Current Constitution and Background

After the end of every legislative session, the General Assembly is required by the Constitution to meet again or reconvene in a “veto” session. The only bills that the General Assembly can consider in a veto session are bills that it had passed during the legislative session and that the Governor has sent back to it with his vetoes or suggested amendments.

The Constitution now requires that the veto session must begin on the sixth Wednesday following the end of each session. The veto session usually lasts for only one day and cannot last more than ten days.

Proposed Amendment

The only change to Section 6 of Article IV, proposed by this amendment will allow the General Assembly to delay the start of the veto session for up to one week. The General Assembly will be able to avoid the possible scheduling of the veto session on a religious holiday such as Passover. The proposed amendment does not change the present limits on the business that can be considered in a veto session or on the length of the veto session.