HF 1304

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             proposing amendments to the Minnesota Constitution; 
  1.3             article IV, sections 4, 12, 18, 20, and 23; providing 
  1.4             for unicameral enactment of certain laws; changing the 
  1.5             length of terms of senators and representatives; 
  1.6             reducing the size of the legislature; amending 
  1.7             Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 2.021. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9                              ARTICLE 1
  1.10                 LENGTH OF TERMS AND SIZE REDUCTION
  1.11     Section 1.  [CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.] 
  1.12     An amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, article IV, 
  1.13  section 4, is proposed to the people.  If the amendment is 
  1.14  adopted, the section will read as follows: 
  1.15     Sec. 4.  Representatives shall be chosen for a term of two 
  1.16  four years, except to fill a vacancy, and except there shall be 
  1.17  an entire new election of all the representatives at the first 
  1.18  state general election after each new legislative apportionment 
  1.19  provided for in this article.  Except to fill a vacancy, 
  1.20  senators shall be chosen for a term of four years, except to 
  1.21  fill a vacancy and except there shall be an entire new election 
  1.22  of all the senators at the first election of representatives 
  1.23  after each new legislative apportionment provided for in this 
  1.24  article at the first state general election after each new 
  1.25  legislative apportionment provided for in this article, and for 
  1.26  a term of six years at the subsequent state general election.  
  2.1   The governor shall call elections to fill vacancies in either 
  2.2   house of the legislature. 
  2.3      Sec. 2.  [QUESTION.] 
  2.4      The proposed amendment shall be submitted to the people at 
  2.5   the 2000 general election.  The question submitted shall be: 
  2.6      "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide 
  2.7   longer terms for state legislators? 
  2.8                                      Yes .......
  2.9                                      No ........"
  2.10     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABLE.] 
  2.11     Section 1 is effective upon ratification by the people and 
  2.12  applies to the state general election in 2000 and thereafter. 
  2.13                             ARTICLE 2
  2.14                         PARTIAL UNICAMERAL
  2.15     Section 1.  [CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.] 
  2.16     An amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, article IV, is 
  2.17  proposed to the people.  If the amendment is adopted, article 
  2.18  IV, section 12, will read as follows: 
  2.19     Sec. 12.  The legislature shall meet at the seat of 
  2.20  government in regular session in each biennium at the times 
  2.21  prescribed by law for not exceeding a total of 120 legislative 
  2.22  days as provided by this section.  The legislature shall not 
  2.23  meet in regular session, nor in any adjournment thereof, after 
  2.24  the first Monday following the third Saturday in May of any 
  2.25  year.  After meeting at a time prescribed by law, the 
  2.26  legislature may adjourn to another time.  "Legislative day" 
  2.27  shall be defined by law.  A special session of the legislature 
  2.28  may be called by the governor on extraordinary occasions, or by 
  2.29  the house of representatives in a year when the senate does not 
  2.30  otherwise meet for purposes of enacting revenue or appropriation 
  2.31  bills. 
  2.32     Neither house during a session of the legislature shall 
  2.33  adjourn for more than three days (Sundays excepted) nor to any 
  2.34  other place than that in which the two houses shall be assembled 
  2.35  without the consent of the other house.  
  2.36     The senate shall convene in regular session only in the 
  3.1   first year after the state general election and shall act only 
  3.2   upon bills that raise revenue or appropriate funds. 
  3.3      article IV, section 18, will read: 
  3.4      Sec. 18.  All bills for raising revenue shall originate in 
  3.5   the house of representatives, but the senate may propose and 
  3.6   concur with the amendments as on other bills.  All bills that do 
  3.7   not raise revenue or appropriate funds shall originate and be 
  3.8   acted upon only in the house of representatives. 
  3.9      article IV, section 20, will read: 
  3.10     Sec. 20.  Every bill passed by both houses, or by the house 
  3.11  of representatives alone as provided by section 18, shall be 
  3.12  enrolled and signed by the presiding officer of each the 
  3.13  appropriate house.  Any presiding officer refusing to sign a 
  3.14  bill passed by both houses under this article shall thereafter 
  3.15  be disqualified from any office of honor or profit in the 
  3.16  state.  Each house by rule shall provide the manner in which a 
  3.17  bill shall be certified for presentation to the governor in case 
  3.18  of such refusal. 
  3.19     and article IV, section 23, will read: 
  3.20     Sec. 23.  Every bill passed in conformity to the rules of 
  3.21  each house and the joint rules of the two houses, as applicable, 
  3.22  shall be presented to the governor.  If he approves a bill, he 
  3.23  shall sign it, deposit it in the office of the secretary of 
  3.24  state and notify the house in which it originated of that fact.  
  3.25  If he vetoes a bill, he shall return it with his objections to 
  3.26  the house in which it originated.  His objections shall be 
  3.27  entered in the journal.  
  3.28     If the bill was acted upon only by the house of 
  3.29  representatives, that body shall reconsider it.  If, after 
  3.30  reconsideration, it is approved by two-thirds of the house of 
  3.31  representatives, it becomes a law and shall be deposited in the 
  3.32  office of the secretary of state.  
  3.33     If in the case of a bill acted on by both houses, after 
  3.34  reconsideration, two-thirds of that house agree to pass the 
  3.35  bill, it shall be sent, together with the governor's objections, 
  3.36  to the other house, which shall likewise reconsider it.  If 
  4.1   approved by two-thirds of that house it becomes a law and shall 
  4.2   be deposited in the office of the secretary of state.  In such 
  4.3   cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and 
  4.4   nays, and the names of the persons voting for or against the 
  4.5   bill shall be entered in the journal of each house.  
  4.6      Any bill not returned by the governor within three days 
  4.7   (Sundays excepted) after it is presented to him becomes a law as 
  4.8   if he had signed it, unless the legislature by adjournment 
  4.9   within that time prevents its return.  Any bill passed during 
  4.10  the last three days of a session may be presented to the 
  4.11  governor during the three days following the day of final 
  4.12  adjournment and becomes law if the governor signs and deposits 
  4.13  it in the office of the secretary of state within 14 days after 
  4.14  the adjournment of the legislature.  Any bill passed during the 
  4.15  last three days of the session which is not signed and deposited 
  4.16  within 14 days after adjournment does not become a law. 
  4.17     If a bill presented to the governor contains several items 
  4.18  of appropriation of money, he may veto one or more of the items 
  4.19  while approving the bill.  At the time he signs the bill the 
  4.20  governor shall append to it a statement of the items he vetoes 
  4.21  and the vetoed items shall not take effect.  If the legislature 
  4.22  is in session, he shall transmit to the house in which the bill 
  4.23  originated a copy of the statement, and the items vetoed shall 
  4.24  be separately reconsidered.  If on reconsideration any item is 
  4.25  approved by two-thirds of the members elected to each house, it 
  4.26  is a part of the law notwithstanding the objections of the 
  4.27  governor. 
  4.28     Sec. 2.  [QUESTION.] 
  4.29     The proposed amendment shall be submitted to the people at 
  4.30  the 2000 general election.  The question submitted shall be: 
  4.31     "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to limit the 
  4.32  senate to meeting only in the first year after the state general 
  4.33  election and to acting only on revenue and appropriation bills? 
  4.34                                     Yes .......
  4.35                                     No ........"
  4.36     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 2.021, is amended 
  5.1   to read: 
  5.2      2.021 [NUMBER OF MEMBERS.] 
  5.3      For each legislature, until a new apportionment shall have 
  5.4   been made, the senate is composed of 67 48 members and the house 
  5.5   of representatives is composed of 134 96 members.  
  5.6      Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.] 
  5.7      Section 1 is effective upon ratification by the people and 
  5.8   applies to sessions of the legislature on and after January 1, 
  5.9   2003. 
  5.10     Section 3 is effective upon ratification of the 
  5.11  constitutional amendment in section 1 and applies to the state 
  5.12  general election in 2002 and thereafter.