Succession
According to the state constitution, whenever the chair of the Governor is vacant, the Lieutenant Governor shall take over as acting Governor. The first time this came into use was five years after the constitution's adoption in 1785, when Governor John Hancock resigned the post, leaving Lieutenant Governor Thomas Cushing as acting Governor. Most recently, Jane Swift became acting Governor upon the resignation of Paul Cellucci. Under this system, the Lieutenant Governor retains his or her position and title as "Lieutenant Governor" and never becomes Governor; only acting Governor.
The Lieutenant Governor, when acting as Governor, is referred to as "the Lieutenant-Governor, acting governor" in official documents. An example of this is found in Chapter 45 of the Acts of 2001, where a veto by Swift was overridden by the General Court:
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- House of Representatives, July 2, 2001.
- This Bill having been returned by the Lieutenant-Governor, Acting Governor with her objections thereto in writing (see House 4281) has been passed by the House of Representatives, notwithstanding said objections, two-thirds of the House (137 yeas to 15 nays) having agreed to pass the same.
- Sent to the Senate for its action. Salvatore F. DiMasi, Acting Speaker. Steven T. James, Clerk. Senate, July 12, 2001.
- Passed by the Senate, notwithstanding the objections of the Lieutenant-Governor, Acting Governor, two-thirds of the members present (37 yeas to 1 nay) having approved the same.
- Linda J. Melconian, Acting President. Patrick F. Scanlan, Clerk.
- Approved November 1, 2001.
The Massachusetts constitution does not use the term "acting governor". All modern constitutions have rejected such language. The Massachusetts courts have found, without rejecting the term, that the full authority of the office of the Governor devolves to the Lieutenant Governor upon vacancy in the office of Governor, i.e., there is no circumstance short of death, resignation, or impeachment that would relieve the "acting governor" from the full responsibilities of being the Governor.
When the constitution was first adopted, the Governor's Council was charged with acting as Governor in the event that both the Governorship and Lieutenant Governorship were vacant. This occurred in 1799 when Governor Increase Sumner died in office on June 7, 1799, leaving Lieutenant Governor Moses Gill as acting governor. Acting Governor Gill never received a lieutenant, and died himself on May 20, 1800, between that year's election and the inauguration of the victor, Caleb Strong. The Governor's Council consequently served as the executive for ten days; the council's chair, Thomas Dawes, was the closest person to Governorship during this time, but was at no point named Governor or acting Governor.
Article LV of the Constitution, enacted in 1918, created a new line of succession that did not entrust the Governorship to an eight-member council, instead creating a succession line involving all of the major constitutional offices.
The new and current line of succession is as follows:
- Governor (Deval Patrick)
- Lieutenant Governor (Tim Murray)
- Secretary of the Commonwealth (Bill Galvin)
- Attorney General (Martha Coakley)
- Treasurer and Receiver-General (Steven Grossman)
- State Auditor (Suzanne Bump)
Read more about this topic: Governor Of Massachusetts
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