Joint Session Calendar for Thursday, June 14, 2007

NOTICE: - While reasonable efforts have been made to assure the accuracy of the data herein, this is an UNCORRECTED proof of the Joint Session Calendar. It is published to provide information in a timely manner, but has not been proofread for accuracy.

CALENDAR

OF THE

JOINT SESSION OF THE TWO HOUSES

FOR

THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2007

[At one o'clock P.M.]

[And for Subsequent Sessions if Ordered.]

__________________________

[Concurrently Assigned for Consideration.]

[CONTINUATION OF RECESSED SESSION OF MAY 9, 2007.]

[All amendments to be offered should be drafted so that the line numbers correspond with the line numbers in the printed Convention Calendar and not with the printed Proposals.]

__________________________

1. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 2220) (introduced into the General Court by the initiative petition of Raymond L. Flynn and others) having received, in joint session, the affirmative votes of not less than one-fourth of all members elected [see House, No. 4617 of 2005], has been referred in accordance with Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution, to the present General Court.

[After the proposal has been read, the question is on again agreeing to the amendment.]

[Vote required: – The affirmative votes of not less than one-fourth of all the members elected – 50 minimum.]

[Under the provisions of Article XLVIII, Part IV (under THE INITIATIVE), Sections 3 and 4, of the Amendments of the Constitution, a Proposal for an Initiative Amendment “shall be voted upon in the form in which it is introduced, unless such amendment is amended by a vote of three-fourths of the members voting thereon in joint session;” and the “affirmative votes of not less than one-fourth of all members elected” are necessary to agree to the amendment.]

Proposal for an Initiative Amendment to the Constitution to define marriage.

Not less than one-fourth of all the members elected to the Senate and House of Representatives, in joint session, hereby, declares it to be expedient to alter the Constitution by the adoption of the following Article of Amendment, to the end that it may become part of the Constitution [if similarly agreed to in a joint session of the next General Court and approved by the people at The state election next following]:

	ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	When recognizing marriages entered into after the adoption of
2	this amendment by the people, the Commonwealth and its
3	political subdivisions shall define marriage only as the union of
4	one man and one woman.

2. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 2221) (introduced into the General Court at the request of Ross J. Rajotte), having received, in joint session, the affirmative votes of a majority of all the members elected to the preceding General Court [see Senate, No. 9, amended of 2005], has been referred in accordance with Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution, to the present General Court.

[After the proposal has been read, the question is on again agreeing to the amendment.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members elected to the General Court – minimum number 101.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution authorizing the General Court to provide for absentee voting by any voter.

A majority of all the members elected to the Senate and House of Representatives, in joint session, hereby declares it to be expedient to alter the Constitution by the adoption of the following Article of Amendment, to the end that it may become a part of the Constitution [if similarly agreed to in a joint session of General Court and approved by the people at the state election next following]:

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	Article . Article XLV of the Amendments to the Constitution, as appear-
2	in Article CV of the Amendments, is hereby annulled and the following is
3	adopted in place thereof:—
4	Article XLV. The general court shall have power to provide by law
5	for voting, in the choice of any officer to be elected or upon any question
6	submitted at an election, by any qualified voter of the commonwealth by
7	absentee ballot.

3. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 20), the committee on Education has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass. [Antonioni-Haddad.]

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution relative to changing Artile XLVI of the Constitution.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	SECTION 1. Article XLVI of the Articles of Amendment to the
2	Constitution of the Commonwealth is hereby amended by adding the
3	following sentence to the end of section 2:-
4	In addition, nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent
5	the Commonwealth from making grants-in-aid to students or parents or
6	guardians of students attending private primary and secondary schools
7	and nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the Commonwealth
8	from providing tax deductions or tax credits for educational expenses,
9	including tuition, textbooks, and transportation incurred by taxpayers
10	whose dependents attend public or private primary and secondary
11	schools.

4. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 21), the committee on Election Laws has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass. [Augustus-Bradley.] (Senator Spilka and Representatives Atsalis of Barnstable and Rogeness of Longmeadow dissent.)

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution increasing the term of the General Court from two to four year.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	Article LXIV of the Amendments to the Constitution amended by
2	Article LXXX and Article LXXII Amendments, is hereby annulled, and
3	the following is adopted in place thereof: -SECTION 1. Article LXIV.
4	The Governor, lieutenant governor, secretary, treasurer and receiver-
5	general, attorney general, auditor, senators, and representatives shall be
6	elected quadrennially, and counselors shall be elected biennially. The
7	terms the governor and lieutenant-governor shall begin at noon Thursday
8	next following the first Wednesday in January succeeding their election
9	and shall end at noon on the Thursday following the first Wednesday in
10	January in the fifth year following their election. If the governor-elect
11	shall have died before the qualification of the lieutenant-governor-elect,
12	the lieutenant- governor- elect upon qualification shall become governor.
13	If both the governor-elect and the lieutenant-governor-elect shall have
14	died, both said offices shall be deemed vacant and the provisions of
15	Article LV of the Amendments to the Constitution shall apply. The
16	terms of the secretary, treasurer and receiver-general, attorney-general,
17	and auditor shall begin with the third Wednesday in January succeeding
18	their election and shall extend to the third Wednesday in January in the
19	fifth year following their election and until their successors are chosen
20	and qualified. The terms of the councilors shall begin at noon on the
21	Thursday next following the first Wednesday in January succeeding their
22	election and shall end at noon on the Thursday next following the first
23	Wednesday in January in the third year following their election. The
24	terms of the senators and representatives shall begin with the first
25	Wednesday in January succeeding their election and shall extend to the
26	first Wednesday in January in the fifth year following their election and
27	until their successors are chosen and qualified.
28	SECTION 2. The general court shall assemble every year on the first
29	Wednesday in January.
30	SECTION 3. The first election to which this article shall apply shall
31	be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November in the
32	year two thousand and two, and thereafter elections for the choice of
33	governor, lieutenant-governor, auditor, secretary, treasurer and receiver-
34	general, attorney-general, auditor, senators, and representatives shall be
35	held quadrennially on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in
36	November and elections for the choice of councilors shall be held
37	biennially on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November.

5. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 22), the committee on Election Laws has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass. [Augustus-Bradley.] (Senators Augustus, Spilka and Brown and Representatives Rogeness of Longmeadow, Frost of Auburn and Eldridge of Acton dissent)

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution establishing an independent redistricting commission and criteria for redistricting for state House, Senate, and Councillor Districts.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	Article CI of the Articles of Amendments to the Constitution of the
2	Commonwealth is hereby annulled, and the following is adopted in
3	place thereof:
4	Article CI. The House of Representatives shall consist
5	of one hundred and sixty members, each of whom shall be elected from
6	one representative district. Every representative shall have been an
7	inhabitant of the district for which he or she is chosen for at least one
8	year at least immediately preceding his or her election and shall cease
9	to represent such district when he or she shall cease to be an inhabitant
10	of the Commonwealth, provided, however, that for the first redistricting
11	following the adoption of this article, the General Court may suspend
12	the residency requirement of this section.
13	SECTION 2. The Senate shall consist of forty members, each of
14	whom shall be elected from one senatorial district. Every senator shall
15	have been an inhabitant of the Commonwealth for at least five years
16	immediately preceding his or her election and shall be an inhabitant of
17	the district for which he or she has been selected at the time of his or
18	her election and shall cease to represent such senatorial district when he
19	or she shall cease to be an inhabitant of the Commonwealth.
20	SECTION 3. The manner of calling and conducting the elections
21	for the choice of representatives, senators, and councillors, and of
22	ascertaining their election, shall be prescribed by law.
23	SECTION 4. The federal census shall be the basis for determining
24	the representative, senatorial, and governor’s council districts for the
25	ten-year period beginning with the first Wednesday of the third January
26	following the commencement of the taking of said census.
27	SECTION 5. In the year after each census is commenced, and only
28	in that year, an Independent Redistricting Commission
29	(“Commission”) shall be convened and shall divide the Commonwealth
30	into one hundred and sixty representative districts, forty senatorial
31	districts, and eight councillor districts. All districts shall comprise
32	contiguous territory, shall be equal in population to the extent required
33	by law, and shall comply with federal constitutional and statutory
34	requirements. No district shall be drawn for the purpose or with the
35	effect of diluting the voting strength of any group based on race,
36	ethnicity or language minority status, or for the purpose of augmenting
37	or diluting the voting strength of a political party, or any individual. In
38	drawing district lines, the Commission shall not consider residential
39	address, party affiliation, or partisan voting history of any individual or
40	groups of individuals, except to the extent necessary to avoid dilution
41	of voting strength based on race, ethnicity or language minority status.
42	In addition, to the maximum extent possible, district boundaries shall
43	be drawn so as to: (1) maintain the unity of well-defined municipal
44	neighborhoods; (2) observe municipal boundaries; (3) establish
45	senatorial districts that follow representative district boundaries; (4)
46	establish councillor districts that follow representative district
47	boundaries and (5) promote geographic compactness of districts. If it is
48	not possible to draw district boundaries that fully comply with these
49	criteria while also complying with the mandatory requirements set forth
50	herein, then they shall be drawn to optimize the criteria in the order of
51	priority set forth hereinabove. The Commission shall also consider
52	communities of interest in determining which cities, towns, or
53	neighborhoods thereof to aggregate into a single district.
54	SECTION 6. The Commission shall consist of seven member
55	commissioners. On or before January 15 of the year following the
56	commencement of the federal census, the following offices shall each
57	appoint one member of the Commission: the Governor of the
58	Commonwealth, who shall appoint a dean or professor of law or
59	political science or government at an institution of higher learning in
60	Commonwealth; the Attorney General of the Commonwealth, who
61	shall appoint a retired justice who resides in the Commonwealth; and
62	the Secretary of the Commonwealth, who shall appoint an expert in
63	civil rights law who is a resident of the Commonwealth.
64	By the same date, the House Speaker, the House Minority Leader,
65	the Senate President, and the Senate Minority Leader shall each
66	nominate three individuals. The appointees chosen by the Governor,
67	Attorney General, and Secretary of the Commonwealth shall then select
68	one of the three nominees named by each said official.
69	If nominations or appointments are not made by January 15 of such
70	year, the office responsible for making the appointment or nominations
71	shall forfeit its rights under this section and the remaining direct
72	appointees shall then make an appointment to fill the vacancy.
73	Nominations and appointments shall reflect the geographic, racial,
74	ethnic, gender, and age diversity of the Commonwealth to the
75	maximum extent feasible and shall be selected on the basis of civic
76	involvement and knowledge of redistricting policy, civil rights,
77	political science, demographics or statistics, election expertise, voting
78	rights, community organizing, or law. No person nominated or
79	appointed to the Commission, in the five years preceding such
80	nomination or appointment, shall have held Congressional, state
81	legislative or statewide elective office, or shall have served as mayor or
82	city councillor of a city in the Commonwealth, governor’s councillor
83	or shall have been elected to a state or federal party committee; or shall
84	be a current employee, agent or family member of any of the above;
85	or, in the two years preceding such nomination or appointment, shall
86	have been a legislative agent. The Commissioners shall agree: (1) not
87	to stand for election to the General Court, Congress, or the Governor’s
88	Council until districts are redrawn following the next census; (2) to
89	apply the provisions of this article in an honest, independent, and
90	impartial fashion; and (3) to act at all times so as to uphold public
91	confidence in the integrity of the redistricting process.
92	SECTION 7. The Commission shall be convened no later than
93	February 15 of the year following the commencement of the decennial
94	census. The Commission shall disband only upon final adoption and
95	exhaustion of judicial review of challenges to representative,
96	councillor, and senatorial districts.
97	SECTION 8. The Commission shall hire staff and may retain
98	experts to assist it in the performance of its duties. The Commission
99	shall establish rules governing its operation and procedures.
100	Commissioners may receive compensation for actual time spent on
101	Commission duties and shall be reimbursed for reasonable and
102	necessary expenses. The budget of the Commonwealth shall provide
103	adequate funding for the operation of the Commission.
104	SECTION 9. A member of the Commission or an appointing
105	authority may petition the Supreme Judicial Court to remove a com-
106	missioner on the grounds of neglect, misconduct, or inability to per-
107	form the duties of a commissioner. A vacancy so created shall be filled
108	by the office which appointed the removed commissioner or by the
109	nomination and selection process set forth in Section 6, as applicable.
110	SECTION 10. All meetings of the Commission shall be open to the
111	public, consistent with the laws of the Commonwealth concerning open
112	meetings as of the date of the adoption of this Article. All documents
113	produced by or for the Commission shall be public. The Commission
114	shall hold public hearings in at least five geographically disbursed
115	counties. The public shall be afforded the opportunity to submit
116	proposed maps for consideration by the Commission and the
117	Commission shall make map-making software available for public use.
118	The Commission shall take all steps necessary to ensure that the public
119	can exercise its right to review and comment on proposed district maps
120	before they are approved and shall publish all preliminary and final
121	plans in publicly accessible forums that are free of charge and that
122	ensure wide public distribution. Proposed districts shall be presented in
123	both graphic and narrative form.
124	SECTION 11. Within one hundred and twenty days of the
125	completion of the decennial census, the Commission shall prepare and
126	publish for or public comment a preliminary plan for representative,
127	councilor, and senatorial districts. The public shall have a three-week
128	period to comment on the preliminary district plan. The Commission
129	may revise the preliminary district plan in response to public comment
130	and shall submit the revised plan to the General Court, which shall vote
131	on the revised plan. If the plan is rejected, then the Commission shall
132	prepare, publish, revise, and submit a second-round preliminary district
133	plan in the same manner as the first. Following the period for public
134	comment, the Commission shall submit the revised plan to the General
135	Court for a vote. If the General Court votes to reject the second-round
136	plan, then the Commission shall prepare, publish, revise, and submit a
137	third-round preliminary district plan, in the same manner as the first. If
138	the General Court rejects the third-round plan, then the Commission
139	shall prepare, publish, and revise a fourth-round plan in the same
140	manner. The plan so revised, shall become law without submission to
141	or approval by the General Court.
142	With respect to each plan the Commission submits to the General
143	Court for a vote, the vote must be taken within two weeks of
144	submission. No amendments to the plan as submitted may be made. If
145	the plan is approved by a majority of the members of the House and
146	Senate present and voting or if no vote is taken within the two-week
147	period, then the plan as submitted shall become law.
148	SECTION 12. Original jurisdiction is hereby vested in the
149	Supreme Judicial Court upon the petition of any voter of the
150	Commonwealth for judicial relief relative to the establishment of the
151	representative, councillor, and senatorial districts. The General Court
152	may by law limit the time within which judicial proceedings may be
153	instituted to challenge any redistricting map.

6. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 23), the committee on Election Laws has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought to pass. [Augustus-Bradley.] (Senator Creedon dissents.)

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution relative to emergency appointments of elected officials.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	SECTION 1. The Constitution of the Commonwealth is hereby
2	amended by striking out Article LXXXIII of the Amendments to the
3	Constitution, and inserting in place thereof the following Article of Amendment:-
4	Article LXXXIII. The general court shall have full power and
5	authority to provide for prompt and temporary succession to the powers
6	and duties of public offices, of whatever nature and whether filled by
7	election or appointment, the incumbents of which may become
8	unavailable for carrying on the powers and duties of such offices in
9	periods of emergency resulting from disaster caused by enemy or
10	terrorist attack, and to adopt such other measures as may be necessary
11	and proper for insuring continuity of the government of the
12	commonwealth and the governments of its political subdivisions; except
13	that, notwithstanding Article XXX of Part the First, if more than 1/3 of
14	the senate or more than 1/3 of the house membership is vacant as a result
15	of enemy or terrorist attack, the General Court shall fill the vacancies by
16	appointment, and in making the appointments it shall fill each vacancy
17	with a person who is a resident of the district where the vacancy
18	occurred and is of the same political party as the person who held the
19	office at the time the vacancy occurred. A person so appointed shall
20	serve until a successor is elected and qualified in accordance with the
21	provisions for filling vacancies in the general court.

7. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 25), the committee on Election Laws has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass. [Augustus-Bradley.] (Senator Brown and Representatives Rogeness of Longmeadow and Frost of Auburn dissent.)

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution relative to Constitutional Officers.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	SECTION 1. Article LXIV of the Amendments to the Constitution
2	is hereby amended by inserting after section 3 the following new
3	section:-
4	SECTION 4. Upon a vacancy in the office of the secretary,
5	treasurer and receiver-general, attorney general and auditor by reason
6	of death, resignation or removal, such vacancy shall be filled by an
7	election called by the Governor within six months of said vacancy,
8	unless the vacancy occurs between January 1 and seventy days prior to
9	the state primary, in which case the election shall be held at the
10	regularly scheduled biennial election. Prior to the election to fill said
11	vacancy, senators and representatives in one room by majority vote of a
12	joint ballot shall select a temporary replacement who shall hold the title
13	of acting secretary, acting treasurer and receiver-general, acting
14	attorney general and acting auditor, as the case may be.

8. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 26), the committee on the Judiciary has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass, the time within which the said committee was required to report having expired.

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution amending the Constitution to preserve civil rights and equal protection.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	SECTION 1. Section 2 of part II, “Initiative Petitions,” of article
2	XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution of the commonwealth is
3	hereby amended by inserting in the first sentence after the words
4	“religious institutions;” the following words:- or civil rights;
5	SECTION 2. Section 2 of part II, “Initiative Petitions,” of article
6	XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution of the commonwealth is
7	hereby amended by inserting in the third paragraph after the words
8	“freedom of elections;” the following words:- the right to equal
9	protection;
10	SECTION 3. Section 2 of part III, “Referendum Petitions” of
11	article XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution of the
12	commonwealth is hereby amended by inserting in the first sentence
13	after the words “religious institutions;” the following words:- or to civil
14	rights and matters of equal protection;.

9. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 27), the committee on the Judiciary has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass, the time within which the said committee was required to report having expired.

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution relative to legislative action.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	SECTION 1. Article XLVIII of the amendments to the Constitution
2	is hereby amended in that part of said article XLVIII under the heading
3	“The Initiative. IV. Legislative Action on Proposed Constitutional
4	Amendments” in Section 4 by striking the words: “At such joint
5	session a legislative amendment receiving the affirmative votes of a
6	majority of all the members elected, or an initiative amendment
7	receiving the affirmative votes of not less than one-fourth of all the
8	members elected, shall be referred to the next general court.” and
9	replacing them with the following:-
10	“At such joint session a legislative or an initiative amendment receiving
11	the affirmative votes of a majority of all the members elected shall be
12	referred to the next general court.”
13	SECTION 2 Article XLVIII of the amendments to the
14	Constitution is hereby amended in that part of said article XLVIII under
15	the heading “The Initiative. IV. Legislative Action on Proposed
16	Constitutional Amendments” in Section 5 by striking the words: “If in
17	the next general court a legislative amendment shall again be agreed to
18	in joint session by a majority of all the members elected, or if an
19	initiative amendment or a legislative substitute shall again receive the
20	affirmative votes of a least one-fourth of all the members elected, such
21	fact shall be certified by the clerk of such joint session to the secretary
22	of the commonwealth, who shall submit the amendment to the people
23	at the next state election.” and replacing them with the following:-
24	“If in the next general court a legislative amendment, an initiative
25	amendment, or a legislative substitute shall again be agreed to in joint
26	session by a majority of all the members elected such fact shall be
27	certified by the clerk of such joint session to the secretary of the
28	commonwealth, who shall submit the amendment to the people at the
29	next state election.”

10. On the following proposal (see House, No. 661), the committee on Election Laws has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass. [Augustus-Bradley.] (Senators Augustus, Spilka and Brown and Representatives Eldridge of Acton, Rogeness of Longmeadow and Frost of Auburn dissent.)

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution establishing an independent redistricting commission and criteria for redistricting for state House of Representatives, Senate, and Councilor Districts

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	Article CI of the Articles of Amendments to the Constitution of the
2	Commonwealth is hereby annulled, and the following is adopted in
3	place thereof:
4	Article CI. SECTION 1. The house of representatives shall consist
5	of 160 members, each of whom shall be elected from one
6	representative district. Every representative shall have been an
7	inhabitant of the district for which he is chosen for at least one
8	year at least immediately preceding his election and shall cease
9	to represent such district when he shall ceases to be an inhabitant
10	of the commonwealth; provided, however, that for the first redistricting
11	following the adoption of this article, the general court may suspend
12	the residency requirement of this section.
13	SECTION 2. The senate shall consist of 40 members, each of
14	whom shall be elected from one senatorial district. Every senator shall
15	have been an inhabitant of the commonwealth for at least five years
16	immediately preceding his election and shall be an inhabitant of
17	the district for which he has been selected at the time of his
18	election and shall cease to represent such senatorial district when he
19	ceases to be an inhabitant of the commonwealth.
20	SECTION 3. The manner of calling and conducting the elections
21	for the choice of representatives, senators, and councilors, and of
22	ascertaining their election, shall be prescribed by law.
23	SECTION 4. The federal census shall be the basis for determining
24	the representative, senatorial, and governor’s council districts for the
25	ten year period beginning with the first Wednesday of the third January
26	following the commencement of the taking of said census.
27	SECTION 5. In the year after each census is commenced, and only
28	in that year, an independent redistricting commission, herein referred to
29	as the commission, shall be convened and shall divide the
30	commonwealth into 160 representative districts, 40 senatorial districts,
31	and eight councilor districts. All districts shall comprise contiguous
32	territory, shall be equal in population to the extent required by law, and
33	shall comply with federal constitutional and statutory requirements. No
34	district shall be drawn for the purpose or with the effect of diluting the
35	voting strength of any group based on race, ethnicity or language
36	minority status, or for the purpose of augmenting or diluting the voting
37	strength of a political party, or any individual. In drawing district lines,
38	the commission shall not consider residential address, party affiliation,
39	or partisan voting history of any individual or groups of individuals,
40	except to the extent necessary to avoid dilution of voting strength based
41	on race, ethnicity or language minority status. In addition, to the
42	maximum extent possible, district boundaries shall be drawn so as to:
43	(1) maintain the unity of well-defined municipal neighborhoods; (2)
44	observe municipal boundaries; (3) establish senatorial districts that
45	follow representative district boundaries; (4) establish councilor
46	districts that follow representative district boundaries and (5) promote
47	geographic compactness of districts. If it is not possible to draw district
48	boundaries that fully comply with these criteria while also complying
49	with the mandatory requirements set forth herein, then districts shall be
50	drawn to optimize the criteria in the order of priority set forth
51	hereinabove. The commission shall also consider communities of
52	interest in determining which cities, towns, or neighborhoods thereof to
53	aggregate into a single district.
54	SECTION 6. The commission shall consist of seven member
55	commissioners. On or before January 15 of the year following the
56	commencement of the federal census, the following offices shall each
57	appoint one member of the commission: the governor of the
58	commonwealth, who shall appoint a dean or professor of law or
59	political science or government at an institution of higher learning in
60	the commonwealth; the attorney general of the commonwealth, who
61	shall appoint a retired justice who resides in the commonwealth; and
62	the secretary of the commonwealth, who shall appoint an expert in
63	civil rights law who is a resident of the commonwealth.
64	By the same date, the house speaker, the house minority leader, the
65	senate president, and the senate minority leader shall each nominate
66	three individuals. The appointees chosen by the governor, attorney
67	general, and secretary of the commonwealth shall then select one of the
68	three nominees named by each said official.
69	If nominations or appointments are not made by January 15 of such
70	year, the office responsible for making the appointment or nominations
71	shall forfeit its rights under this section and the remaining direct
72	appointees shall then make an appointment to fill the vacancy.
73	Nominations and appointments shall reflect the geographic, racial,
74	ethnic, gender, and age diversity of the commonwealth to the maximum
75	extent feasible and shall be selected on the basis of civic involvement
76	and knowledge of redistricting policy, civil rights, political science,
77	demographics or statistics, election expertise, voting rights, community
78	organizing, or law. No person nominated or appointed to the
79	commission, in the five years preceding such nomination or
80	appointment, shall have held Congressional, state legislative or
81	statewide elective office, or shall have served as mayor or city
82	councilor of a city in the commonwealth, governor’s councilor or shall
83	have been elected to a state or federal party committee; or shall be a
84	current employee, agent or family member of any of the above; or, in
85	the two years preceding such nomination or appointment, shall have
86	been a legislative agent. The commissioners shall agree: (1) not to
87	stand for election to the general court, congress, or the governor’s
88	council until districts are redrawn following the next census; (2) to
89	apply the provisions of this article in an honest, independent, and
90	impartial fashion; and (3) to act at all time so as to uphold public confidence in the integrity of the redistricting process.
91	SECTION 7. The commission shall be convened no later than
92	February 15 of the year following the commencement of the decennial
93	census. The commission shall disband only upon final adoption and
94	exhaustion of judicial review of challenges to representative,
95	councilor, and senatorial districts.
96	SECTION 8. The commission shall hire staff and may retain
97	experts to assist it in the performance of its duties. The commission
98	shall establish rules governing its operation and procedures.
99	Commissioners may receive compensation for actual time spent on
100	commission duties and shall be reimbursed for reasonable and
101	necessary expenses. The budget of the commonwealth shall provide
102	adequate funding for the operation of the commission.
103	SECTION 9. A member of the commission or an appointing
104	authority may petition the supreme judicial court to remove a
105	commissioner on the grounds of neglect, misconduct, or inability to
106	perform the duties of a commissioner. A vacancy so created shall be
107	filled by the office which appointed the removed commissioner or by
108	the nomination and selection process set forth in section 6, as applicable.
109	SECTION 10. All meetings of the commission shall be open to the
110	public, consistent with the laws of the commonwealth concerning open
111	meetings as of the date of the adoption of this Article. All documents
112	produced by or for the commission shall be public. The commission
113	shall hold public hearings in at least five geographically disbursed
114	counties. The public shall be afforded the opportunity to submit
115	proposed maps for consideration by the commission and the
116	commission shall make map-making software available for public use.
117	The commission shall take all steps necessary to ensure that the public
118	can exercise its right to review and comment on proposed district maps
119	before they are approved and shall publish all preliminary and final
120	plans in publicly accessible forums that are free of charge and that
121	ensure wide public distribution. Proposed districts shall be presented in
122	both graphic and narrative form.
123	SECTION 11. Within 120 days of the completion of the decennial
124	census, the commission shall prepare and publish for public comment
125	a preliminary plan for representative, councilor, and senatorial districts.
126	The public shall have a three-week period to comment on the
127	preliminary district plan. The commission may revise the preliminary
128	district plan in response to public comment and shall submit the revised
129	plan to the general court, which shall vote on the revised plan. If the
130	plan is rejected, the commission shall prepare, publish, revise, and
131	submit a second-round preliminary district plan in the same manner as
132	the first. Following the period for public comment, the commission
133	shall submit the revised plan to the general court for a vote. If the
134	general court votes to reject the second-round plan, the commission
135	shall prepare, publish, revise, and submit a third-round preliminary
136	district plan, in the same manner as the first. If the general court rejects
137	the third-round plan, then the commission shall prepare, publish, and
138	revise a fourth-round plan in the same manner. The plan, so revised,
139	shall become law without submission to or approval by the general
140	court.
141	With respect to each plan the commission submits to the general
142	court for a vote, the vote must be taken within two weeks of
143	submission. No amendments to the plan as submitted may be made. If
144	the plan is approved by a majority of the members of the house of
145	representatives and the senate present and voting or if no vote is taken
146	within the two-week period, then the plan as submitted shall become
147	law.
148	SECTION 12. Original jurisdiction is hereby vested in the
149	supreme judicial court upon the petition of any voter of the
150	commonwealth for judicial relief relative to the establishment of the
151	representative, councilor, and senatorial districts. The general court
152	may by law limit the time within which judicial proceedings may be
153	instituted to challenge any redistricting map.

11. On the following proposal (see House, No. 664), the committee on Election Laws has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought to pass. [Augustus-Bradley.] (Senator Creedon dissents.)

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution relative to a vacancy in the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	Section II of chapter II of Part the Second of the Constitution of the
2	Commonwealth is hereby amended by striking out Article III and
3	inserting in place thereof the following two articles:—
4	Article III. Whenever the chair of the governor shall be vacant, by
5	reason of his death, resignation or removal, the lieutenant governor
6	shall become governor. Whenever the chair of the governor shall be
7	vacant by reason of his absence from the commonwealth, or otherwise,
8	except for his death, resignation or removal, the lieutenant governor for
9	the time being, shall, during such vacancy, perform all the duties
10	incumbent upon the governor, and shall have and exercise all the
11	powers and authorities, which by this constitution the governor is
12	vested with, when personally present.
13	Article IV. Whenever the office of lieutenant governor shall
14	become vacant, the governor shall nominate a lieutenant governor who
15	shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both the house
16	of representatives and the senate.

12. On the following proposal (see House, No. 685), the committee on Election Laws has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass. [Augustus-Bradley.] (Senator Spilka and Representatives Atsalis of Barnstable and Rogeness of Longmeadow dissent.)

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution to change the length of term for Representatives and Senators from two years to four years.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	Article LXIV of the Massachusetts Constitution is hereby amended
2	in line 3 of Section 1 by striking out the word “biennially” and
3	Inserting in place thereof the word “quadrennially”.

13. On the following proposal (see House, No. 1497), the committee on the Judiciary has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought to pass. [Creedon-O’Flaherty.]

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting eminent domain takings for the purpose of economic development.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	The taking of land or interests therein by eminent domain for private
2	commercial or economic development is hereby declared not to be a
3	public use of the commonwealth under the first paragraph of Article X
4	of Part the First of the Constitution.

14. On the following proposal (see House, No. 1705), the committee on the Judiciary has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass, the time within which the said committee was required to report having expired.

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting eminent domain

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	The People of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts hereby declare it
2	necessary and expedient to alter the Constitution by the adoption of the
3	following Article of Amendment:—
4	With just compensation paid, private property may be taken only when
5	necessary for the possession, occupation, and enjoyment of land by the
6	public at large, or by public agencies. Except for the privately owned
7	public utilities or common carries, private property shall not be taken
8	for private commercial enterprise, for economic development, or for
9	any other private use, except with the consent of the owner. Property
10	shall not be taken from one owner and transferred to another, on the
11	grounds that the public will benefit from a more profitable private use.
12	Whenever an attempt is made to take property for a use alleged to be
13	public, the question whether the contemplated use is truly public shall
14	be a judicial question, and determined as such without regard to any
15	legislative assertion that the use is public.

15. On the following proposal (see House, No. 1727), the committee on the Judiciary has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass, the time within which the said committee was required to report having expired.

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution relative to legislative action on initiative amendments.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	SECTION 1. Section 4 of Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the
2	Constitution of the Commonwealth is hereby amended in the second
3	sentence by striking out the words “not less than one-fourth” and
4	inserting in place thereof “a majority.”
5	SECTION 2. Section 5 of Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the
6	Constitution of the Commonwealth is hereby amended, in the first
7	sentence by striking out the words “at least one-fourth” and inserting in
8	place thereof “a majority.”

16. On the following proposal (see House, No. 1771), the committee on the Judiciary has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought to pass. [Creedon-O’Flaherty.]

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution relative to eminent domain takings.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	Article X of Part the First of the Constitution is hereby amended by
2	adding at the end thereof, the following:—
3	The taking of real estate or of any interest therein by right of eminent
4	domain under this chapter or chapter 80A shall be effected only when
5	necessary for the possession, occupation, and enjoyment of land by the
6	public at large and shall not be effected for the purpose of commercial
7	enterprise, private economic development, or any private use of the
8	property. Property shall not be taken from one owner and transferred to
9	another on the grounds that the public will benefit from a more
10	profitable use. Whenever an attempt is made to take property for a use
11	alleged to be public, the question whether the contemplated use is truly
12	public shall be a judicial question and determined as such without
13	regard to any legislative assertion that the use is public.

17. On the following proposal (see House, No. 1772), the committee on the Judiciary has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass, the time within which the said committee was required to report having expired.

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution relative to initiative petitions

A majority of all the members elected to the Senate and House of Representatives, in joint session, hereby declares it to be expedient to alter the Constitution by the adoption of the following Article of Amendment, to the end that it may become a part of the Constitution [if similarly agreed to in a joint session of General Court and approved by the people at the state election next following]:

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	Article XLVIII of the amendments to the Constitution is hereby
2	amended in that part of said article under the heading “The Initiative.
3	II Initiative Petitions” in Section 2, Excluded Matters, by inserting
4	after the words “religious practices or religious institutions,” the
5	words:— to limiting or abridging civil rights.

18. On the following proposal (see House, No. 3878), the committee on the Judiciary has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass, the time within which the said committee was required to report having expired.

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution relative to civil and legal rights

A majority of all the members elected to the Senate and House of Representatives, in joint session, hereby declares it to be expedient to alter the Constitution by the adoption of the following Article of Amendment, to the end that it may become a part of the Constitution [if similarly agreed to in a joint session of General Court and approved by the people at the state election next following]:

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	Section 2 of part II of amendment XLVIII of the constitution is
2	hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in
3	place thereof the following paragraph:—
4	No measure that relates to religion, religious practices or religious
5	institutions; or to the appointment, qualification, tenure, removal, recall
6	or compensation of judges; or to the reversal of a judicial decision; or
7	to the powers, creation or abolition of courts; or the operation of which
8	is restricted to a particular town, city or other political division or to
9	particular districts or localities of the commonwealth; or that makes a
10	specific appropriation of money from the treasury of the
11	commonwealth, or relates to civil or legal rights shall be proposed by
12	an initiative petition; but if a law approved by the people is not
13	repealed, the general court shall raise by taxation or otherwise and shall
14	appropriate such money as may be necessary to carry such law into
15	effect.

____________________________

SPECIAL RULES WITH REFERENCE TO THE CONSIDERATION, IN JOINT SESSION,

OF PROPOSALS FOR AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.

[Adopted by the Senate and the House of Representatives as the rules for the joint session to be held May 9, 2007, and for any subsequent joint sessions which may be held.]

[See Amendments to the Constitution, Art. XLVIII, the Initiative, Part IV, and

Art. LXXXI (pp. 105 and 125 of the Manual for 2005-2006); and also Joint Rules No. 23, 24, 25 and 26.]

Rule A. After a Proposal for an Initiative Amendment has been read, the question shall then be on agreeing to the Amendment; whereupon it shall be open to debate and any motion provided for in special Rule F.

Rule A1. A proposal for a legislative amendment which has received the affirmative votes of a majority of all the members elected to the preceding General Court shall be read; whereupon it shall be open to debate, but may not be amended, and the question shall then be on agreeing to the amendment. A proposal for a legislative amendment which has not previously been agreed to in joint session of the two houses shall be read twice in immediate succession; and the question shall be on ordering it to a third reading, whereupon it shall be open to debate and amendment.

Rule B. If it is ordered to a third reading, the proposal shall be read and considered at such subsequent joint session or joint sessions as may be agreed upon by the two houses or called by the Governor, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

This rule may be suspended by a vote of four-fifths of the members of the joint session, present and voting thereon, in which case the proposal shall forthwith be read a third time; provided, however, that a motion to suspend the rule shall not be in order unless the committees on Bills in the Third Reading of the two houses, acting jointly, have examined the proposal and reported thereon in accordance with the provisions of Rule C.

Rule C. Before the proposal is read a third time, it shall be examined by committees on the Bills in the Third Reading of the two houses, acting jointly, and reported on by them in the manner provided in the standing rules of the Senate and of the House; provided, however, that a motion directing the committees on Bills in the Third Reading of the two houses, acting jointly, to report on a proposal which was ordered to a third reading at a prior joint session shall require a two-thirds vote of the members of the joint session present and voting thereon.

Rule D. After the third reading of the proposal, the question shall be on agreeing to the Amendment, whereupon it shall be open for debate or any motion provided for in special Rule F.

Rule E. If a Proposal for an Initiative Amendment is amended, before the question is taken on agreeing to the Proposal, it shall be examined by the committees on Bills in the Third Reading of the two houses, acting jointly, and reported on by them in the manner provided in the standing rules of the Senate and of the House.

Rule E1. Proposals which have not previously been agreed to in joint session and which are amended subsequently to their being ordered to a third reading, unless the amendment was reported by the committees on Bills in the Third Reading of the two houses, acting jointly, shall be referred forthwith to said committees and reported on by them in the manner provided in the standing rules of the Senate and of the House.

Rule F. When the main question is under debate the President shall receive no motion that does not relate to the same, except the motion to adjourn or some other motion which has precedence by express rule or because it is privileged in its nature; and he shall receive no motion relating to the same except:

For the previous question;

To close debate at a specified time;

To postpone until the two houses meet again in joint session;

To commit (or recommit), with or without instructions, to a

special committee of the joint session composed of members of both houses;

To amend (excepting during consideration by the second

successive General Court);

Which several motions shall have precedence in the order

here arranged.

No motion to reconsider a vote on a main question shall be

entertained unless made on the same day on which the vote was taken; and if moved, shall be considered at the time it is made.

Rule G. The sense of the joint session shall be taken by the yeas and nays whenever required by thirty-five of the members present.

Whenever the yeas and nays have been ordered, the names of the Senators shall be called first, in alphabetical order; and the yea and nay vote of the House membership shall be determined in accordance with the House rules, excepting that those members of the House who have not been recorded in the usual manner as provided under the rules of the House may be recorded on a yea and nay list after the electric voting machine has been closed and before the final vote has been announced.

A pair with any member who is absent with a committee by authority of either or both houses may be announced, and shall be recorded, in the following manner:

If, before the question is taken, a member states that he has paired with another member who is absent with a committee by authority of the Senate or House, and how each would vote upon the pending question, the fact shall be entered in the Journals immediately after the record of the yeas and nays, and such member shall be excused from voting, but shall be included with the members voting for the purposes of a quorum; provided, however, nothing in this rule shall be construed as to permit pairing by a member on a question involving a required vote of two-thirds, three-fourths, four-fifths or a majority of a specified number of votes.

Rule H. It shall not be in order for the two houses to go into a Committee of the Whole when in joint session.

Rule I. If the two houses are in joint session ten minutes before the hour of meeting of either branch, the President shall declare an adjournment.

Rule J. The rules of the House of Representatives, including the last paragraph of House Rule 81, shall govern the proceedings in the joint sessions in all cases to which they are applicable, and in which they are not inconsistent with the provisions of Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution, or with these rules or amendments thereof, or with Joint Rules Nos. 23, 24, 25 and 26.

Rule K. It shall be in order to recess the convention from time to time upon a majority vote of said convention.

Rule L. Except as is otherwise provided in Rule B, Rules A to L, inclusive, may be altered, suspended or rescinded by concurrent votes of two-thirds of the members of each branch present and voting thereon in their respective branches.