Bill Text: FL H0215 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: United States Senate Vacancies

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Economic Development & Community Affairs Policy Council [H0215 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-H0215-Introduced.html

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HM 215

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3	Congress to adopt and submit to the states for
4	ratification an amendment to the Constitution of the
5	United States to provide that no person shall serve as a
6	United States Senator from a state unless the person has
7	been elected by the people of that state and that, when
8	vacancies occur in the representation of any state in the
9	United States Senate, the executive authority of the state
10	shall issue writs of election to fill the vacancies.
11
12	WHEREAS, in 1789, after the Constitution of the United
13	States was ratified and Congress met for the first time, members
14	of the United States Senate were not elected by the popular vote
15	of the people but were chosen by the members of each state's
16	legislature, and
17	WHEREAS, in 1913, the ratification of the 17th Amendment to
18	the Constitution of the United States provided for the direct
19	election of members to the United States Senate and further gave
20	each state the option of filling vacancies in such office by
21	direct election or by a temporary appointment of the governor,
22	and
23	WHEREAS, since 1913, there have been at least 186 men and
24	women appointed to fill vacancies in the United States Senate
25	with 5 of those appointments occurring after the 2008 general
26	election, and
27	WHEREAS, no vacancy may be filled in the United States
28	House of Representatives by gubernatorial appointment, but each
29	person seeking such office must be elected by the voters of that
30	state to the office, and
31	WHEREAS, in order to have a government that is
32	representative of the people and responsive to the people, the
33	practice of allowing gubernatorial appointments to fill
34	vacancies in the United States Senate must end, NOW, THEREFORE,
35
36	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
37
38	That the Congress of the United States is requested to
39	adopt and submit to the states for ratification an amendment to
40	the Constitution of the United States which contains the
41	following provisions:
42	1. No person shall be a Senator from a State unless such
43	person has been elected by the people thereof. When vacancies
44	happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the
45	executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election
46	to fill such vacancies.
47	2. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect
48	the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes
49	valid as a part of the Constitution.
50	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
51	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
52	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
53	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
54	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.