We the People of California, having solemnly resolved to constitute California into a sovereign, democratic state and to secure liberty, justice, and equality to all of its citizens, do hereby adopt, enact, and give ourselves this constitution.
Section 4 - “Constitution of 1879” means the Constitution of California in effect prior to the ratification of this constitution.
Section 7 - “Law” includes treaties, the Constitution of the United States of America, this constitution, state and federal statutes, the common law, local ordinances, administrative actions, and judicial orders and judgments.
Section 10 – Acquisition of private property for “public use” means acquisition of private property that will be owned by the government or by a private party under circumstances in which the property is accessible to the public as of right and not by permission. The term “public use” differs from “public purpose.” Acquisition of private property for a “public purpose” means acquisition of property for any purpose beneficial to the public.
Section 11 - “Rational basis” means a legitimate governmental purpose that a reasonable person could believe is potentially served by a law.
Section 12 - “Real and substantial relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose” means that there is substantial evidence that a law serves a legitimate governmental purpose. Substantial evidence is evidence that that is relevant and probative; not based on mere conjecture, speculation, prejudice, or generalization; and that is not outweighed by clear and convincing evidence that a law is primarily motivated either by a bare desire to harm an unfavored individual or cognizable classification, or by a desire to bestow some benefit upon a favored legal person or group without any corresponding public benefit.
Section 13 – The question of whether something is “reasonable” depends upon the probable opinion of an ordinary, prudent, hypothetical person of average intelligence.
Section 14 – “State” may refer to the government of California generally, the Legislature, state agencies, officers or other employees of state and local governments acting or purporting to act in their official capacities, officers or other employees of public universities acting or purporting to act in their official capacities, state courts, or the governing bodies of local governments or public universities. If used as a noun, the uncapitalized word “state” means the same as “California” as defined in Section 1 of this article, unless the context suggests otherwise.
Section 15 - “Suspect classification” means a cognizable classification whose members have historically faced widespread discrimination and/or harassment on the basis of their membership in the classification, provided that the defining characteristics shared by all members of the classification have no material bearing on their ability to contribute to society in a meaningful way.
Section 16 – A “two-thirds vote” of the Legislature means that at least two-thirds of senators present and available to vote on a bill, resolution, or other motion cast affirmative votes, provided there is a quorum, and that at least two-thirds of members of the Assembly present and available to vote on an identical measure concur with the measure, provided there is a quorum. A two-thirds vote of the Legislature differs from a “majority vote” of the Legislature in which at least one more than half of the senators present and available to vote on a bill, resolution, or other motion cast affirmative votes, provided there is a quorum, and that at least one more than half of the members of the Assembly present and available to vote on an identical measure concur with the measure, provided there is a quorum. A bill, resolution, or other motion can originate in either house of the Legislature.
Article II: Supremacy
This constitution shall be the supreme law of the State of California. It is subordinate only to the Constitution of the United States of American, laws of the United States made in pursuance thereof, and treaties made under the authority of the United States. Any other law found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be in conflict with this constitution is null and void.
Section 1 - This constitution shall come into effect upon ratification pursuant to Article XVIII, Sections 1, 3, and 4 of the Constitution of 1879.
Section 3 - Those provisions of the Constitution of 1879 that are consistent with this constitution shall be re-designated the Basic Law of California. The Basic Law shall be subject to amendment by the Legislature through the ordinary legislative process. Except for this constitution, the Basic Law shall take precedence over every other law of the State of California.
Article IV: Amendments
- Due process: Human beings are by nature free, but they institute governments amongst themselves for their mutual benefit. No action by any government may exceed the purpose for which governments exist. Therefore, a law of general applicability must have a rational basis. No law may unfairly discriminate against individuals on the basis of a cognizable classification. The State may not take private property except, at a minimum, for a public purpose and upon payment of just compensation. Except pursuant to its powers of eminent domain and taxation, the government may single out an individual for deprivation of life, liberty, or property only according to procedures established by law and only as a consequence for a wrongful, prohibited act of commission or omission.
- Entrenchment: Additional procedures above and beyond those required to enact ordinary legislation shall be required to amend this constitution. Additional procedures above and beyond those required to amend this constitution shall be required to adopt a constitution to supersede this constitution. All proposals to amend or supersede this constitution shall originate in the Legislature.
- Majority rule: Except to remove an elected official from office, to override a gubernatorial veto, to alter this constitution, or to borrow money on the credit of the State without a vote of the electors, no bill shall require more than a majority vote of the Legislature to become law.
- Republican form of government: except to alter this constitution or to borrow money on the credit of the State without a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, the people shall exercise their sovereignty through elected representatives, and there shall be no provision for direct democracy beyond the local level.
- Separation of powers: There shall be an elected legislature to make laws, an independent executive branch to faithfully execute the law, and an independent judiciary to interpret laws in appropriate cases and controversies.
- Supremacy: This constitution is the supreme law of the State of California.
- Valid constitutional purpose: Because enshrining an ordinary legislative enactment in an entrenched document such at this constitution makes it exceedingly difficult to adapt the law to changing social circumstances, the constitution's purposes shall be limited to prescribing a basic plan for the organization and operation of the State's government, establishing a hierarchy of laws in case of a conflict between any of them, providing means for the people to preserve their sovereignty, enumerating broad policies to be effectuated through specific legislation, clarifying the limits of state power, and describing the process by which the constitution may be altered.
Section 2 – The Legislature may, by a two-thirds vote, propose an amendment to this constitution and in the same manner may amend or withdraw its proposal. Each amendment shall be so prepared and submitted that it can be voted on separately. A proposed amendment shall be submitted to the electors and if approved by a majority of votes thereon shall take effect the day after the election unless the measure provides otherwise. If the provisions of two or more measures approved at the same election conflict, those of the measure receiving the highest affirmative vote shall prevail.
Section 3 – An amendment to this constitution is invalid if it is contrary to any of the principles described in Section 1 of this article. Any citizen of California may challenge the validity of an amendment before the Supreme Court of California by filing a special writ petition. If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the petition, then the Attorney General shall defend the amendment. If the Attorney General refuses to defend the amendment, then the Supreme Court shall appoint a proponent of the amendment who is an attorney to defend the amendment before the Court. The Supreme Court shall strike the amendment from this constitution if it finds the amendment to be invalid. The decision of the Court not to hear a challenge to the validity of an amendment shall not preclude a future challenge to the amendment's validity.
Section 4 – The Legislature may, by a two-thirds vote, propose a constitution to supersede this constitution in its entirety. The proposal shall be submitted to a constitutional convention that shall be elected in a manner prescribed by law. Delegates to the convention shall have the power to receive reports, request information, caucus, debate, and amend the Legislature's proposal before voting on whether to approve it. If the convention approves the Legislature's proposal, the proposal shall be submitted to the electors and if approved by a majority of votes thereon shall take effect the day after the election unless the proposal provides otherwise. Should the convention amend the Legislature's proposal in any way, each amendment shall require the approval of both houses of the Legislature before the proposed constitution may be submitted to the electors. If an amendment prevails by a majority vote but not a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, then that amendment shall require the assent of the Governor before the proposed constitution may be submitted to the electors.
Part II: Plan of Government
Article V: The Legislature
Section 1 - The legislative power of the State shall be vested in a bicameral Legislature that shall consist of an Assembly and a Senate.
Section 2 - The Legislature shall by law divide the state into eighty assembly districts and forty senatorial districts. These districts shall overlap so that each part of the state shall be included in one assembly district and one senatorial district. The respective districts for each house shall be as nearly equal in population to one another as may be possible and shall be composed of contiguous and compact territory. One member of the Legislature shall be elected from each such district. The basis of apportionment shall be the population of the district as shown by the next preceding federal census. The Legislature shall redistrict the state after each federal decennial census. In any such redistricting, county lines shall be followed whenever practicable, but other established lines may be followed at the discretion of the Legislature.
Section 3 - When the state is redistricted, the members of the Legislature elected prior to the redistricting shall continue in office, and the law providing for such redistricting shall where necessary specify the newly established district that each of them shall represent for the balance of his or her term.
Section 4 - Members of the Legislature shall be nominated and elected in a manner prescribed by law.
Section 5 - Members of the Assembly shall hold office for terms of two years.
Section 6 - At the first general election to be held pursuant to this constitution, one-half the members of the Senate shall be elected for a term of four years and the remainder for a term of two years, and thereafter each member shall be elected for a term of four years.
Section 7 - No person shall be eligible to hold the office of member of the Legislature unless she or he shall be eligible to vote in the State of California.
Section 8 - No person holding office under the authority of the United States, or any lucrative office under the authority of this State, shall be eligible to have a seat in the Legislature. No person elected or appointed to the Legislature shall receive any civil appointment to a state office while holding membership in the Legislature, and all such appointments shall be void. Except as otherwise provided by law, a member of the Legislature who is elected to any other state or local office prior to the end of his or her term in the Legislature shall resign from the Legislature prior to the commencement of the legislative session during which the term of the state or local office will begin.
Section 9 - Each member of the Legislature shall receive compensation as determined by law.
Section 10 - A majority of the members elected to each house shall constitute a quorum for that house. Each house shall determine the rules of its proceedings and be the judge of the election, returns, and qualifications of its members, shall choose its own officers, and shall fill any vacancy created by the death, resignation, or removal of a member. No member shall be expelled except by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, and no member shall be twice expelled for the same offense.
Section 11 - Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings and publish them, except such parts as may require secrecy, and the yeas and nays of the members on any question shall at the desire of any one of them be entered on the journal. The doors of the Legislature and of the committees of the Legislature shall be open, except when the business shall be such as ought to be kept secret. The yeas and nays of each member of any committee of the Legislature shall be recorded and published on any question in committee to advance or to indefinitely postpone any bill.
Section 12 - Except upon a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, a vote of the people shall be required before the Legislature may authorize the borrowing of money on the credit of the State. Unless otherwise specified in this constitution, all acts of the Legislature shall pass upon a simple majority vote, and any question of state law submitted to the people for a vote shall be merely advisory to the Legislature.
Section 13 - Every bill which shall have passed the Assembly and the Senate shall be presented to the Governor. The Governor shall sign the bill if she or he assents to it, and then the bill shall become a law. If the Governor does not assent to the bill, she or he shall return it to the Legislature together with his or her objections. If the Legislature repasses the bill by a two-thirds vote, it shall become a law. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within ten days after it shall have been presented to him or her, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if it had been signed, unless the Legislature by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.
Article VI: The Executive
Section 1 - The executive power shall be vested in a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, controller, insurance commissioner, superintendent of public instruction, board of education, and whatever offices or agencies subordinate to these offices the Legislature may deem to establish.
Section 2 - The Governor shall be directly elected by the people in a manner prescribed by law and may serve no more than two four year terms, provided that an acting governor may also complete the unexpired term of his or her predecessor. All other executive officers shall be chosen in a manner prescribed by law.
Section 3 - No person shall be eligible to the office of governor except a civilian who is eligible to vote in California.
Section 4 - The Governor shall, at stated times, receive for his or her services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which she or he shall have been elected. The Governor shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the State.
Section 5 - Before entering on the execution of his or her office, the Governor shall take an oath or affirmation prescribed by law.
Section 6 - The Governor shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. The Governor shall also be commander in chief of the National Guard except when it is called into the actual service of the United States. The Governor may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the State, except in cases of impeachment. The Governor shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislature, to negotiate interstate compacts. The Governor shall from time to time give to the Legislature information of the state of the State and shall recommend to their consideration such measures as he or she shall judge necessary and expedient. The Governor may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, she or he may adjourn them to such time as she or he shall think proper. The Governor may also perform any discretionary function lawfully delegated by the Legislature, as well as any executive function not expressly or impliedly prohibited by law. The Governor shall perform whatever ministerial functions the Legislature may lawfully delegate to him or her.
Section 7 - In case of the removal of the Governor from office, or of his or her death, resignation, absence from the state, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Lieutenant Governor, and the Legislature may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, absence, or inability, both of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, declaring what officer shall then act as Governor, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a governor shall be elected.
Section 8 - In addition to holding the office of the Governor whenever the Governor is unable to perform his or her duties, the Lieutenant Governor shall preside over meetings of the Senate and shall perform any duties lawfully delegated by the Governor.
Section 9 - The Secretary of State shall conduct and certify elections, authenticate and distribute copies of public acts, maintain public records, and perform other duties as prescribed by law. The Attorney General shall be the chief legal officer of the State. The Treasurer shall maintain the accounts of the State and oversee the collection of revenues. The Controller shall have the power to remit payments on behalf of the State and to audit the accounts of the State. The Insurance Commissioner shall administer laws intended to regulate the insurance industry within the State. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall chair meetings of the Board of Education, recommend policy to the Board, and perform functions as assigned by the Board. The Board of Education shall perform any duty related to primary or secondary education that the Legislature may lawfully delegate to it.
Section 10 - No executive official or agency shall spend money from the treasury except as appropriated by the Legislature.
Section 11 – The executive officers described in this article shall be removed from office on impeachment by the Assembly for, and conviction by the Senate (no fewer than 27 senators concurring) of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Article VII: The Judiciary
Section 1 - There shall be an independent judicial branch of government consisting of a Supreme Court, intermediate appellate courts, local courts of general jurisdiction, and whatever courts of special jurisdiction the Legislature may from time to time deem appropriate to establish. Judges shall be chosen in a manner prescribed by law. Judges may be removed from office in the same manner as executive officers, as described in Section 11 of Article VI of this constitution. The Legislature shall prescribe by law the structure of the judiciary, but the judicial branch shall be self-administering.
Section 2 - The salary of a judge shall not be reduced during the continuance of the judge's commission.
Section 3 - The judiciary shall construe written laws, including this constitution, in appropriate cases or controversies between private parties, between the State and private parties, or between state actors. In the absence of specific legislation, the courts shall resolve cases and controversies according to the dictates of stare decisis, justice, equity, and good conscience.
Section 4 – The courts shall give statutes, to the extent that they are constitutional, precedence over common law rules. Administrative rules and regulations, as well as local ordinances, shall likewise take precedence over common law rules to the extent that they are not ultra vires. Except in the interest of justice, developments in the common law shall be given retroactive effect. Changes in other sources of law shall not be given retroactive effect in the absence of statutory language to the contrary.
Section 5 - The Supreme Court shall supervise the legal profession within the State but may in its discretion acquiesce to the the political branches' exercise of this power on its behalf.
Article VIII: Local Government
Section 1 - The Legislature shall provide for a system of local government.
Section 2 - Except for good cause shown, the Legislature may not bestow any special privilege or immunity upon any local authority that is not likewise bestowed upon similarly situated local authorities.
Section 3 - Local authorities shall have the power to do anything that is neither expressly forbidden by law nor inconsistent with a specific grant of power conferred by the State.
Section 4 - Revenues collected by local authorities for their own use shall be retained by them and may not be taken by the state government. The Legislature may require local governments to collect revenues for the State's general fund only if it it fully funds the costs associated with such mandates. The State may pool locally generated education funds to redistribute to local education agencies on a per pupil basis, provided that under such a scheme no local education agency shall receive more or less per pupil than any other local education agency, and provided that none of the money so pooled shall be retained by the state government.
Article IX: Universities
There shall be at least one statewide system of publicly subsidized universities whose faculty members shall enjoy academic freedom.
Part III: Fundamental Rights and Duties
Article X: Directive Principles of Social Policy
Section 1 – This article describes the social and economic rights of the people of California. These directives shall be useful in determining what constitutes a legitimate governmental purpose. Laws reasonably capable of more than one interpretation shall be construed in whatever manner best effectuates the goals of these directives. Except that the rights enumerated by this section shall be subject to Section 2 of Article XIV of this constitution, judicial remedies for violations of these rights shall be limited to those specifically enumerated in this article unless otherwise provided for by law.
Section 2 – Every child has a right to a free and appropriate public education. The State shall establish and maintain a system of universal, publicly funded primary and secondary schools. No youth living in California may be deprived of the opportunity to pursue an education except as a consequence of the commission of a prohibited act. Public school officials conducting expulsion proceedings must comply with procedures established by law, and the courts of this state shall have the authority to ensure compliance with those procedures.
Section 3 - The State shall ensure that all of its citizens have access to affordable healthcare. If the State fails to provide for a system of universal healthcare, then upon petition by an aggrieved person, any state court may issue a writ of mandate ordering the Legislature to enact legislation to remedy that omission.
Section 4 - Everyone has a right to housing and adequate nutrition. The State shall create, fund, and administer programs to guarantee these rights to people living in poverty who are children, senior citizens, working adults, single parents, unemployed adults actively pursuing employment, veterans of the United States military, or individuals with disabilities. Individuals may be deprived of ongoing public benefits for which they no longer qualify, either because of changed circumstances or changes in the law, only according to procedures established by law, and the courts of this state shall have the authority to ensure compliance with those procedures.
Section 5 – The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic, and aesthetic values of the environment. California's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the State shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people. Public natural resources may be severed from the public trust only by an act of the Legislature, and a law specifically authorizing the Executive to sever public natural resources from the public trust must have a rational basis. If the Executive takes any action that severs public natural resources from the public trust in violation of this section, then any member of the public may petition any state court for a writ of mandate compelling compliance with this section.
Section 6 – The State shall protect the interests of workers and consumers, and it shall enact laws prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing, education, and public accommodations.
Section 7 – The people have a right to free enterprise. Every economic regulation shall have a real and substantial relationship to the State's interests in securing the rights of workers and consumers; protecting the environment; preventing the formation of monopolies to the common detriment; or assisting the State in guaranteeing access to healthcare, housing, and adequate nutrition.
Section 8 – The State shall advance the cause of social justice and promote and protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the public.
Article XI: Fundamental Duties
Section 1 – This article describes the responsibilities of legal persons toward society. The provisions of this article are not self-executing but shall nonetheless be useful in determining what constitutes a legitimate governmental purpose.
Section 2 - Every legal person has a fundamental duty to obey every valid law; to pay taxes to support the public weal; to act for the common good; to pursue an education; and to uphold every duty of care, good faith, fair dealing, loyalty, and honesty that the law and common sense may impose.
Article XII: Political Rights
Section 1 - The people of California are in themselves sovereign and are vested with all of powers inherent in a sovereign except those powers surrendered to the federal government in the United States Constitution. The powers that inhere in the people in their sovereign and collective capacity include the police power, the public trust, taxation, eminent domain, the parens patriae power, the public welfare power, escheat, sovereign immunity, and the authority to punish those whose wrongful actions threaten the peace and security of the State.
Section 2 - The people shall exercise their sovereignty through an elected Legislature.
Section 3 - The courts of this State shall remain open to all.
Section 4 – The State shall not be heard to plead sovereign immunity whenever deprivation of a fundamental right is alleged. This includes claims against the State for intentional failure to enforce laws intended to protect life or limb under circumstances in which the State has the present ability to enforce such laws. It also includes any claim that the State has intentionally and unnecessarily caused an individual physical harm or severe emotional distress.
Section 5 – Subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions, freedom to petition public officials for the redress of grievances and to assemble peaceably to consult for the public good shall remain inviolate.
Article XIII: Natural Rights
Section 1 – The rights described in this article are natural rights that do not depend upon their enumeration in this constitution for their creation or destruction. No one may be deprived of these rights except as described in Article XIV.
Section 2 – Everyone has a right to live with dignity. Except as a punishment for a crime, involuntary servitude is forbidden. No person shall be deprived of life or limb except in armed conflict or in valid self-defense or defense of others. The State may not impose cruel or unusual punishments or excessive bails or fines.
Section 3 – Everyone has a right to liberty. Individuals are free to do or to refrain from doing whatever they deem necessary to pursue happiness.
Section 4 – Everyone has a right to acquire, defend, transfer, abandon, dispose of, hold title to, possess, use, and enjoy private property.
Section 5 – The State is at the height of its power when it regulates public behavior and at the lowest point of its power when it restricts personal, private decisions touching upon essential aspects of self-concept and personhood, including, inter alia, one's choice to pursue lawful employment, to acquire useful knowledge, to marry, to become a parent, to engage in religious worship that is not licentious or inconsistent with the peace or safety of the State, to be privately intimate with another consenting adult, or to associate or to live with the individuals of one's choice.
Article XIV: Due Process Rights
Section 1 – A law of general applicability depriving legal persons of a liberty or property interest must have a rational basis. A land use law shall be deemed a law of general applicability, even if it affects only a single parcel of real property, provided the law comports with a pre-existing comprehensive land use plan which in turn comports with state laws governing such plans.
Section 2 – A law depriving individuals of a liberty or property interest on the basis of a cognizable classification must have a real and substantial relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose. A law depriving individuals of any right on the basis of a suspect classification must be the least restrictive means conceivable of achieving a legitimate governmental purpose.
Section 3 – Courts shall grant substantially less deference to any law abridging the liberty or property rights of any person where a privacy interest is at stake. In deciding whether the State has exceeded its power to restrict personal, private decision-making, courts shall consider the age and competence of aggrieved parties, whether their choices relate to the privacy of the home, the impact of their decisions on the well-being of others, and the degree to which their choices touch upon essential aspects of self-concept and personhood.
Section 4 – Certain privacy rights shall remain inviolate, including liberty of conscience, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the right not to testify against oneself before a court or to law enforcement officials.
Section 5 – The State may take private property for public use only according to procedures established by law and upon payment of just compensation. Condemnation procedures shall provide aggrieved parties with the option to seek judicial review of any compensation award offered by the State.
Section 6 – Except pursuant to its powers of eminent domain and taxation, the government may single out an individual for deprivation of life, liberty, or property only according to procedures established by law and only as a consequence for a wrongful, prohibited act of commission or omission.
Section 7 - Ex post facto laws and bills of attainder are strictly forbidden.
Section 8 – This section describes the minimum due process rights that the State shall accord criminal defendants. No person shall be taken into police custody without being informed of the reason for the detention, of the right to remain silent, and of the right to have an attorney present during custodial interrogation. Criminal defendants not charged with acts of violence, terrorism, treason, or inchoate fraud have the right to be released on bail until the date of trial. All criminal defendants have the right to speedy and fair trials, to be confronted by and to cross-examine witnesses against them, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in their own favor, and to be represented by legal counsel. Indigent criminal defendants have the right to appointed counsel. Any criminal defendant facing fines in excess of an amount established by law or imprisonment for a period greater than six months shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty and shall have the right to a jury trial. No defendant shall be tried twice in criminal court for the same crime on the same facts. Defendants whose rights under this section are violated shall be entitled to constitutional remedies. In the absence of legislatively crafted remedies sufficient to deter violations of these rights, the courts shall be competent to craft such remedies. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, suppression of evidence shall not be used to remedy constitutional violations in criminal proceedings involving alleged crimes of violence, terrorism, treason, or serious fraud.
Section 9 – Any statute authorizing the death penalty may do so only for the most heinous crimes. It may not mandate the death sentence for any crime. It must require procedural safeguards in excess of those accorded defendants facing long-term imprisonment. It shall also limit procecutorial discretion in the interest of ensuring that individuals are not targeted unfairly for the death penalty on the basis of wealth, ethnicity, or gender.
Article XV: Equality Rights
Section 1 – The rights enumerated in this constitution shall apply with equal force to all citizens except that the rights of children and legally incompetent adults are different from the rights of legally competent adults; citizens may be required to live in the state for at least one year before enjoying portable public benefits and services on the same terms as other citizens; and individuals convicted of criminal acts forfeit certain rights while under sentence.
Section 2 - The long-term, non-citizen residents of the state shall enjoy all of the rights of citizens except the right to vote and the right to hold public office.
Section 3 – Short-term, non-citizen residents and visitors legally present within the state shall enjoy the same rights as long-term, non-citizen residents, except that they may be excluded from receiving, or be required to pay additional fees for, public benefits, services, or licenses intended primarily for the long-term residents of the state.
