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Eliminate the State Senate
Updated 3/8/2011

This amendment also eliminates term limits. For our reasoning behind that, click here.

Our petition is so long that it will require a 5-sheet (10-page) extension, printed on both sides. More on that under Petition Language, below. Here is the signature side and here is the 10-page extension.

The effective date of a constitutional amendment is 45 days after the date of the election at which it was approved (Article XII, Section 2 of the Michigan Constitution).

Why Eliminate the Senate? We want to eliminate the state Senate because it is unnecessary, and therefore a waste of money. Eliminating the Senate will save more than $31 million a year. This is what is budgeted for the state legislature for fiscal year 2011 (from Fiscal Year 2011 Executive Budget, page B-23):

House of Representatives	$43,243,300
Senate	28,632'000
Legislative Council	11,028,100
Property Management	11,793,300
Legislative Retirement System	4,533,900
House Fiscal Agency	2,897,300
Senate Fiscal Agency	2,897,300
(Non-specified Legislative Reductions)	(2,941,100)
	$102,084,100

Over $31 million is saved from eliminating the Senate ($28,632.0) and the Senate Fiscal Agency ($2,897.3). The Senate's share of the $3,424,100 cost for the retirement system may increase at first with all those newly-retired senators, but it will diminish over time. And less than the current $11,028,100 should be required for the Legislative Council, a bipartisan committee of the Legislature providing services such as bill drafting and research, and less than the current $11,799,300 should be required to manage, operate, maintain and repair the Capitol and the legislative office buildings ("Property Management"). We might even be able to rent out those vacant Senate offices and gain some revenue. 

Each Michigan citizen is currently represented by two legislators: a representative and a senator. There are 38 senators and 110 representatives. Each represents a district drawn to include a certain number of people: 90,000 for senators and 262,000 for representatives. This makes Michigan's senate very much unlike the U.S. Senate, where there are two senators per state and they serve at large. Since its members represent states rather than same-size groups of people, the U.S. Senate is not a democratic institution. This makes Michigan's senate superior to the U.S. Senate. It also makes it redundant - a mini-House of Representatives. Why do Michigan citizens need two representatives?

The 49 states that have a bicameral legislature apparently did so to mimic the U.S. legislative structure, but the situations were much different. The U.S. Senate was created created as a compromise to get the smaller states to sign on to the U.S. Constitution. This is from Wikipedia:

The Connecticut Compromise (also known as the Great Compromise of 1787 or Sherman's Compromise) was an agreement between large and small states reached during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution. . . .

In favor of the larger states, membership in the lower house . . . was to be allocated in proportion to state population and candidates were to be nominated and elected by the people of each state . . . [M]embership in the upper house . . . was to be allocated two seats to each state, regardless of size, with members being chosen by the state legislatures. Members of the Upper House . . . were elected by the State Legislature until the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, which called for the direct election of Senators by the people . . .

This agreement allowed deliberations to continue and thus led to the Three-Fifths Compromise, which further wrangled the issue of popular representation in the House. Less populous Southern States were allowed to count three-fifths of all non-free, non-Native American people toward population counts and allocations.

Michigan's senate has been population-based since 1964, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Reynolds v. Sims that state legislative districts that were not roughly equal in population violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. At the time of that decision, Michigan's senate was based 80% on population and 20% on area.

Eliminating the Senate means that legislation will only have to pass one house, which will make the legislative process more efficient. With a unicameral legislature, we might be able to get a state budget passed before October for a change.

Nebraska is currently the only state with a unicameral legislature, consisting of 49 senators. Each represents a district containing about 35,000 people. All Canadian provinces are unicameral.

A document in the Library of Michigan presents arguments for and against retaining a two-house legislature. It is from a debate that took place in 1971 between House Speaker William A. Ryan and Senator Carl D. Pursell on the "for" side and Representative Joseph P. Swallow on the "against" side. The cover sheet contains this statement:

Debate at this time is really academic, for in the absence of a successful petition drive, the people of Michigan will not be given the opportunity to cast a vote on this question.

Petition Language. Extensive changes to the Michigan Constitution will be required. On the petition form, we are required to use 8-point type, which is small and allows us to pack in a lot of text, but there is still more than will fit on the back of the petition form. MCL 168.482(3) says:

The full text of the amendment so proposed shall follow [the heading] and be printed in 8-point type. If the proposal would alter or abrogate an existing provision of the constitution, the petition shall so state and the provisions to be altered or abrogated shall be inserted . . .

The Bureau of Elections (under the Secretary of State) interprets the above to mean that the amendment is to be shown in full followed by the full text of the provisions being altered or deleted. Bureau instructions also say that

alterations may be presented by showing any language that would be added to the provision or provisions in capital letters and any language that would be deleted from the provision or provisions struck out with a line.

So the original language is to appear twice on the petition, first as the amendment and again as the amended text currently exists. Showing the language as it currently exists seems redundant, since the original language is already shown in the presentation of the amendment, with language being deleted struck through. Our amendment alone requires 5 petition pages, and having to also include the original language will require 10 pages - a 5-sheet extension when we could have gotten by with 2. On January 5, 2011, we sent a letter to Secretary of State Ruth Johnson asking her to eliminate this requirement. We also asked her to allow us another device to cut the length of the petition. The Michigan Constitution is divided into articles and sections. A section is the smallest named division, so we assume that a "provision" is a section. That means that if any part of a section is altered, the petition must show the entire section. Having to include every section of the Constitution that mentions the Senate, or "both houses of the legislature", or "each house", is what makes our amendment 5 pages long, a 2-sheet extension. We could get by with a 3-page, 1-sheet extension if we could deal with sections that only refer to the Senate with the following table, which will appear after all the more substantial changes:

We got a reply to our letter to Ruth Johnson written by Christopher Thomas, Director of Elections. He sticks to the requirement that the entire text be presented twice, once with the changes and once without. He also rejects the use of the above method of presenting minor changes. This means that our petition will need a 5-page extension. We have 2 other options:

1. Ignore the rules - don't include the original, unaltered text and use the above device to present minor changes. This allows us to get by with a 1-page extension. When the Board of State Canvassers rejects our petitions, we will take them to court.

2. Abandon this initiative.

Here is the full amendment. It fills five 8.5 x 14 inch pages:

ARTICLE II, Elections

§ 9 Initiative and referendum; limitations; appropriations; petitions.

   Sec. 9. The people reserve to themselves the power to propose laws and to enact and reject laws, called the initiative, and the power to approve or reject laws enacted by the legislature, called the referendum. The power of initiative extends only to laws which the legislature may enact under this constitution. The power of referendum does not extend to acts making appropriations for state institutions or to meet deficiencies in state funds and must be invoked in the manner prescribed by law within 90 days following the final adjournment of the legislative session at which the law was enacted. To invoke the initiative or referendum, petitions signed by a number of registered electors, not less than eight percent for initiative and five percent for referendum of the total vote cast for all candidates for governor at the last preceding general election at which a governor was elected shall be required.

Referendum, approval.

   No law as to which the power of referendum properly has been invoked shall be effective thereafter unless approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon at the next general election.

Initiative; duty of legislature, referendum.

   Any law proposed by initiative petition shall be either enacted or rejected by the legislature without change or amendment within 40 session days from the time such petition is received by the legislature. If any law proposed by such petition shall be enacted by the legislature it shall be subject to referendum, as hereinafter provided.

Legislative rejection of initiated measure;

different measure; submission to people.

   If the law so proposed is not enacted by the legislature within the 40 days, the state officer authorized by law shall submit such proposed law to the people for approval or rejection at the next general election. The legislature may reject any measure so proposed by initiative petition and propose a different measure upon the same subject by a yea and nay vote upon separate roll calls, and in such event both measures shall be submitted by such state officer to the electors for approval or rejection at the next general election.

Initiative or referendum law;

effective date, veto, amendment and repeal.

   Any law submitted to the people by either initiative or referendum petition and approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon at any election shall take effect 10 days after the date of the official declaration of the vote. No law initiated or adopted by the people shall be subject to the veto power of the governor, and no law adopted by the people at the polls under the initiative provisions of this section shall be amended or repealed, except by a vote of the electors unless otherwise provided in the initiative measure or by three-fourths of the members elected to and serving in each house of the legislature. Laws approved by the people under the referendum provision of this section may be amended by the legislature at any subsequent session thereof. If two or more measures approved by the electors at the same election conflict, that receiving the highest affirmative vote shall prevail.

Legislative implementation.

   The legislature shall implement the provisions of this section.

ARTICLE III, General Government

§ 8 Opinions on constitutionality by supreme court.

   Sec. 8. Either house of the  THE legislature or the governor may request the opinion of the supreme court on important questions of law upon solemn occasions as to the constitutionality of legislation after it has been enacted into law but before its effective date.

ARTICLE IV, Legislative Branch

§ 1 Legislative power.

    Sec. 1. The legislative power of the State of Michigan is vested in a senate and a house of representatives.

§ 2 Senators, number, term.
   Sec. 2. The senate shall consist of 38 members to be elected from single member districts at the same election as the governor for four-year terms concurrent with the term of office of the governor.

Senatorial districts, apportionment factors.

   In districting the state for the purpose of electing senators after the official publication of the total population count of each federal decennial census, each county shall be assigned apportionment factors equal to the sum of its percentage of the state’s population as shown by the last regular federal decennial census computed to the nearest one-one hundredth of one percent multiplied by four and its percentage of the state’s land area computed to the nearest one-one hundredth of one percent.

Apportionment rules.

   In arranging the state into senatorial districts, the apportionment commission shall be governed by the following rules:
   (1) Counties with 13 or more apportionment factors shall be entitled as a class to senators in the proportion that the total apportionment factors of such counties bear to the total apportionment factors of the state computed to the nearest whole number. After each such county has been allocated one senator, the remaining senators to which this class of counties is entitled shall be distributed among such counties by the method of equal proportions applied to the apportionment factors.
   (2) Counties having less than 13 apportionment factors shall be entitled as a class to senators in the proportion that the total apportionment factors of such counties bear to the total apportionment factors of the state computed to the nearest whole number. Such counties shall thereafter be arranged into senatorial districts that are compact, convenient, and contiguous by land, as rectangular in shape as possible, and having as nearly as possible 13 apportionment factors, but in no event less than 10 or more than 16. Insofar as possible, existing senatorial districts at the time of reapportionment shall not be altered unless there is a failure to comply with the above standards.
   (3) Counties entitled to two or more senators shall be divided into single member districts. The population of such districts shall be as nearly equal as possible but shall not be less than 75 percent nor more than 125 percent of a number determined by dividing the population of the county by the number of senators to which it is entitled. Each such district shall follow incorporated city or township boundary lines to the extent possible and shall be compact, contiguous, and as nearly uniform in shape as possible.

§ 4 Annexation or merger with a city.

   Sec. 4. In counties having more than one representative or senatorial district, the territory in the same county annexed to or merged with a city between apportionments shall become a part of a contiguous representative or senatorial district in the city with which it is combined, if provided by ordinance of the city. The district or districts with which the territory shall be combined shall be determined by such ordinance certified to the secretary of state. No such change in the boundaries of a representative or senatorial district shall have the effect of removing a legislator from office during his term.

§ 6 Commission on legislative apportionment.

   Sec. 6. A commission on legislative apportionment is hereby established consisting of eight electors, four of whom shall be selected by the state organizations of each of the two political parties whose candidates for governor received the highest vote at the last general election at which a governor was elected preceding each apportionment. If a candidate for governor of a third political party has received at such election more than 25 percent of such gubernatorial vote, the commission shall consist of 12 members, four of whom shall be selected by the state organization of the third political party. One resident of each of the following four regions shall be selected by each political party organization: (1) the upper peninsula; (2) the northern part of the lower peninsula, north of a line drawn along the northern boundaries of the counties of Bay, Midland, Isabella, Mecosta, Newaygo and Oceana; (3) southwestern Michigan, those counties south of region (2) and west of a line drawn along the western boundaries of the counties of Bay, Saginaw, Shiawassee, Ingham, Jackson and Hillsdale; (4) southeastern Michigan, the remaining counties of the state.

Eligibility to membership.

   No officers or employees of the federal, state or local governments, excepting notaries public and members of the armed forces reserve, shall be eligible for membership on the commission. Members of the commission shall not be eligible for election to the legislature until two years after the apportionment in which they participated becomes effective.

Appointment, term, vacancies.

   The commission shall be appointed immediately after the adoption of this constitution and whenever apportionment or districting of the legislature is required by the provisions of this constitution. Members of the commission shall hold office until each apportionment or districting plan becomes effective. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as for original appointment. 

Officers, rules of procedure, compensation, appropriation.

   The secretary of state shall be secretary of the commission without vote, and in that capacity shall furnish, under the direction of the commission, all necessary technical services. The commission shall elect its own chairman, shall make its own rules of procedure, and shall receive compensation provided by law. The legislature shall appropriate funds to enable the commission to carry out its activities.

Call to convene; apportionment; public hearings.

   Within 30 days after the adoption of this constitution, and after the official total population count of each federal decennial census of the state and its political subdivisions is available, the secretary of state shall issue a call convening the commission not less than 30 nor more than 45 days thereafter. The commission shall complete its work within 180 days after all necessary census information is available. The commission shall proceed to district and apportion the senate and house of representatives according to the provisions of this constitution. All final decisions shall require the concurrence of a majority of the members of the commission. The commission shall hold public hearings as may be provided by law.

Apportionment plan, publication; record of proceedings.

   Each final apportionment and districting plan shall be published as provided by law within 30 days from the date of its adoption and shall become law 60 days after publication. The secretary of state shall keep a public record of all the proceedings of the commission and shall

be responsible for the publication and distribution of each plan.

Disagreement of commission; submission of plans to supreme court.

   If a majority of the commission cannot agree on a plan, each member of the commission, individually or jointly with other members, may submit a proposed plan to the supreme court. The supreme court shall determine which plan complies most accurately with the constitutional requirements and shall direct that it be adopted by the commission and published as provided in this section.

Jurisdiction of supreme court on elector’s application.

   Upon the application of any elector filed not later than 60 days after final publication of the plan, the supreme court, in the exercise of original jurisdiction, shall direct the secretary of state or the commission to perform their duties, may review any final plan adopted by the

commission, and shall remand such plan to the commission for further action if it fails to comply with the requirements of this constitution.

§ 7 Legislators; qualifications, removal from district.

   Sec. 7. Each senator and representative must be a citizen of the United States, at least 21 years of age, and an elector of the district he represents. The removal of his domicile from the district shall be deemed a vacation of the office. No person who has been convicted of subversion or who has within the preceding 20 years been convicted of a felony involving a breach of public trust shall be eligible for either house of the legislature.

§ 8 Ineligibility of government officers and employees.

   Sec. 8. No person holding any office, employment or position under the United States or this state or a political subdivision thereof, except notaries public and members of the armed forces reserve, may be a member of either house of the legislature.

§ 11 Legislators privileged from civil arrest and civil process; limitation; questioning for speech in either house THE LEGISLATURE prohibited.

   Sec. 11. Except as provided by law, senators and representatives shall be privileged from civil arrest and civil process during sessions of the legislature and for five days next before the commencement and after the termination thereof. They shall not be questioned in any other place for any speech in either house THE LEGISLATURE.

§ 12 State officers compensation commission.

   Sec. 12. The state officers compensation commission is created which subject to this section shall determine the salaries and expense allowances of the members of the legislature, the governor, the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, the secretary of state, and the justices of the supreme court. The commission shall consist of 7 members appointed by the governor whose qualifications may be determined by law. Subject to the legislature’s ability to amend the commission’s determinations as provided in this section, the commission shall determine the salaries and expense allowances of the members of the legislature, the governor, the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, the secretary of state, and the justices of the supreme court which determinations shall be the salaries and expense allowances only if the legislature by concurrent resolution adopted by a majority of the members elected to and serving in each house of the legislature approve them. The senate and house of representatives shall alternate on which house of the legislature shall originate the concurrent resolution, with the senate originating the first concurrent resolution.

   The concurrent resolution may amend the salary and expense determinations of the state officers compensation commission to reduce the salary and expense determinations by the same proportion for members of the legislature, the governor, the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, the secretary of state, and the justices of the supreme court. The legislature shall not amend the salary and expense determinations to reduce them to below the salary and expense level that members of the legislature, the governor, the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, the secretary of state, and the justices of the supreme court receive on the date the salary and expense determinations are made. If the salary and expense determinations are approved or amended as provided in this section, the salary and expense determinations shall become effective for the legislative session immediately following the next general election. The commission shall meet each 2 years for no more than 15 session days. The legislature shall implement this section by law.

§ 13 Legislature; time of convening, sine die adjournment, measures carried over.

   Sec. 13. The legislature shall meet at the seat of government on the second Wednesday in January of each year at twelve o’clock noon. Each regular session shall adjourn without day, on a day determined by concurrent resolution, at twelve o’clock noon. Any business, OR bill or joint resolution pending at the final adjournment of a regular session held in an odd numbered year shall carry over with the same status to the next regular session.

§ 14 Quorum; powers of less than quorum.

   Sec. 14. A majority of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE shall constitute a quorum to do business. A smaller number in each house THE LEGISLATURE may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members in the manner and with penalties as each house THE LEGISLATURE may prescribe.

§ 16 Legislature; officers, rules of procedure, expulsion of members.

   Sec. 16. Each house THE LEGISLATURE, except as otherwise provided in this constitution, shall choose its own officers and determine the rules of its proceedings, but shall not adopt any rule that will prevent a majority of the members elected thereto and serving therein from discharging a committee from the further consideration of any measure. Each house THE LEGISLATURE shall be the sole judge of the qualifications, elections and returns of its members, and may, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members elected thereto and serving therein, expel a member. The reasons for such expulsion shall be entered in the journal, with the votes and names of the members voting upon the question. No member shall be expelled a second time for the same cause.

§ 17 Committees; record of votes, public inspection, notice of hearings.

   Sec. 17. Each house of the legislature THE LEGISLATURE may establish the committees necessary for the efficient conduct of its business and the legislature may create joint committees. On all actions on bills and resolutions in each committee, names and votes of members shall be recorded. Such vote shall be available for public inspection. Notice of all committee hearings and a clear statement of all subjects to be considered at each hearing shall be published in the journal in advance of the hearing.

§ 18 Journal of proceedings; record of votes, dissents.

   Sec. 18. Each house THE LEGISLATURE shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the same unless the public security otherwise requires. The record of the vote and name of the members of either house voting on any question shall be entered in the journal at the request of one-fifth of the members present. Any member of either house may dissent from and protest against any act, proceeding or resolution which he deems injurious to any person or the public, and have the reason for his dissent entered in the journal.

§ 19 Record of votes on elections and advice and consent.

   Sec. 19. All elections in either house or in joint convention THE LEGISLATURE and all votes on appointments submitted to the senate LEGISLATURE for advice and consent shall be published by vote and name in the journal.

§ 20 Open meetings.

   Sec. 20. The doors of each house THE LEGISLATURE shall be open unless the public security otherwise requires.

§ 21 Adjournments, limitations.
   Sec. 21. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than two intervening calendar days, nor to any place other than where the legislature may then be in session.

§ 22 Bills.
   Sec. 22. All legislation shall be by bill and may originate in either house.

§ 24 Laws; object, title, amendments changing purpose.

   Sec. 24. No law shall embrace more than one object, which shall be expressed in its title. No bill shall be altered or amended on its passage through either house so as to change its original purpose as determined by its total content and not alone by its title.

§ 26 Bills; printing, possession, reading, vote on passage.

   Sec. 26. No bill shall be passed or become a law at any regular session of the legislature until it has been printed or reproduced and in the possession of each house THE LEGISLATURE for at least five days. Every bill shall be read three times in each house before the final passage thereof. No bill shall become a law without the concurrence of a majority of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE. On the final passage of bills, the votes and names of the members voting thereon shall be entered in the journal.

§ 27 Laws, effective date.

   Sec. 27. No act shall take effect until the expiration of 90 days from the end of the session at which it was passed, but the legislature may give immediate effect to acts by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE.

§ 29 Local or special acts.

   Sec. 29. The legislature shall pass no local or special act in any case where a general act can be made applicable, and whether a general act can be made applicable shall be a judicial question. No local or special act shall take effect until approved by two-thirds of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE and by a majority of the electors voting thereon in the district affected. Any act repealing local or special acts shall require only a majority of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE and shall not require submission to the electors of such district.

§ 30 Appropriations; local or private purposes.

   Sec. 30. The assent of two-thirds of the members elected to and serving in each house of the legislature shall be required for the appropriation of public money or property for local or private purposes.

§ 31 General appropriation bills; priority, statement of estimated revenue.

   Sec. 31. The general appropriation bills for the succeeding fiscal period covering items set forth in the budget shall be passed or rejected in either house of the legislature before that house IT passes any appropriation bill for items not in the budget except bills supplementing appropriations for the current fiscal year’s operation. Any bill requiring an appropriation to carry out its purpose shall be considered an appropriation bill. One of the general appropriation bills as passed by the legislature shall contain an itemized statement of estimated revenue by major source in each operating fund for the ensuing fiscal period, the total of which shall not be less than the total of all appropriations made from each fund in the general appropriation bills as passed.

§ 33 Bills passed; approval by governor or veto, reconsideration by legislature.
   Sec. 33. Every bill passed by the legislature shall be presented to the governor before it becomes law, and the governor shall have 14 days measured in hours and minutes from the time of presentation in which to consider it. If he approves, he shall within that time sign and file it with the secretary of state and it shall become law. If he does not approve, and the legislature has within that time finally adjourned the session at which the bill was passed, it shall not become law. If he disapproves, and the legislature continues the session at which the bill was passed, he shall return it within such 14-day period with his objections, to the house in which it originated. That house THE LEGISLATURE shall enter such objections in full in its journal and reconsider the bill. If two-thirds of the members elected to and serving in that house THE LEGISLATURE pass the bill notwithstanding the objections of the governor, it shall be sent with the objections to the other house for reconsideration. The bill shall become law if passed by two-thirds of the members elected to and serving in that house. The vote of each house shall be entered in the journal with the votes and names of the members voting thereon. If any bill is not returned by the governor within such 14-day period, the legislature continuing in session, it shall become law as if he had signed it.

§ 37 Administrative rules, suspension by legislative committee.
   Sec. 37. The legislature may by concurrent resolution empower a joint committee of the legislature, acting between sessions, to suspend any rule or regulation promulgated by an administrative agency subsequent to the adjournment of the last preceding regular legislative session. Such suspension shall continue no longer than the end of the next regular legislative session.

§ 43 Bank and trust company laws.

   Sec. 43. No general law providing for the incorporation of trust companies or corporations for banking purposes, or regulating the business thereof, shall be enacted, amended or repealed except by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE.

§ 53 Auditor general; appointment, qualifications, term, removal, post audits.

   Sec. 53. The legislature by a majority vote of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE, shall appoint an auditor general, who shall be a certified public accountant licensed to practice in this state, to serve for a term of eight years. He shall be ineligible for appointment or election to any other public office in this state from which compensation is derived while serving as auditor general and for two years following the termination of his service. He may be removed for cause at any time by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE. The auditor general shall conduct post audits of financial transactions and accounts of the state and of all branches, departments, offices, boards, commissions, agencies, authorities and institutions of the state established by this constitution or by law, and performance post audits thereof.

Independent investigations; reports.

   The auditor general upon direction by the legislature may employ independent accounting firms or legal counsel and may make investigations pertinent to the conduct of audits. He shall report annually to the legislature and to the governor and at such other times as he deems necessary or as required by the legislature. He shall be assigned no duties other than those specified in this section.

 Governing boards of institutions of higher education.

   Nothing in this section shall be construed in any way to infringe the responsibility and constitutional authority of the governing boards of the institutions of higher education to be solely responsible for the control and direction of all expenditures from the institutions’ funds.

Staff members, civil service.

   The auditor general, his deputy and one other member of his staff shall be exempt from classified civil service. All other members of his staff shall have classified civil service status.

 § 54 Limitations on terms of office of state legislators.
   Sec. 54. No person shall be elected to the office of state representative more than three times. No person shall be elected to the office of state senate more than two times. Any person appointed or elected to fill a vacancy in the house of representatives or the state senate for a period greater than one half of a term of such office, shall be considered to have been elected to serve one time in that office for purposes of this section. This limitation on the number of times a person shall be elected to office shall apply to terms of office beginning on or after January 1, 1993.
   This section shall be self-executing. Legislation may be enacted to facilitate operation of this section, but no law shall limit or restrict the application of this section. If any part of this section is held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts of this section shall not be affected but will remain in full force and effect.

ARTICLE V, Executive Branch

§ 2 Principal departments.

   Sec. 2. All executive and administrative offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the executive branch of state government and their respective functions, powers and duties, except for the office of governor and lieutenant governor and the governing bodies of institutions of higher education provided for in this constitution, shall be allocated by law among and within not more than 20 principal departments. They shall be grouped as far as practicable according to major purposes.

Organization of executive branch; assignment of functions;

submission to legislature.

   Subsequent to the initial allocation, the governor may make changes in the organization of the executive branch or in the assignment of functions among its units which he considers necessary for efficient administration. Where these changes require the force of law, they shall be set forth in executive orders and submitted to the legislature. Thereafter the legislature shall have 60 calendar days of a regular session, or a full regular session if of shorter duration, to disapprove each executive order. Unless disapproved in both houses by a resolution concurred in by a majority of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE, each order shall become effective at a date thereafter to be designated by the governor.

§ 3 Single heads of departments; appointment, term.

   Sec. 3. The head of each principal department shall be a single executive unless otherwise provided in this constitution or by law. The single executives heading principal departments shall include a secretary of state, a state treasurer and an attorney general. When a single executive is the head of a principal department, unless elected or appointed as otherwise provided in this constitution, he shall be appointed by the governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate LEGISLATURE and he shall serve at the pleasure of the governor.

Boards heading departments; appointment, term, removal.

   When a board or commission is at the head of a principal department, unless elected or appointed as otherwise provided in this constitution, the members thereof shall be appointed by the governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate LEGISLATURE. The term of office and procedure for removal of such members shall be as prescribed in this constitution or by law.

Boards and commissions, maximum term.

   Terms of office of any board or commission created or enlarged after the effective date of this constitution shall not exceed four years except as otherwise authorized in this constitution. The terms of office of existing boards and commissions which are longer than four years shall not be further extended except as provided in this constitution.

§ 6 Advice and consent to appointments.

   Sec. 6. Appointment by and with the advice and consent of the senate LEGISLATURE when used in this constitution or laws in effect or hereafter enacted means appointment subject to disapproval by a majority vote of the members elected to and serving in the senate LEGISLATURE if such action is taken within 60 session days after the date of such appointment. Any appointment not disapproved within such period shall stand confirmed.

§ 7 Vacancies in office; filling, senatorial disapproval of appointees.

   Sec. 7. Vacancies in any office, appointment to which requires advice and consent of the senate LEGISLATURE, shall be filled by the governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate LEGISLATURE. A person whose appointment has been disapproved by the senate LEGISLATURE shall not be eligible for an interim appointment to the same office.

§ 13 Elections to fill vacancies in legislature.

   Sec. 13. The governor shall issue writs of election to fill vacancies in the senate or house of  representatives LEGISLATURE. Any such election shall be held in a manner prescribed by law.

§ 18 Budget; general and deficiency appropriation bills.

   Sec. 18. The governor shall submit to the legislature at a time fixed by law, a budget for the ensuing fiscal period setting forth in detail, for all operating funds, the proposed expenditures and estimated revenue of the state. Proposed expenditures from any fund shall not exceed the estimated revenue thereof. On the same date, the governor shall submit to the legislature general appropriation bills to embody the proposed expenditures and any necessary bill or bills to provide new or additional revenues to meet proposed expenditures. The amount of any surplus created or deficit incurred in any fund during the last preceding fiscal period shall be entered as an item in the budget and in one of the appropriation bills. The governor may submit amendments to appropriation bills to be offered in either house during consideration of the bill by that house THE LEGISLATURE, and shall submit bills to meet deficiencies in current appropriations.

§ 20 Reductions in expenditures.

   Sec. 20. No appropriation shall be a mandate to spend. The governor, with the approval of the appropriating committees of the house and senate LEGISLATURE, shall reduce expenditures authorized by appropriations whenever it appears that actual revenues for a fiscal period will fall below the revenue estimates on which appropriations for that period were based. Reductions in expenditures shall be made in accordance with procedures prescribed by law. The governor may not reduce expenditures of the legislative and judicial branches or from funds constitutionally dedicated for specific purposes.

§ 25 Lieutenant governor; president of senate LEGISLATURE, tie vote, duties.

   Sec. 25. The lieutenant governor shall be president of the senate LEGISLATURE, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. He may perform duties requested of him by the governor, but no power vested in the governor shall be delegated.

§ 26 Succession to governorship.

   Sec. 26. In case of the conviction of the governor on impeachment, his removal from office, his resignation or his death, the lieutenant governor, the elected secretary of state, the elected attorney general and such other persons designated by law shall in that order be governor for the remainder of the governor’s term.

Death of governor-elect.

   In case of the death of the governor-elect, the lieutenant governor-elect, the secretary of state-elect, the attorney general-elect and such other persons designated by law shall become governor in that order at the commencement of the governor-elect’s term.

Duration of successor’s term as governor.

   If the governor or the person in line of succession to serve as governor is absent from the state, or suffering under an inability, the powers and duties of the office of the governor shall devolve in order of precedence until the absence or inability giving rise to the devolution of

powers ceases.

Determination of inability.

   The inability of the governor or person acting as governor shall be determined by a majority of the supreme court on joint request of the president pro tempore of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives. Such determination shall be final and conclusive. The

supreme court shall upon its own initiative determine if and when the inability ceases.

§ 28 State transportation commission; establishment; purpose; appointment, qualifications, and terms of members; director of state transportation department.

   Sec. 28. There is hereby established a state transportation commission, which shall establish policy for the state transportation department transportation programs and facilities, and such other public works of the state, as provided by law. The state transportation commission shall consist of six members, not more than three of whom shall be members of the same political party. They shall be appointed by the governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate LEGISLATURE for three-year terms, no three of which shall expire in the same year, as provided by law. The director of the state transportation department shall be appointed as provided by law and shall be the principal executive officer of the state transportation department and shall be responsible for executing the policy of the state transportation commission.

§ 29 Civil rights commission; members, term, duties, appropriation.

   Sec. 29. There is hereby established a civil rights commission which shall consist of eight persons, not more than four of whom shall be members of the same political party, who shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate LEGISLATURE, for four-year terms not more than two of which shall expire in the same year. It shall be the duty of the commission in a manner which may be prescribed by law to investigate alleged discrimination against any person because of religion, race, color or national origin in the enjoyment of the civil rights guaranteed by law and by this constitution, and to secure the equal protection of such civil rights without such discrimination. The legislature shall provide an annual appropriation for the effective operation of the commission.

 Rules and regulations; hearings, orders.

   The commission shall have power, in accordance with the provisions of this constitution and of general laws governing administrative agencies, to promulgate rules and regulations for its own procedures, to hold hearings, administer oaths, through court authorization to require the attendance of witnesses and the submission of records, to take testimony, and to issue appropriate orders. The commission shall have other powers provided by law to carry out its purposes. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to diminish the right of any party to direct and immediate legal or equitable remedies in the courts of this state.

Appeals

   Appeals from final orders of the commission, including cease and desist orders and refusals to issue complaints, shall be tried de novo before the circuit court having jurisdiction provided by law. 

ARTICLE VI, Judicial Branch

§ 1 Judicial power in court of justice; divisions.

   Sec. 1. The judicial power of the state is vested exclusively in one court of justice which shall be divided into one supreme court, one court of appeals, one trial court of general jurisdiction known as the circuit court, one probate court, and courts of limited jurisdiction that the legislature may establish by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE.

§ 25 Removal of judges from office.

   Sec. 25. For reasonable cause, which is not sufficient ground for impeachment, the governor shall remove any judge on a concurrent resolution of two-thirds of the members elected to and serving in each house of the legislature. The cause for removal shall be stated at length in the resolution.

ARTICLE VIII, Education 

§ 6 Other institutions of higher education, controlling boards.

   Sec. 6. Other institutions of higher education established by law having authority to grant baccalaureate degrees shall each be governed by a board of control which shall be a body corporate. The board shall have general supervision of the institution and the control and direction of all expenditures from the institution’s funds. It shall, as often as necessary, elect a president of the institution under its supervision. He shall be the principal executive officer of the institution and be ex-officio a member of the board without the right to vote. The board may elect one of its members or may designate the president, to preside at board meetings. Each board of control shall consist of eight members who shall hold office for terms of eight years, not more than two of which shall expire in the same year, and who shall be appointed by the governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate LEGISLATURE. Vacancies shall be filled in like manner.

ARTICLE IX, Finance and Taxation

§ 3 Property taxation; uniformity; assessments; limitations; classes; approval of legislature.

   Sec. 3. The legislature shall provide for the uniform general ad valorem taxation of real and tangible personal property not exempt by law except for taxes levied for school operating purposes. The legislature shall provide for the determination of true cash value of such property; the proportion of true cash value at which such property shall be uniformly assessed, which shall not, after January 1, 1966, exceed 50 percent; and for a system of equalization of assessments. For taxes levied in 1995 and each year thereafter, the legislature shall provide that the taxable value of each parcel of property adjusted for additions and losses, shall not increase each year by more than the increase in the immediately preceding year in the general price level, as defined in section 33 of this article, or 5 percent, whichever is less until ownership of the parcel of property is transferred. When ownership of the parcel of property is transferred as defined by law, the parcel shall be assessed at the applicable proportion of current true cash value. The legislature may provide for alternative means of taxation of designated real and tangible personal property in lieu of general ad valorem taxation. Every tax other than the general ad valorem property tax shall be uniform upon the class or classes on which it operates. A law that increases the statutory limits in effect as of February 1, 1994 on the maximum amount of ad valorem property taxes that may be levied for school district operating purposes requires the approval of 3/4 of the members elected to and serving in the Senate and in the House of Representatives LEGISLATURE.

§ 15 Long term borrowing by state.

   Sec. 15. The state may borrow money for specific purposes in amounts as may be provided by acts of the legislature adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE, and approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon at any general election. The question submitted to the electors shall state the amount to be borrowed, the specific purpose to which the funds shall be devoted, and the method of repayment.

§ 27 Exceeding revenue limit; conditions.

   Sec. 27. The revenue limit of Section 26 of this Article may be exceeded only if all of the following conditions are met: (1) The governor requests the legislature to declare an emergency; (2) the request is specific as to the nature of the emergency, the dollar amount of the emergency, and the method by which the emergency will be funded; and (3) the legislature thereafter declares an emergency in accordance with the specific of the governor’s request by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE. The emergency must be declared in accordance with this section prior to incurring any of the expenses which constitute the emergency request. The revenue limit may be exceeded only during the fiscal year for which the emergency is declared. In no event shall any part of the amount representing a refund under Section 26 of this Article be the subject of an emergency request. 

ARTICLE X, Property

§ 5 State lands.

   Sec. 5. The legislature shall have general supervisory jurisdiction over all state owned lands useful for forest preserves, game areas and recreational purposes; shall require annual reports as to such lands from all departments having supervision or control thereof; and shall by general law provide for the sale, lease or other disposition of such lands.

State land reserve.

   The legislature by an act adopted by two-thirds of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE may designate any part of such lands as a state land reserve. No lands in the state land reserve may be removed from the reserve, sold, leased or otherwise disposed of except by an act of the legislature.

ARTICLE XI, Public Officers and Employment

§ 5 Classified state civil service; scope; exempted positions; appointment and terms of members of state civil service commission; state personnel director; duties of commission; collective bargaining for state police troopers and sergeants; appointments, promotions, demotions, or removals; increases or reductions in compensation; creating or abolishing positions; recommending compensation for unclassified service; appropriation; reports of expenditures; annual audit; payment for personal services; violation; injunctive or mandamus proceedings.

   Sec. 5. The classified state civil service shall consist of all positions in the state service except those filled by popular election, heads of principal departments, members of boards and commissions, the principal executive officer of boards and commissions heading principal departments, employees of courts of record, employees of the legislature, employees of the state institutions of higher education, all persons in the armed forces of the state, eight exempt positions in the office of the governor, and within each principal department, when requested by the department head, two other exempt positions, one of which shall be policy-making. The civil service commission may exempt three additional positions of a policy-making nature within each principal department.

   The civil service commission shall be non-salaried and shall consist of four persons, not more than two of whom shall be members of the same political party, appointed by the governor for terms of eight years, no two of which shall expire in the same year.

   The administration of the commission’s powers shall be vested in a state personnel director who shall be a member of the classified service and who shall be responsible to and selected by the commission after open competitive examination.

   The commission shall classify all positions in the classified service according to their respective duties and responsibilities, fix rates of compensation for all classes of positions, approve or disapprove disbursements for all personal services, determine by competitive examination and performance exclusively on the basis of merit, efficiency and fitness the qualifications of all candidates for positions in the classified service, make rules and regulations covering all personnel transactions, and regulate all conditions of employment in the classified service.

   State Police Troopers and Sergeants shall, through their elected representative designated by 50% of such troopers and sergeants, have the right to bargain collectively with their employer concerning conditions of their employment, compensation, hours, working conditions, retirement, pensions, and other aspects of employment except promotions which will be determined by competitive examination and performance on the basis of merit, efficiency and fitness; and they shall have the right 30 days after commencement of such bargaining to submit any unresolved disputes to binding arbitration for the resolution thereof the same as now provided by law for Public Police and Fire Departments.

   No person shall be appointed to or promoted in the classified service who has not been certified by the commission as qualified for such appointment or promotion. No appointments, promotions, demotions or removals in the classified service shall be made for religious, racial or partisan considerations.

   Increases in rates of compensation authorized by the commission may be effective only at the start of a fiscal year and shall require prior notice to the governor, who shall transmit such increases to the legislature as part of his budget. The legislature may, by a majority vote of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE, waive the notice and permit increases in rates of compensation to be effective at a time other than the start of a fiscal year. Within 60 calendar days following such transmission, the legislature may, by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE, reject or reduce increases in rates of compensation authorized by the commission. Any reduction ordered by the legislature shall apply uniformly to all classes of employees affected by the increases and shall not adjust pay differentials already established by the civil service commission. The legislature may not reduce rates of compensation below those in effect at the time of the transmission of increases authorized by the commission.

   The appointing authorities may create or abolish positions for reasons of administrative efficiency without the approval of the commission. Positions shall not be created nor abolished except for reasons of administrative efficiency. Any employee considering himself aggrieved by the abolition or creation of a position shall have a right of appeal to the commission through established grievance procedures.

   The civil service commission shall recommend to the governor and to the legislature rates of compensation for all appointed positions within the executive department not a part of the classified service.

   To enable the commission to exercise its powers, the legislature shall appropriate to the commission for the ensuing fiscal year a sum not less than one percent of the aggregate payroll of the classified service for the preceding fiscal year, as certified by the commission. Within six months after the conclusion of each fiscal year the commission shall return to the state treasury all moneys unexpended for that fiscal year.

   The commission shall furnish reports of expenditures, at least annually, to the governor and the legislature and shall be subject to annual audit as provided by law.

   No payment for personal services shall be made or authorized until the provisions of this constitution pertaining to civil service have been complied with in every particular. Violation of any of the provisions hereof may be restrained or observance compelled by injunctive or mandamus proceedings brought by any citizen of the state.

§ 7 Impeachment of civil officers.

   Sec. 7. The house of representatives LEGISLATURE shall have the sole power of impeaching civil officers for corrupt conduct in office or for crimes or misdemeanors, but a majority of the members elected thereto and serving therein shall be necessary to direct an impeachment.

Prosecution by 3 members of house of representatives THE LEGISLATURE.

   When an impeachment is directed, the house of representatives LEGISLATURE shall elect three of its members to prosecute the impeachment.

Trial by senate FULL LEGISLATURE; oath, presiding officer.

   Every impeachment shall be tried by the senate FULL LEGISLATURE immediately after the final adjournment of the legislature. The senators REPRESENTATIVES shall take an oath or affirmation truly and impartially to try and determine the impeachment according to the evidence. When the governor or lieutenant governor is tried, the chief justice of the supreme court shall preside.

Conviction; vote, penalty.

   No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the senators REPRESENTATIVES elected and serving. Judgment in case of conviction shall not extend further than removal from office, but the person convicted shall be liable to punishment according to law.

Judicial officers, functions after impeachment.

   No judicial officer shall exercise any of the functions of his office after an impeachment is directed until he is acquitted.

ARTICLE XII, Amendment and Revision

§ 1 Amendment by legislative proposal and vote of electors.

   Sec. 1. Amendments to this constitution may be proposed in the senate or house of representatives THE LEGISLATURE. Proposed amendments agreed to by two-thirds of the members elected to and serving in each house THE LEGISLATURE on a vote with the names and vote of those voting entered in the respective journals shall be submitted, not less than 60 days thereafter, to the electors at the next general election or special election as the legislature shall direct. If a majority of electors voting on a proposed amendment approve the same, it shall become part of the constitution and shall abrogate or amend existing provisions of the constitution at the end of 45 days after the date of the election at which it was approved.

§ 3 General revision of constitution; submission of question, convention delegates and meeting.

   Sec. 3. At the general election to be held in the year 1978, and in each 16th year thereafter and at such times as may be provided by law, the question of a general revision of the constitution shall be submitted to the electors of the state. If a majority of the electors voting on the question decide in favor of a convention for such purpose, at an election to be held not later than six months after the proposal was certified as approved, the electors of each representative district as then organized shall elect one delegate and the electors of each senatorial district as then organized shall elect one delegate at a partisan election. The delegates so elected shall convene at the seat of government on the first Tuesday in October next succeeding such election or at an earlier date if provided by law.

Convention officers, rules, membership, personnel, publications.

   The convention shall choose its own officers, determine the rules of its proceedings and judge the qualifications, elections and returns of its members. To fill a vacancy in the office of any delegate, the governor shall appoint a qualified resident of the same district who shall be a member of the same party as the delegate vacating the office. The convention shall have power to appoint such officers, employees and assistants as it deems necessary and to fix their compensation; to provide for the printing and distribution of its documents, journals and proceedings; to explain and disseminate information about the proposed constitution and to complete the business of the convention in an orderly manner. Each delegate shall receive for his services compensation provided by law.

Submission of proposed constitution or amendment.

   No proposed constitution or amendment adopted by such convention shall be submitted to the electors for approval as hereinafter provided unless by the assent of a majority of all the delegates elected to and serving in the convention, with the names and vote of those voting entered in the journal. Any proposed constitution or amendments adopted by such convention shall be submitted to the qualified electors in the manner and at the time provided by such convention not less than 90 days after final adjournment of the convention. Upon the approval of such constitution or amendments by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon the constitution or amendments shall take effect as provided by the convention.