SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 4
(By Senators Manchin, Ross, Anderson,
Whitlow, Helmick and Boley
[Introduced February 7, 1994;
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West
Virginia, amending section one, article six thereof; and
further amending said Constitution by adding a new article,
designated article fifteen, all relating to the legislative
powers held by the people of the State and the Legislature;
the reservation by and to the people and registered voters
of this State the powers of referendum at all levels of
government in this State; numbering and designating such
proposed amendment; 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 one thousand nine hundred ninety-four,
which proposed amendment is that section one, article six
thereof, be amended; and that said Constitution be furtheramended by adding thereto a new article, designated article
fifteen, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE VI. THE LEGISLATURE.
§1. Legislative powers held by people and by Legislature.
Except for the power of referendum reserved by and to the
people of West Virginia in article fifteen of this Constitution,
the legislative power shall be vested in a Senate and House of
Delegates. The style of their acts shall be, "Be it enacted by
the Legislature of West Virginia."
ARTICLE XV. REFERENDUM.
§1. Referendum; definitions, scope, limitations.
The people of West Virginia reserve to themselves the power
of referendum.
Subject to the restrictions set forth in this section, the
power of referendum is the power of registered voters, through
the use of a petition procedure established in this section, and
governed by general law not in conflict therewith, to propose the
rejection of statutes, or specific portions thereof, newly
enacted by the Legislature, and, at a regularly scheduled or
special election held less than two years after the filing of a
proper petition, to approve or reject said statutes, or specific
portions thereof, by a simple majority of the votes cast on the
issue.
The power of referendum reserved by and to the people
pursuant to this section are further reserved to the registered
voters of each municipality, county or other election district asto all local, special, municipal, and county ordinances, charter
provisions, rules and other legislation of every character in or
for said municipality, county or other district if said
ordinances, charter provisions, rules and other legislation are
ordained or enacted, or capable of being ordained or enacted, by
the election council of a municipal corporation, by a county
commission, by an elected board of a school district or by any
other elected public body, as the case may be.
The Legislature shall, by general law in accordance with
this section, provide for referendum at each level of government
in West Virginia. The Legislature shall further provide that a
petition for referendum must be signed by registered voters
residing in the district over which the elected public body in
question has jurisdiction.
The Legislature shall further provide that, to initiate a
referendum election pursuant to this section, a petition for
referendum, including all copies thereof, must contain the
signatures of a number of the registered voters residing in said
district equal to fifteen percent of all of the votes cast for
the office of Governor in said district in the most recent
quadrennial general election preceding the filing of said
petition. The Legislature shall further provide that, to
initiate a statewide referendum election pursuant to this
section, a petition for referendum, including all copies thereof,
must, in each county of two thirds of the counties of this State,
contain the signatures of a number of the registered votersresiding in said county equal to fifteen percent of all of the
votes cast for the office of Governor in said county in the most
recent quadrennial election preceding the filing of said
petition.
The Legislature shall further provide that, to be valid,
said referendum petition must be filed with the proper official
within a certain period, not less than ninety days in length,
after the date the statute, ordinance or other legislation the
rejection of which the circulators of the referendum petition are
seeking was enacted or ordained. The Legislature shall further
provide that within a certain period, not more than thirty days
in length, after the filing of a referendum petition with the
proper official, said official shall certify said petition if it
has been prepared, circulated, signed and filed in compliance
with applicable law. If the petition is so certified, the
statute, ordinance or other legislation, or part thereof, the
rejection of which is being sought, shall be immediately
suspended until it has been approved or rejected at a referendum
election, unless said legislation was enacted, with a recorded
vote reflecting the yeas and nays, by at least two thirds of the
members voting on the issue in each legislative body the approval
of which was required for passage. If a referendum petition is
filed against part of a statute or other legislation, the
remainder may not be delayed from going into effect.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the
contrary, the power of referendum may not be exercised in anattempt to reject those portions of an act or ordinance which
appropriate public funds or call an election.
A statute or any other legislation, or portion thereof,
suspended through the filing of a proper referendum petition,
takes effect on the date that it is approved by the voters unless
the approved measure provides otherwise. If an amendment to this
Constitution and a statute are both approved by the voters at the
same election, the amendment prevails in any case of conflict.
The Legislature may amend or repeal any statute approved at
a referendum election.
The Legislature shall further provide for procedures
relating to the preparation, circulation and filing referendum
petitions, to the verification of signatures thereon, to the
certification of such petitions and to the conduct of referendum
elections. The Legislature shall, with such exceptions as it may
deem prudent, enact legislation to encourage holding referendum
elections on regularly scheduled election days and to discourage
holding special referendum elections. The Legislature may enact
legislation to allow referendum elections involving
municipalities to be held in conjunction with regularly scheduled
elections involving state and county officials.
The Legislature shall, by general law, provide for the
disclosure of contributions and expenditures relating to
referendum elections and may enact other provisions to guarantee
the integrity of referendum elections.
The authority granted to the Legislature in this section maynot be construed in any way as a restriction on the right of the
people of West Virginia to petition their government.
This section may not be construed to preempt or to repeal
existing or future provisions of municipal charters which reserve
to municipal voters additional referendum powers.
This section is to be liberally construed to ensure that the
power of the people of West Virginia to propose, and to accept or
reject, laws is not undermined by a system of overly complicated
procedures.
Resolved further, That in accordance with the provisions of
article eleven, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, such proposed
amendment is hereby numbered "Amendment No. 1" and designated as
the "Referendum Amendment" and the purpose of the proposed
amendment is summarized as follows: "To amend the State
Constitution to enable the people of the State of West Virginia
to reserve to themselves the power of referendum to enable the
people to attempt to reject statutes enacted by legislative
bodies through the circulation and filing of petitions and
through elections held thereon."
NOTE: The purpose of this resolution is to amend the State
Constitution to give the people the power of referendum.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present Constitution, and underscoring indicates new
language that would be added.
Article XV, section one is new; therefore, strike-throughs
and underscoring have been omitted.
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