are both vacant, the president of the senate shall become acting governor and the speaker of the house shall become acting lieutenant governor. An acting governor or lieutenant governor who assumes office when more than one year remains in the term may serve only until a governor or lieutenant governor is chosen in a special election provided by law.

Section 8: Absence or Disability of the Governor.

a) When the governor is physically absent from the Commonwealth, the lieutenant governor shall be acting governor. If the lieutenant governor is also absent or is otherwise unavailable, the presiding officer of the senate shall be acting governor.

b) When the governor is unable to discharge the duties of the office by reason of physical or mental disability, the lieutenant governor shall be actinggovernor. If the lieutenant governor is unavailable, the presiding officer of the senate shall be acting governor. If the person next in succession to the governor has reason to believe that the governor is unable to discharge the duties of the office, that person shall file a petition to declare a vacancy with the Commonwealth appeals court or the United States District Court if no Commonwealth appeals court has been created under article IV, section 3. The court has original and exclusive jurisdiction to determine all questions regarding the disability of the governor and the existence of a vacancy in the office of governor.

Section 9: Executive Functions.

a) The governor shall submit to the legislature a proposed annual balanced budget for the following fiscal year. The proposed balanced budget