Chap. 99.—JOINT RESOLUTION proposing amendment to section 50 of
article 4, of the Constitution of Virginia, and providing for publishing
said amendment, and certifying the same to the next general assembly

Signed March 14, 1914. ~

1. Resolved by the house of delegates, the senate concurring
(a majority of the members elected to each house agreeing thereto),
That the following amendment to the Constitution of Virginia, be
and the same is hereby, proposed and referred to the general as-
sembly to be chosen at the next general election of members of the
house of delegates for its concurrence, in conformity with the pro-
visions of section fifty of article four of said Constitution, namely:

Strike out from the Constitution of Virginia, section fifty, article
four, which is in the following words:

Sec. 50. No law shall be enacted except by bill. A bill may
originate in either house, to be approved or rejected by the other,
or may be amended by either, with the concurrence of the other.

No bill shall become a law unless prior to its passage it has
been—

(a) Referred to a committee of each house, considered by such
committee in session, and reported;

(b) Printed by the house in which it originated, prior to its
passage therein;

(c) Read at length on three different calendar days in each
house; and unless,

(d) A yea and nay vote has been taken in each house upon
its final passage, the names of the members voting for and against
entered on the journal, and a majority of those voting, which shall
include at least two-fifths of the members elected to each house,
recorded in the affirmative.

And only in the manner required in sub-division (d) of this
section shall an amendment to a bill by one house be concurred in
by the cther, or a conference report be adopted by either house, or
either house discharge a committee from the consideration of a bill
and consider the same as if reported; provided, that the printing
and reading, or either, required in sub-division (b and c) of this sec-
tion, may be dispensed with in a bill to codify the laws of the State,
and in any case of emergency by a vote of four-fifths of the mem-
bers voting in each house taken by the yeas and nays, the names of
the members voting for and against, entered on the journal; pro-
vided further, that no bill which creates or established a new office.
or which creates, continues or revives a debt or charge or makes,
continues or revives any appropriation of public or trust money or
property, or releases, or discharges, or commutes any claim or de-
mand of the State, or which imposes, constitutes or revives a tax,
shall be passed except by the affirmative vote of the majority of all
the members elected to each house, the vote to be by the yeas and
nays, and the names of the members voting for and against, en-
tered on the journal. Every law imposing, continuing or reviving
a tax shall specifically state such tax, and no law shall be construed
as so stating such tax, which requires a reference to any other law
or any other tax. The presiding officer of each house shall, in the
presence of the house over which he presides, sign every bill which
has been passed by both houses and duly enrolled. Immediately
before this is done, all other business being suspended, the title
of the bill shall be publicly read. The fact of the signing shall be
entered on the journal.

And insert in lieu thereof the following:

Sec. 50. No law shall be enacted except by bill. A bill may
originate in either house to be approved or rejected by the other,
or may be amended by either, with the concurrence of the other.

No bill shall become a law unless prior to its passage it has been:

(a) Referred to a committee of each house, considered by such
committee in session, and reported;

(b) Printed by the house in which it originated prior to its
passage therein:

(c) Read by title on three different calendar days in each house
and read at length at least once in each house; and unless,

(d) A yea and nay vote has been taken in ‘each house upon its
final passage, the names of the members voting for and against en-
tered on the journal, and a majority of those voting, which shall
include at least two-fifths of the members elected to each house,
recorded in the affirmative.

And only in the manner required in sub-division “d” of this sec-
tion shall an amendment to a bill by one house be concurred in by
the other, or a conference report be adopted by either house, or
either house discharge a committee from the consideration of a bill
and consider the same as if reported; provided, that the printing
and reading, or either, required in sub-divisions “d” and “c” of this
section, may be dispensed with in a bill to codify the laws of the
State, and in any case of emergency, by vote of four-fifths of the
members voting in each house, taken by the yeas and nays, the
names of the members voting for and against entered on the journal;
and provided further, that no bill which creates or establishes a new
office, or which creates, continues, or revives a debt or charge, or
makes, continues, or revives any appropriation of public or trust
money or property or releases, discharges, or commutes any ‘claim
or demand of the State, or which imposes, continues, or revives a
tax, shall be passed, except by the affirmative vote of the majority
of all the members elected to each house, the vote to be by the yeas
and nays, and the names of the members voting for and against
entered on the journal.. Every law imposing, continuing, or re-
viving a tax shall specifically state such tax, and no law shall be
construed as so stating such tax which requires a reference to any
other law or any other tax. The presiding officer of each house
shall, in the presence of the house over which he presides, sign every
bill which has been passed by both houses and duly enrolled. Im-
mediately before this is done, all other business being suspended,
the title of the bill shall be publicly read. The fact of the signing
shall be entered on the journal.