BILL NUMBER: SCA 4	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Brulte

                        FEBRUARY 6, 2003

   Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 4--A resolution to propose to
the people of the State of California an amendment to the
Constitution of the State, by amending Section 10 of Article V
thereof, relating to the Governor.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCA 4, as introduced, Brulte.  Gubernatorial succession.
   The California Constitution requires the Lieutenant Governor to
act as the Governor of the state during impeachment, absence from the
state, or other temporary disability of the Governor or of a
Governor-elect who fails to take office.
   This measure would delete "absence from the State, or other
temporary disability" and instead would require that the Lieutenant
Governor act as the Governor of the state during impeachment or
temporary disability of the Governor or of a Governor-elect who fails
to take office.
   Vote:  2/3.  Appropriation:  no.  Fiscal committee:  yes.
State-mandated local program:  no.




   WHEREAS, The California Constitution presently provides that the
Lieutenant Governor serves as the Governor during the Governor's
absence from the state or other temporary disability; and
   WHEREAS, The California Supreme Court in In Re Governorship (1979)
26 Cal. 3d 110 has interpreted this to mean the physical nonpresence
of the Governor and that this has been the interpretation of
"absence from the state" since 1849; and
   WHEREAS, Modern conditions of travel, communication, and
technology have eliminated the objections that the drafters of the
early Constitution might have had to permitting the Governor to act
from outside the state or to permitting postponement of gubernatorial
actions until his or her return; and
   WHEREAS, Most travels by modern Governors are for official state
purposes and involve formal meetings with federal officials, other
out-of-state officials, or overseas investors when the state is
seeking funding or participating in major joint-state or federal
projects; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2003-04 Regular Session
commencing on the second day of December 2002, two-thirds of the
membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of
the State of California that the Constitution of the State be
amended by amending Section 10 of Article V thereof, to read:
      SEC. 10. The Lieutenant Governor shall become Governor when a
vacancy occurs in the office of Governor.
   The Lieutenant Governor shall act as Governor during the
impeachment  , absence from the State,  or 
other  temporary disability of the Governor or of a
Governor-elect who fails to take office.
   The Legislature shall provide an order of precedence after the
Lieutenant Governor for succession to the office of Governor and for
the temporary exercise of the Governor's functions.
   The Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction to determine all
questions arising under this section.
   Standing to raise questions of vacancy or temporary disability is
vested exclusively in a body provided by statute.