers and duties.
 * 4. For the organization of all courts, other than those of record, in the consolidated city, and for the procedure thereof, and for the appointment of judges and officers thereof, which courts shall exercise the jurisdiction, powers and duties of the magistrates, aldermen and justices of the peace, and such other powers as may be conferred by law.
 * 5. For the transfer to the consolidated city of the property and indebtedness of the county of Allegheny, and the poor districts thereof, and of such property and indebtedness of the cities, boroughs and townships thereof as relate to the powers and duties of said consolidated city, and to provide for an equitable adjustment and payment of such indebtedness, and for this purpose, any taxation therein shall be uniform taxation within the meaning and intent of other provisions of this constitution.
 * 6. For the assessment of property for taxation, the levying and collection of taxes, and the payment of the cost of any public improvement, in whole or in part, by special assessment upon abutting and non-abutting property materially benefitted thereby, and, for this purpose, real estate so charged shall be classified as urban, suburban and rural, and assessments made in accordance with such classifications.
 * 7. For the creation, by the board of commissioners, of districts for the purpose of regulating the location, height, area, bulk and use of buildings and premises.
 * 8. For the creation, by the board of commissioners, of special districts for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, maintaining, operating or contracting for, any public property, work, improvement, utility or service not for the exclusive benefit of any one municipal division, and for the payment of the costs and maintenance of such property, work, improvement, utility or service there may be special taxes levied throughout such special districts respectively, separate and apart from the general city tax: Provided, however, That it is the intent of this section that substantial powers be reserved to the cities, boroughs and townships situated in Allegheny County. To this end the charter shall provide for the continued existence of the said cities, boroughs and townships, as municipal divisions of the consolidated city, under their present names and forms of government, subject to the laws provided for government of municipalities of their respective forms and classes, except as provided in the charter, and with their present boundaries, provided that the city of Pittsburgh may be designated by a term other than city and may be divided into two or more municipal divisions, and that any two or more municipal divisions of the consolidated city may, with the consent of a majority of the electors voting thereon in each of such divisions at any general or special election, be united to form a single municipal division.

The said municipal divisions shall have and continue to possess the following powers:
 * 1. The constitutional and legal capacity of municipal corporations, except as limited in the charter.
 * 2. The power to lay and collect taxes and to incur indebtedness, subject to the limitations which are or may be imposed by law upon cities, boroughs or townships of corresponding classification, for the purpose of carrying out any lawful power of said divisions.
 * 3. The power to acquire, own, construct, maintain, operate or contract for all kinds of public property, works, improvements, utilities or services, which shall be within the municipal division, and principally for the use and benefit of the inhabitants thereof, provided this power shall not be taken to include the construction and maintenance of through-traffic streets and bridges, tunnels, subways and appurtenances thereof, nor main or trunk lines for sewer, power and water service, running through more than one municipal division, and designated as such by the board of commissioners.
 * 4. The power to maintain a local police force, and local fire department, with the necessary buildings, appurtenances and equipment therefor, which may be supplemental to the police force and fire department of the consolidated city.
 * 5. The power to establish a limitation of indebtedness for the consolidated city and the municipal divisions thereof, provided that the total of the indebtedness of the consolidated city and the municipal divisions thereof shall not, in the aggregate, exceed the limits of the total indebtedness allowed by the Constitution to the county and to the separate municipalities.
 * 6. All other powers not specifically granted by the charter to the consolidated city: Provided, however, That a municipal division may surrender, by majority vote of the electors voting thereon at any general or special election, any of its powers to the consolidated city, subject to the acceptance thereof by the board of commissioners. The said charter may be amended by the Legislature, subject to ratification by a majority of the electors of the consolidated city voting thereon at any general or special election: Provided, That no amendment reducing the powers of municipal divisions shall be effective unless ratified by a majority of the electors voting thereon in each of a majority of said divisions. [Source: 1927 Pa. Laws 1051]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1928

Section 4: Consolidation in Allegheny County.
The General Assembly is hereby authorized to provide for the consolidation of the county, poor districts, cities, boroughs and townships of the county of Allegheny, and the offices thereof, into a consolidated city and county, with the constitutional and legal capacity of a municipal corporation, to be known either as "Greater Pittsburgh" or "Metropolitan Pittsburgh" or "City of Pittsburgh (Metropolitan)," and to provide for a charter for its government, and to fix the name thereof in the charter. The said charter shall be submitted to the electors of said county at a special or general election to be provided for therein. If the majority of the electors voting thereon in the county as a whole, and at least a majority of the electors voting thereon in each of a majority of the cities, boroughs and townships thereof, vote in the affirmative, the act shall take effect for the whole county. If rejected, the said charter may be resubmitted by the county commissioners to the electors from time to time, but not oftener than once in two years, until adopted. Until a charter shall have been adopted as aforesaid, the General Assembly shall have the power to amend or modify the said charter, in which event the charter as amended or modified shall be submitted and resubmitted as aforesaid. It shall be competent, subject to the police power of the State, for the Legislature to provide in said charter:
 * I. For the exercise by the consolidated city of all the powers and duties vested in the county of Allegheny, and the poor districts thereof, and such other powers appropriate to a municipality as may be specified therein, except such powers as are specifically reserved by this section to the municipal divisions herein provided for.
 * II. For the election of a board of commissioners, by districts and/or at large, by the electors of the consolidated city, the number to be fixed by the charter, in lieu of present county commissioners, in which board shall be vested all the powers of the consolidated city, except as otherwise provided in the charter.
 * III. For the organization of a government for the consolidated city, and for the appointment and/or election of any officers thereof, created by the Constitution, or otherwise, and to provide for their powers and duties.
 * IV. For the organization and reorganization of all courts, other than those of record, in the consolidated city, and for the appointment and/or election of the judges and officers thereof, and for the procedure thereof, including the right to provide that said court or courts be courts of record, which courts may exercise the jurisdiction, powers and rights of the magistrates, aldermen and justices of the peace, and such other jurisdiction and powers as may be conferred by law.
 * V. For the transfer to, and the assumption by, the consolidated city of the property and indebtedness of the county of Allegheny, and the poor districts thereof, and of such property and indebtedness of the cities, boroughs and townships thereof as relate to the powers and duties of said consolidated city, and to provide for an equitable adjustment and arrangement with respect thereto and for the payment of such indebtedness, and, for this purpose, any taxation therein, arising thereby, shall be uniform taxation within the meaning and intent of other provisions of the Constitution.
 * VI. For the assessment of property for taxation, the levying and collecting of taxes, and the payment of the cost of any public or municipal improvement, in whole or in part, by special assessment upon abutting and non-abutting property specially benefited thereby.
 * VII. For the creation, by the board of commissioners, of districts for the purpose of regulating the location, height, area, bulk and use of building and premises.
 * VIII. For the creation of indebtedness by the consolidated city within the limits now or hereafter imposed upon cities by other provisions of the Constitution. Such power to create indebtedness shall not impair the power of the municipal divisions, within the consolidated city, to create indebtedness within the limits now or hereafter imposed upon such municipalities by other provisions of the Constitution.
 * IX. For the creation, by the board of commissioners, of special districts for the purpose of carrying on or carrying out any public or municipal improvement, not for the exclusive benefit of any one municipal division; and for the payment of the cost and maintenance of such property or improvement, or any part thereof, special taxes may be levied throughout such special districts, respectively, separate and apart from the general consolidated city tax.
 * X. For the exercise of such powers by the consolidated city as may be necessary to enable it to carry on and carry out such municipal and metropolitan powers and functions as the General Assembly may deem advisable and expedient and for the general welfare of the said city and its inhabitants: Provided, however, That it is the intent of this section that substantial powers be reserved to the cities, boroughs and townships situated in Allegheny County. To this end the charter shall provide for the continued existence of the said cities, boroughs and townships, as municipal divisions of the consolidated city, under their present names and forms of government, subject to the laws now or hereafter provided for government of municipalities of their respective forms and classes and to the powers conferred upon the consolidated city by the charter, and with their present boundaries. Any two or more of said municipal divisions, or portions thereof, may, with the consent of a majority of the electors voting thereon in each of such divisions at any special or general election, be united to form a single municipal division.

Wherever a portion of a municipal division is involved, the election shall be held in the entire municipal division of which the said portion is a part. The said municipal divisions shall have and continue to have the following powers:
 * I. The constitutional and legal capacity of municipal corporations.
 * II. The power to levy and collect taxes and to incur indebtedness, subject to the limitations which are or may be imposed by law upon cities, boroughs or townships of corresponding classification, for the purpose of carrying out any lawful power of said divisions.
 * III. The power to acquire, own, construct, maintain, operate or contract for all kinds of public property, works, improvements, utilities or services, which shall be within the municipal division and, where authorized by law, without the limits of the municipal division. Subject, however, to the right and power of the consolidated city to construct, acquire, maintain and/or operate public works, improvements, utilities and services of all kinds, including through streets, highways and/or bridges, for the use and benefit of the consolidated city and its inhabitants.
 * IV. The power to maintain a local police force and local fire department, either paid or volunteer, with the necessary buildings, appurtenances and equipment therefor, which may be independent of or supplemental to the police force and fire department of the consolidated city.
 * V. All other powers not specifically granted by the charter to the consolidated city: Provided, however, That a municipal division may surrender, by a majority vote of the electors voting thereon at any general or special election, any of its powers to the consolidated city, subject to the acceptance thereof by the board of commissioners.

After a charter has been adopted as aforesaid, it may be amended as follows:
 * I. In matters which relate only to the powers of the consolidated city and which do not reduce the powers of any one or more of the municipal divisions thereof by the General Assembly: Provided, however, That any amendment which changes or modifies the form of government of the consolidated city, or the number of or manner of election of the commissioners thereof, shall not be effective until such amendment shall have been ratified by a majority of the electors of the consolidated city voting thereon at a general or special election, to be provided for in said amendment.
 * II. In matters which reduce the powers of any one or more of the municipal divisions of the consolidated city, such amendment, enacted by the General Assembly, shall not be effective until it shall have been ratified at a general or special election, to be provided for in said amendment, by a majority of the electors voting thereon in all of the municipal divisions affected thereby, and by a majority of the electors voting thereon in each of a majority of said municipal divisions so affected. [Source: 1933 Pa. Laws 1563]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1933

Section 5: Acquisition of Land for Highway Construction.
The General Assembly may authorize cities to take more land and property than is needed for actual construction in the laying out, widening, extending or relocating highways or streets connecting with bridges crossing streams, or tunnels under streams, which form boundaries between this and any other State, but the additional land and property, so authorized to be taken, shall not be more than sufficient to form suitable building sites on such highway or streets; nor shall the authority hereby conferred be exercised in connection with the laying out, widening, extending or relocating of any highway or street at a point more than three miles distant from the approach to any such bridge or tunnel. After so much of the land and property has been appropriated for such highways or streets as is needed therefor, the remainder may be sold or leased and any restrictions imposed thereupon which will preserve or enhance the benefit to the public of the property actually needed for the aforesaid public use. [Source: 1933 Pa. Laws 1563]

ADDED BY AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1933

Section 7: Stocks and Bonds. Increase Indebtedness.
No corporation shall issue stocks or bonds except for money, labor done, or money or property actually received; and all fictitious increase of stock or indebtedness shall be void. The stock and indebtedness of corporations shall not be increased except in pursuance of general law. [Source: 1955 Pa. Laws 2057]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1956

Section 11: Incorporation of Banks and Trust Companies.
The General Assembly shall have the power by general law to provide for the incorporation of banks and trust companies, and to prescribe the powers thereof. [Source: 1919 Pa. Laws 1238]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1920

Article XVII repealed
ARTICLE REPEALED ON MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1053]

Section 3: Equal Transportation Rights.
All individuals, associations and corporations shall have equal rights to have persons and property transported over railroads and canals, and no undue or unreasonable discrimination shall be made in charges for, or in facilities for, transportation of freight or passengers within the State or coming from or going to any other State. [Source: 1933 Pa. Laws 1561]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 7, 1933

Section 8: Granting of Passes Limited.
No railroad, railway, or other transportation company shall grant free passes, or passes at a discount, to any person except officers or employes of the company and clergymen. [Source: 1923 Pa. laws 1119]

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 6, 1923

Title
Article XVIII renamed to "Amendments"

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967 [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1052]

Section 1: Proposal of Amendments by the General Assembly and Their Adoption.
Amendments to this Constitution may 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, and the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall causes the same to be published three months before the next general election, in at least two newspapers in every county in which such newspapers shall be published; and if, in the General Assembly next afterwards chosen, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each House, the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall cause the same again to be published in the manner aforesaid; and such proposed amendment or amendments shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the State in such manner, and at such time at least three months after being so agreed to by the two Houses, as the General Assembly shall prescribe; and, if such amendment or amendments shall be approved by a majority of those voting thereon, such amendment or amendments shall become a part of the Constitution; but no amendment or amendments shall be submitted oftener than once in five years. When two or more amendments shall be submitted they shall be voted upon separately. (a) In the event a major emergency threatens or is about to threaten the Commonwealth and if the safety or welfare of the Commonwealth required 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 shall be entered on the journal of each House with the yeas and nays taken thereon and the official in charge of statewide elections shall promptly publish such proposed amendment in at least two newspapers in every county in which such newspapers are published. Such amendment shall then be submitted to the qualified electors of the Commonwealth in such manner, and at such time, at least one month after being agreed to by both Houses as the General assembly prescribes. (b) If an emergency amendment is approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon, it shall become part of this constitution. When two or more emergency amendments are submitted they shall be voted on separately. [Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1052]

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967

Miscellaneous Amendment: Registering, Transferring, Insuring and Guaranteeing Land Titles.
Laws may be passed providing for a system of registering, transferring, insuring of and guaranteeing land titles by the State, or by the counties thereof, and for settling and determining adverse or other claims to and interest in lands the titles to which are so registered, transferred, insured, and guaranteed; and for the creation and collection of indemnity funds; and for carrying the system and powers hereby provided for into effect by such existing courts as may be designated by the Legislature, and by the establishment of such new courts as may be deemed necessary. In matters arising in and under the operation of such system, judicial powers, with right of appeal, may be conferred by the Legislature upon county recorders and upon other officers as designated. Such laws may provide for continuing the registering, transferring, insuring, and guaranteeing such titles after the first or original registration has been perfected by the courts, and provision may be made for raising the necessary funds for expenses and salaries of officers, which shall be paid out of the treasury of the several counties. [Source: 1915 Pa. Laws 1104]

The legislature failed to designate any article or section for this amendment.

AMENDMENT OF NOVEMBER 2, 1915.

Miscellaneous Amendment: Land Title Registration.
Laws may be passed providing for a system of registering, transferring, insuring of and guaranteeing land titles by the State, or by the counties thereof, and for settling and determining adverse or other claims to and interest in lands the titles to which are so registered, transferred, insured, and guaranteed; and for the creation and collection of indemnity funds; and for carrying the system and powers hereby provided for into effect by such existing courts as may be designated by the Legislature, and by the establishment of such new courts as may be deemed necessary. In matters arising in and under the operation of such system, judicial powers, with right of appeal, may be conferred by the Legislature upon county recorders and upon other officers as designated. Such laws may provide for continuing the registering, transferring, insuring, and guaranteeing such titles after the first or original registration has been perfected by the courts, and provision may be made for raising the necessary funds for expenses and salaries of officers, which shall be paid out of the treasury of the several counties.[Source: 1967 Pa. Laws 1037]

Formerly an unnumbered section. Renumbered as ARTICLE III, Section 21.

AMENDMENT OF MAY 16, 1967