How Pennsylvania Amends Its Constitution

The Process

1. First passage. A proposed amendment passes both the state House and Senate in identical wording.
2. Second passage. In the very next legislative session (PA sessions run two years), it must pass both chambers again in that same identical wording. If the wording changes at all, the process restarts at first passage.
3. No gubernatorial role. Constitutional amendments bypass the Governor entirely. There is no signature step and no veto.
4. Advertisement and statewide vote. Once second passage is secured, the proposal is advertised to the public and put to a statewide referendum.

The Threshold Is Lower Than Most People Think

Article XI, Section 1 requires only a majority of the members elected to each house — not the two-thirds figure that often circulates in press coverage. That two-thirds requirement applies only to a separate category of emergency amendments, not the standard process described above.

Why a Chamber Flip Can Be Fatal

There is no discharge mechanism a minority party can use to force a stalled amendment to the floor. The majority party in either chamber controls the calendar, and a party that does not wish to advance a given amendment can simply decline to schedule it. It expires at the end of the session with no recorded vote in either direction — no one voted it down, and no one is on record for or against it.

This Is the Normal Pattern, Not an Exception

Ballotpedia's review of Pennsylvania constitutional amendments found that between 2010 and 2022, roughly half of all amendments that received first passage failed to survive to a second passage vote. Where control of a chamber changed between the first and second session, the failure rate rose to 79% (11 of 14).

After a Loss

If a proposal does reach the ballot and voters reject it, Article XI bars the legislature from resubmitting the same subject to voters more than once in five years. Combined with the two-session requirement, a single failed attempt can take years to revisit.