ACR65

A Concurrent Resolution proposing to amend Section IV, paragraph 6 of Article IV of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey.

Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey (the Senate concurring):

1. The following proposed amendment to the Constitution of the State of New Jersey is agreed to:

PROPOSED AMENDMENT

Amend Article IV, Section IV, paragraph 6 to read as follows:

6. All bills and joint resolutions shall be read three times in each house before final passage. No bill or joint resolution shall be read a third time in either house until after the intervention of one full calendar day following the day of the second reading; but if either house shall resolve by vote of three-fourths of all its members, signified by yeas and nays entered on the journal, that a bill or joint resolution is an emergency measure, it may proceed forthwith from second to third reading. No bill or joint resolution shall pass, unless there shall be a majority of all the members [of each body] in the General Assembly, and two-thirds of all the members in the Senate, personally present and agreeing thereto, and the yeas and nays of the members voting on such final passage shall be entered on the journal.

(cf: Art.IV, Sec.IV, par.6)

2. When this proposed amendment to the Constitution is finally agreed to pursuant to Article IX, paragraph 1 of the Constitution, it shall be submitted to the people at the next general election occurring more than three months after the final agreement and shall be published at least once in at least one newspaper of each county designated by the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the General Assembly and the Attorney General, not less than three months prior to the general election.

3. This proposed amendment to the Constitution shall be submitted to the people at that election in the following manner and form:

There shall be printed on each official ballot to be used at the general election, the following:

a. In every municipality in which voting machines are not used, a legend which shall immediately precede the question, as follows:

If you favor the proposition printed below make a cross (X), plus (+), or check (T) in the square opposite the word "Yes." If you are opposed thereto make a cross (X), plus (+) or check (T) in the square opposite the word "No."

b. In every municipality the following question:

		CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT REQUIRING A TWO-THIRDS VOTE FOR PASSAGE OF BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS IN THE SENATE
	YES	Do you approve amending Article IV, Section IV, paragraph 6 of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey to require that all bills and joint resolutions in the Senate be passed by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the Senate?
		INTERPRETIVE STATEMENT
	NO	The purpose of this constitutional amendment is to require that all bills and joint resolutions in the Senate be passed by a two-thirds vote of the members of the Senate, instead of by a majority vote as is currently required by the Constitution of this State.

SCHEDULE

This Constitutional amendment shall be applicable to action upon bills and joint resolutions pending in the Senate during the legislative session commencing after approval of this amendment by the voters.

STATEMENT

This concurrent resolution proposes an amendment to the State Constitution to require that all bills and joint resolutions be passed in the Senate by a two-thirds vote of its members, instead of by a majority vote as is currently required by the Constitution of the State of New Jersey.

In the mid-1960s, court decisions forced New Jersey to change the composition of the State Senate to satisfy "one man, one vote" criteria. This had the effect of permanently weakening the legislative checks and balances built into New Jersey's 1947 Constitution in that less populated regions lost their ability to resist the legislative demands of more populated regions. This also weakened the Legislature's role as a co-equal branch of State government, because the historically differing political dynamics in the two Houses now largely overlap as the composition of both Houses is based on proportional population. This altered dynamic promoted rapid growth of the role of State government, as well as unsustainable increases in State spending, taxation, and debt.

The purpose of this proposal for a constitutional amendment is to adopt a new check and balance (super-majority legislative approval in the Senate) that will effectively restore the ability of less populated regions to resist the legislative demands of more populated regions, thereby re-establishing the legislative balance originally intended by the framers of the 1947 Constitution and reaffirming the Legislature's role as a co-equal branch and full partner with the executive and judicial branches of State government. This amendment is specifically designed to promote bipartisan legislative cooperation rather than partisan exploitation in State government, as it would in most instances require the legislative majority in the Senate to work with the minority in developing and enacting policy and initiatives for the State.