COMMITTEE ON THE EXECUTIVE, MILITIA AND CIVIL OFFICERS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

STATE OF NEW JERSEY&nbspCONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1947

COMMITTEE ON THE EXECUTIVE, MILITIA&nbspAND CIVIL OFFICERS

Tuesday, June 24, 1947

(Morning session)

(The session began at 11:00 A. M.)

PRESENT: Barton, Barus, Farley, Feller, Hansen, Miller, S., Jr., Smith, J. S., Van Alstyne, Walton and Young.

Chairman David Van Alstyne, Jr., presided.

CHAIRMAN DAVID VAN ALSTYNE, Jr.: The meeting is called to order.

Governor Larson, it is exceedingly gracious of you to come and sit with us to discuss this problem. With the permission of the other members of the Committee, I would like to turn the meeting over to you and ask you to tell the Committee in what way you feel the Executive Article of the present Constitution should be changed.

FORMER GOVERNOR MORGAN F. LARSON: Senator, I have no brief to submit, but I have made a few notes I will refer to so that my remarks may be given in an orderly fashion.

Although this is not a part of the Executive Section, I believe the Legislature should meet every two years, and that the members of the Assembly should be elected for a two-year term and the members of the Senate for a four-year term.

I believe the Governor should have the right to succeed himself, if elected, for one additional term; that is, that his tenure be limited to two terms, the term of the Governor to be four years.

Regarding the veto power, I made a little calculation here – the difference between two-thirds and three-fifths. If it takes a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to pass a bill over the Governor’s veto, that means 40 votes in the House, and only 36 for a three-fifths vote. In the Senate, for two-thirds it would be 14 votes, and for three-fifths it would be 13, just one less, because three-fifths would be 12 and a fraction and that would have to be 13. I think perhaps you would have more people in favor of the three-fifths provision than you would the two-thirds. Some people might object to increasing the number of votes to pass a bill over the Governor’s veto because we have for so many years had the provision that it could be overridden by a bare majority.

I believe the judges should be appointed by the Governor.

Regarding succession to the Governorship, I always liked the

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