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Widener Law School Legal Studies Research Paper Series no. 14-18
A Legislative History of Article 1, Section 27
of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
John C. Dernbach
Widener University School of Law
Edmund J. Sonnenberg
Widener University School of Law
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2474660
A Legislative History
of
Article 1, Section 27
of the
Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Compiled by
John C. Dernbach
Distinguished Professor of Law
Widener University
Edmund J. Sonnenberg
Reference and Government Documents Librarian
Widener University
Widener University School of Law
Environmental Law Center
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
July 2014
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2474660
Acknowledgments
In compiling this legislative history, a number of individuals have been helpful with providing
assistance in locating resources. We would especially like to acknowledge Mary Sanders,
Archives/Media Assistant, at Susquehanna University which houses the Franklin L. Kury Papers;
Heather Deppen Hillard, Assistant Archivist, PA House of Representatives House Archives;
Kevin Spangenberg, Librarian, State Library of Pennsylvania; and Jonathan R. Stayer,
Supervisor of Reference Services at the Pennsylvania State Archives. Special thanks to
Stephanie Engerer, Reference/Electronic Services Librarian at Widener University School of
Law, for providing technical expertise.
A very special thanks to Franklin L. Kury for his support and encouragement with this project
and for his leadership role in getting Section 27, Article I of the Pennsylvania Constitution
adopted.
i
Table of Contents
Introduction ... 1
Part I: House Bill 958 (Session of 1969-70) House a. Introduced in the House, April 21, 1969, House Bill 958 (Regular Session of 1969-1970), assigned Printer’s No. 1105 ... 4
b. Remarks, April 21, 1969, House Journal pp. 485-486, Rep. Kury ... 6
c. Referred to Committee on Conservation, April 21, 1969... 8
d. Reported as amended from Committee on Conservation, April 29, 1969 ... 9
e. H.B. 958, Printer’s No. 1307 ... 10
f. First Consideration, May 5, 1969 ... 12
g. Second Consideration, May 27, 1969 ... 13
h. Third Consideration, June 2, 1969 ... 14
i. Remarks, June 2, 1969, House Journal, pp. 721-725, Rep. Kury ... 14
j. Final Passage, June 2, 1969 (190-0) ... 18
Senate a. Presented for concurrence in the Senate, June 3, 1969 and Referred to Committee on Constitutional Changes and Federal Relations, June 3, 1969 ... 19
b. Reported as amended, March 10, 1970 ... 20
c. Senate amended H.B. 958, Printer’s No. 2860 ... 21
d. First Consideration, March 10, 1970 ... 23
e. Second Consideration, March 16, 1970 ... 24
f. Third Consideration, March 17, 1970... 25
g. Final Passage, March 17, 1970 (39-0) ... 25
h. Signed in Senate by President Pro Tempore Robert D. Fleming, April 14, 1970 ... 27
Return to House a. Clerk of the Senate Returns Amended H.B. 958 for Concurrence, April 13, 1970 ... 28
b. Clerk of the House Announces that the House Concurs in Senate Amendments, April 14, 1970.. 29
c. Remarks, House Journal, April 14, 1970, pp. 2271-2282, Rep. Kury ... 30
d. House Concurs in Senate Amendments, April 14, 1970 (188-0) ... 40
ii
f. Filed in the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, April 15, 1970, Joint Resolution No. 4
Passed Sessions of 1970... 43
Part II: House Bill 31 (Session of 1971) House a. Introduced in the House, January 6, 1971, House Bill 31 (Session of 1971) assigned Printer’s No. 32 ... 44
b. Remarks, January 6, 1971, House Journal pp. 19-20, Rep. Kury ... 46
c. Referred to Committee on Rules, January 7, 1971 ... 48
d. Reported from Committee on Rules, as amended, January 26, 1971 ... 49
e. H.B. 31, Printer’s No. 54 ... 50
f. First Consideration, February 1, 1971 ... 52
g. Second Consideration, February 2, 1971 ... 53
h. Third Consideration, February 3, 1971 ... 54
i. Final Passage, February 3, 1971, (199-0)... 54
Senate a. H.B. 31 Presented for Concurrence in the Senate, February 8, 1971 ... 56
b. Referred to the Committee on Rules, February 8, 1971 ... 56
c. Reported from the Committee on Rules as committed, February 8, 1971 ... 57
e. First Consideration, February 8, 1971 ... 58
f. Second Consideration, February 9, 1971 ... 59
g. Third Consideration, February 15, 1971 ... 60
h. Final Passage (45-0), February 15, 1971 ... 60
i. Signed in Senate by the President (Lieutenant Governor Ernest P. Kline), February 15, 1971 ... 61
Return to House a. H.B. 31 Concurred in by the Senate, February 15, 1971 ... 62
b. February 15, 1971, Signed in House ... 63
c. Filed in the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth February 15, 1971, Joint Resolution No 3 Passed Sessions of 1970 and 1971 ... 64
Part III: Adoption a. Question and Answer Sheet on Joint Resolution 3 ... 65
b. Proposed Constitutional Amendments to be Voted on May 18, 1971 ... 70
c. Voting Results of Proposed Constitutional Amendments, May 18, 1971 ... 71
1
Introduction
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in
Robinson Township v. Commonwealth
,
803 A.3d 901 (Dec. 19, 2013) has prompted enormous interest in the history and text of Article I,
Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. This legislative history is a response to that
interest.
Amendments to the state constitution must be approved by each house of the General
Assembly in two successive legislative sessions, and then approved by a majority of voters in a
public referendum.
1Article I, Section 27 was agreed to in the 1969-1970 and 1971 session of
the General Assembly, and approved by the state’s voters on May 18, 1971. We have attempted
to put in one place all of the bills and other documents that represent its passage through this
process. More than 40 years after its adoption, many of these documents are relatively hard to
find. We hope that this legislative history will make it easier for the public, the bar, and others to
see what was done, and why.
This legislative history is organized in three parts. Part I contains the documents relating
to its passage during the 1969-70 legislative session. Representative Franklin L. Kury
introduced House Bill 958, an amendment to Article 1 of the Constitution, providing for the
preservation and restoration of Pennsylvania’s natural resources, on April 21, 1969. To pass
each house, a bill must be considered by that house on three separate days.
2H.B. 958 was
referred to the Committee on Conservation, where it was amended. As amended, the House
passed the bill on first consideration on May 5, 1969, and on second consideration on May 27,
1969. The House approved H.B. 958 on third consideration on June 2, 1969, by a vote of 190 to
0, with 12 members not voting.
H.B. 958 was subsequently introduced in the Senate on June 3, 1969 and referred to the
Committee on Constitutional Changes and Federal Relations. The Committee amended the bill a
second time. H.B. 958 was agreed to for the first time on March 10, 1970, and agreed to for the
second time on March 11, 1970. On March 17, on third consideration, the Senate approved H.B.
958 by a vote of 39 to 0. The Pennsylvania House concurred with the Senate amendments on
April 14, 1970, by a vote of 188 to 0, with 14 not voting. At this time, Rep. Kury made
additional remarks, and included in the House Journal an article by Professor Robert Broughton
of Duquesne University School of Law, which was subsequently published in the Pennsylvania
Bar Association Quarterly (41 Pa. B. Ass'n Q. 421 (1969-1970)).
1
PA. CONST. Art. 11, Section 1.
2PA. CONST. Art. 3, Section 4.
2
Part II contains the documents relating to its passage in the 1971 session. In compliance
with Pennsylvania’s constitutional amendment process, Representative Kury reintroduced the
bill, designated in this session as House Bill 31, on January 6, 1971. The bill was referred to the
Committee on Rules, from which it was reported on January 26, 1971. The House passed the bill
on first consideration on February 1, 1971, and on second consideration on February 2, 1971.
On February 3, 1971, the House approved House bill 31 by a vote of 199 to 0, with 3 not voting.
H.B. 31 was presented for concurrence in the Senate of February 8, 1971, and referred to
the Committee on Rules. The bill was approved for the first time on February 8, 1971, and for
the second time on February 9, 1971. On February 15, 1971, H.B. 31 passed the Senate by a
vote of 45 to 0. The bill was returned to the House that day, where it was signed by the Speaker
of the House.
Part III contains documents relating to the referendum and subsequent adoption of Article
I, Section 27. Representative Kury prepared and distributed a set of questions and answers prior
to the referendum. On May 18, 1971, Pennsylvania’s voters approved Article I, Section 27 by a
margin of 1,021,342 to 259,979. On July 23, 1971, Governor Milton Shapp signed a
proclamation that Article I, Section 27 had been adopted as part of the Pennsylvania
Constitution.
Franklin Kury has published a book about his legislative experience,
Clean Politics,
Clean Streams: A Legislative Autobiography and Reflections
(Lehigh University Press, 2011),
that was cited in the
Robinson Township
case. Chapters 7 and 8 explain the context of his effort
on behalf of Article I, Section 27. He also recounted his experience concerning Article I, Section
27 in an interview for the state archives. Interview with Franklin L. Kury, former State
Representative, 108th District of Penn. (May 17, 2006),
http://www.pahouse.us/bmc/archives/transcripts/Kury.pdf
.
Additional sources that may be of assistance are:
Franklin L. Kury,
The Environmental Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution:
Twenty Years Later and Largely Untested
, 1 VILL. ENVTL. L.J. 123 (1991).
FRANKLIN
L.
KURY,
NATURAL
RESOURCES AND THE
PUBLIC
ESTATE:
A
BIOGRAPHY OF
ARTICLE
I,
SECTION
27 OF THE
PENNSYLVANIA
CONSTITUTION
(1985) (delivered as a
Maurice Goddard Lecture at Penn State University at the invitation of Arthur Davis, who
then held the Goddard Chair at Penn State and later became Secretary of the Department
of Environmental Resources).
3
John C. Dernbach,
Taking the Pennsylvania Constitution Seriously When It Protects the
Environment: Part I—An Interpretative Framework for Article I, Section 27
, 103 DICK.
L. REV. 693 (1999).
John C. Dernbach,
Taking the Pennsylvania Constitution Seriously When It Protects the
Environment: Part II—Environmental Rights and Public Trust
, 104 DICK.
L.
REV. 97
(1999).
John C. Dernbach,
Natural Resources and the Public Estate, in
THE
PENNSYLVANIA
CONSTITUTION:
A
TREATISE ON
RIGHTS AND
LIBERTIES (Ken Gormley et al. eds., Bisel
2004).
The latter three were all cited by the Supreme Court in the
Robinson Township
case.
In the years ahead, lawyers, clients, and courts will continue to grapple with the meaning
and scope of Article I, Section 27. However else this legislative history contributes to the
unfolding of that process, two conclusions seem clear. First, Article I, Section 27 deserves the
same consideration as constitutional law as any other provision of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
Second, its text matters. The text, after all, is what the General Assembly approved twice and the
voters approved by an overwhelming margin.
