WEST virginia Legislature
2016 regular session
Introduced
House Joint Resolution 44
By Delegates Skinner, Caputo, Fluharty, Lynch, Miley, Manchin, Reynolds, Boggs, Moore, P. White and Guthrie
[Introduced ;
Referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary]
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia amending section fourteen, article VII relating to requiring a vote of two thirds of the members of each legislative house to override the Governor’s veto and providing a summarized statement of the purpose of such proposed amendment.
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, two thirds of the members elected to each house agreeing thereto:
That the question of ratification or rejection of an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia be submitted to the voters of the state at the next general election to be held in the year 2016; which proposed amendment is that section fourteen, article VII be amended to read as follows:
ARTICLE VII. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.
§14. Governor’s Approval or Disapproval of Bills Passed by the Legislature.
Subject to the provisions
of section fifteen of this article, every bill passed by the Legislature shall,
before it becomes a law, be presented to the Governor. If he approves, he shall
sign it, and thereupon it shall become a law; but if not, he shall return it,
with his objections, to the house in which it originated, which house shall
enter the objections at large upon its journal, and may proceed to reconsider
the returned bill. Notwithstanding the provisions of section fifty-one, article
six of this Constitution, any such bill may be reconsidered even if the
Legislature is at the time in extended session for the sole purpose of
considering the budget bill, as specified in said section fifty-one. If after
any such reconsideration, a majority two-thirds of the members
elected to that house agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with
the objections of the Governor to the other house, by which it may likewise be
reconsidered, and if approved by a majority two-thirds of the
members elected to that house, it shall become a law, notwithstanding the
objections of the Governor. If upon any such reconsideration the bill is
amended and reenacted, then it shall be again sent to the Governor and he shall
act upon it as if it were before him for the first time. In all cases, the vote
of each house shall be determined by yeas and nays to be entered on the
journal. Any bill which shall not be returned by the Governor within five
days, Sundays excepted, after it shall have been presented to him shall be a
law, in the same manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature shall,
by adjournment sine die, prevent its return, in which case it shall be filed
with his objections in the office of the Secretary of State within fifteen
days, Sundays excepted, after such adjournment, or become a law.
Resolved further, That in accordance with the provisions of article eleven, chapter three of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, such amendment is hereby numbered “Amendment No. 1” and designated as the “Requirement of two thirds of Members of Legislature to override Governor’s Veto Amendment” and the purpose of the proposed amendment is summarized as follows: “To require two thirds of each legislative house’s member’s votes to override the Governor’s Veto.“
NOTE: The purpose of this resolution is to amend the Constitution in order to raise the threshold number of votes in each house of the Legislature needed to override a veto, from a simple majority to two-thirds of the members.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.