 They’re embarking on a massive undertaking — crafting a set of guidelines for
considering amendments to the U.S. Constitution in order to shift more power
back to the states.
Just blocks from the White House, U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Capitol in
Washington, D.C., state lawmakers representing different political stripes and
28 states from Alaska to Florida this week brainstormed suggestions for going
about an Article V convention to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Their specific causes are many, ranging from campaign finance reform after the
Citizens United Supreme Court decision, to EPA regulation overreach, to the need
for a balanced federal budget amendment. Those differences will need refining
eventually. Still, lawmakers rallied around one thing at a gathering of the
Assembly of State Legislatures in Washington, D.C. — the need to reign in
Washington.
“I want to make sure that my grandchildren have a vibrant Constitution that
protects their freedom,” said Scott Lingamfelter, a Republican delegate from
Virginia who is pushing a resolution for a convention in that state.
Article V provides two routes for changing the U.S. Constitution. One involves
votes from Congress. The Founding Fathers, realizing Congress wouldn’t want to
check its own power, made for another way. If two-thirds of the states petition
Congress for a convention of the states, Congress is required to call one.
Anything proposed at a convention, then, must be ratified by three-quarters of
the states.
“We’ve got the jurisdiction to amend the Constitution,” Wisconsin Republican
Assemblyman Chris Kapenga told his fellow lawmakers. “… History shows that
there’s this centralization of power, and it doesn’t matter what civilization,
this is a trend that you can look back on. There’s a centralization of power
which always ends up leading to abuse.”
Jason Holsman, a Democratic Missouri state senator and co-president of ASL, said
36 states have already made requests to Congress, more than the 34-state
threshold. But Congress isn’t exactly tracking that.
“Congress isn’t doing their job of counting their calls,” Holsman told
Watchdog.org.
States’ requests for an Article V convention differ, Holsman said, and Congress
has every incentive not to grant those requests.
The process for going about an Article V convention isn’t spelled out in the
Constitution, leaving those details up to the states. So, the Assembly of State
Legislatures, made up entirely of state lawmakers, was born. Gathering for the
first time at George Washington’s home of Mount Vernon last December, then in
Indianapolis over the summer, and again this week in Washington, D.C., they hope
in the months and years ahead to outline a possible process for a convention.
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ASL, as state lawmakers made it clear, doesn’t have any
legislative authority. The group is simply coming up with a
framework for possible rules and procedures that delegates at an
actual convention could adopt.
Still, lawmakers urged the need for transparency and
inclusiveness. This week’s ASL gathering wasn’t widely publicized,
and although CSPAN aired part of it, only current state lawmakers
and credentialed media could actually be in the room at the Naval
Heritage Center on Pennsylvania Avenue.
“We’re going to be judged later by how inclusive we are,” said Ben
Smaltz, a Republican member of the Indiana House of Representatives.
Representatives from Florida, a state with arguably the strongest
open records laws in the nation, particularly urged the need for
transparency.
“Why wouldn’t we want every legislator in America to be a member of
this organization?” asked Republican Florida Rep. John Wood.
An Article V convention is something that hasn’t happened in the
entire history of the United States, largely because it’s so
difficult to build that consensus.
In years past, the threat of a convention has been reason enough for
Congress to change the laws. The threat of an Article V convention
in the early 20th century forced Congress to push the 17th
Amendment, transferring the power to choose U.S. senators from state
legislatures to the people by popular vote.
The time to build support for this movement, said Democratic
Illinois Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, is now.
“People are so discontent with Congress that it’s easy to get their
ear right now like never before,” said Chapa LaVia, who helped pass
a resolution in the Illinois statehouse this month calling for an
Article V convention related to the Citizens United decision. “So
whether it’s balanced budgets, whether it’s term limits, I think the
opportunity is ripe for us to get out there and just knock on those
doors and hit it, and it has to be grassroots.”
— Kathryn Watson is an investigative reporter for Watchdog.org, and
can be reached at
kwatson@watchdog.org.
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