Six proposed Pennsylvania constitutional amendments are likely doomed

Six far-reaching proposals to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution are unlikely to get the final legislative votes they need to reach voters in the near future.

Such measures don’t need approval from the state’s governor. However, they do require cooperation between the state House and Senate, which different political parties currently control.

That split has halted progress on both proposals where there’s wide disagreement and ones that have bipartisan backing.

That includes a long-sought amendment that would extend the statute of limitations for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The legislature fully approved the amendment several years ago, but due to an error by the Pennsylvania Department of State, the measure never made it to the ballot.

“As Pennsylvania survivors, we once again feel betrayed. We are devastated and discouraged, the state chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said in a July statement. “However, we are also determined to continue fighting, primarily because we fear for the safety of today's children.”

Without action by Nov. 30 — when the current legislative session ends — all six amendments will need to restart a lengthy process. The earliest any would be able to reach voters is 2027.

To amend the Pennsylvania Constitution, the General Assembly first passes identical language in two consecutive sessions. The proposed amendment is advertised in newspapers throughout the commonwealth after each passage. It is then sent to voters for consideration during the next primary or general election.

The legislature advanced six potential changes to the state constitution last session, which ran from January 2021 to November 2022. The proposed amendments would:

• Create a two-year window for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits against their abusers or those who shielded the accused.
• Declare that the state constitution does not provide for a legal right to an abortion.
• Require all voters to provide identification every time they vote, including by mail.
• Require the auditor general to conduct annual election audits.
• Allow the General Assembly to override a regulation with a simple majority vote.
• Allow gubernatorial candidates to pick a candidate for lieutenant governor as a running mate, subject to the approval of their political party. This would eliminate separate primaries for the two offices.

Those amendments were advanced when the General Assembly was completely controlled by Republicans, who embraced this method of policymaking during former Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s second term.

Wolf frequently rejected conservative efforts to tighten abortion access, expand voter identification requirements, or check his use of executive powers to control COVID-19.

Lacking the support of Democrats to override Wolf’s vetoes, the GOP instead sent two constitutional amendments to the voters intended to constrain the governor’s emergency powers — both of which were approved.

Of the six pending amendments, five were included in a 2022 omnibus proposal crafted by legislative Republicans.

However, just a few months later, Democrats won a one-vote majority in the Pennsylvania House under a newly drawn map. That left GOP leaders unable to unilaterally advance proposed amendments.

In response to the new balance of power, state Senate Republicans tied the fate of the statute of limitations proposal to measures that would expand voter ID and give the legislature more power over regulations.

Asked in June if he saw a path forward, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) was blunt.

“Unless our friends in the House see things our way, no,” he told reporters.

So far, neither side has budged. In a statement, state House Democratic spokesperson Elizabeth Rementer told Spotlight PA that there’s “no good reason for the Senate to stall on statute of limitations,” noting that the chamber has already passed the proposal in previous sessions “but more importantly it’s the right thing to do.”

Legislative leaders commonly tie together unrelated issues in a single bill to pass controversial proposals. But such maneuvers have been criticized by good-government advocates for forcing lawmakers to make Faustian bargains and are legally dubious, as the state constitution says bills must have a single subject.

Veteran state Sen. Dave Argall (R., Schuylkill), the sponsor of an amendment to change the lieutenant governor selection process, told Spotlight PA that despite the bipartisan support for his proposal, he doesn’t expect it to get a vote before the end of the year.

“I'm very disappointed that the Lt Governor constitutional amendment, agreed to by Republicans and Democrats, will have to be reintroduced next session, solely because it was tied to unrelated matters,” Argall texted a Spotlight PA reporter.

The abuse window proposal also has bipartisan support, and has been subject to a decade of legislative debate in Harrisburg that has pitted survivors against powerful monied interests.

Survivors and their allies, including multiple state legislators with their own stories of abuse, have argued that allowing victims to have their day in court will provide for closure and bring accountability to the institutions that protected their abusers.

But their opponents, including insurers and the Catholic Church, have argued the retroactive rulings the amendment would bring about could cost taxpayers and private institutions alike millions of dollars.

Some survivors and legislators have also argued that the window could be implemented by a regular statute, which can take effect immediately after being signed by the governor, rather than through a constitutional amendment. However, state Senate Republican leadership has never allowed such a measure to come up for a vote within the chamber.

90.5 WESA partners with Spotlight PA, a collaborative, reader-funded newsroom producing accountability journalism for all of Pennsylvania. More at spotlightpa.org.