Josephs calls on leaders to consider ending House sine die session by Nov. 4

HARRISBURG, May 29 – State Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Phila., is calling on House leaders to consider following the example of the Senate, whose leaders recently announced that they will not reconvene the Senate after the November election, thereby eliminating its so-called "lame duck" session.

Lame-duck, or sine die, session is the period after Election Day in November and before the end of the two-year legislative session, which is constitutionally set at Nov. 30 in even-numbered years.

"There is no doubt that lame-duck sessions can create abuse of the legislative process, and that's why I sponsored legislation that would permanently eliminate these controversial sessions," Josephs said. "However, since the bill must be approved in two consecutive sessions and then sent to the voters for approval, it won't change the end of our current legislative session. I applaud the Senate for taking the initiative to cancel its lame-duck session this year and encourage my leaders to consider doing the same.

"However, I am also aware that doing this would give us one less month to address issues and tie up any legislative loose ends, and we're already approaching our session's final quarter. So, if the leaders are not inclined to cancel our last month of session at this late juncture, then, at the very least, a commitment should be made to avoid bringing substantial legislative proposals up for a vote during sine die.

"Any bills brought up for consideration should be properly exposed to a full public vetting beforehand, and if this is the case, unlike in previous sessions, there should be no surprises during the sine die period and therefore no problem enacting them," she said. "It's those very surprises we've experienced in the past that have earned the ire of the public and hurt the public's confidence in the entire General Assembly."

Josephs' legislation (H.B. 1652) would amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to require the General Assembly to end its two-year legislative session by Election Day in November in even-numbered years. Exceptions to that -- enabling the General Assembly to convene between the general election and Nov. 30 of even years -- would be if the General Assembly is meeting in special session or has a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

The bill was reported out of the House State Government Committee by a 22-2 vote in early April. Josephs is chairwoman of the committee.

"Sine die" is Latin for "without a day" and is used to describe the final adjournment of the two-year session.