Bill Text: FL S1460 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Constitutional Convention/Campaign Finance and Political Speech
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2015-05-01 - Died in Ethics and Elections [S1460 Detail]
Download: Florida-2015-S1460-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2015 SCR 1460
By Senator Clemens
27-01319A-15 20151460__
1 Senate Concurrent Resolution
2 A concurrent resolution applying to Congress to call a
3 convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to
4 the Constitution of the United States.
5
6 WHEREAS, the first President of the United States, George
7 Washington, said that “the basis of our political system is the
8 right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of
9 Government,” and
10 WHEREAS, it was the stated intention of the framers of the
11 Constitution of the United States that the Congress of the
12 United States should be “dependent on the people alone,” (James
13 Madison, The Federalist No. 52), and
14 WHEREAS, that dependency has evolved from a dependency on
15 the people alone to a dependency on those who spend excessively
16 in elections through campaigns or third-party groups, and
17 WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court ruling in Citizens
18 United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010),
19 removed restrictions on the amounts of independent political
20 spending, and
21 WHEREAS, the removal of these restrictions has resulted in
22 the unjust influence of powerful economic forces, which has
23 supplanted the will of the people by undermining the people’s
24 ability to choose their political leadership, write their own
25 laws, and determine the fate of this state, and
26 WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United States
27 requires Congress to call a convention to propose amendments
28 upon the application of two-thirds of the legislatures of the
29 several states for the purpose of proposing amendments to the
30 Constitution, and
31 WHEREAS, the State of Florida sees the need for a
32 convention to propose amendments in order to address concerns
33 such as those raised by the decision in Citizens United v.
34 Federal Election Commission and related cases and events,
35 including those occurring long before or afterward, or for a
36 substantially similar purpose, and desires that said convention
37 should be so limited, and
38 WHEREAS, the State of Florida desires that the delegates to
39 said convention be comprised equally of individuals currently
40 elected to state and local office, or be selected by election in
41 each congressional district, for the purpose of serving as
42 delegates, though all individuals elected or appointed to
43 federal office, now or in the past, be prohibited from serving
44 as delegates to the convention, and intends to retain the
45 ability to restrict or expand the power of its delegates within
46 the limits expressed above, and
47 WHEREAS, the State of Florida intends that this be a
48 continuing application considered together with applications
49 calling for a convention passed in the 2013-2014 Vermont General
50 Assembly as Act No. R-454, the 2013-2014 California State
51 Legislature as Resolution Chapter 77, the 2013-2014 Illinois
52 General Assembly as Senate Joint Resolution No. 42, and all
53 other passed, pending, and future applications, the
54 aforementioned concerns of Florida notwithstanding until such
55 time as two-thirds of the states have applied for a convention
56 and said convention is convened by Congress, NOW, THEREFORE,
57
58 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida, the House
59 of Representatives Concurring:
60
61 That the Legislature of the State of Florida, with all due
62 respect, does hereby make application to the Congress of the
63 United States pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the
64 United States to call a convention for the sole purpose of
65 proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States
66 which would limit corporate personhood for purposes of campaign
67 finance and political speech and further declare that money does
68 not constitute speech and may be legislatively limited.
69 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this concurrent resolution
70 constitutes a continuing application to call a constitutional
71 convention pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the
72 United States until such time that two-thirds of the
73 legislatures of the several states apply to the United States
74 Congress to call a constitutional convention for the sole
75 purpose of proposing amendments to the Constitution of the
76 United States which would limit corporate personhood for
77 purposes of campaign finance and political speech and further
78 declare that money does not constitute speech and may be
79 legislatively limited.
80 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this concurrent resolution is
81 revoked and withdrawn, nullified, and superseded to the same
82 effect as if it has never been passed, retroactive to the date
83 of passage, if it is used for the purpose of calling a
84 convention or used in support of conducting a convention to
85 amend the Constitution of the United States for any purpose
86 other than for the sole purpose set forth in this concurrent
87 resolution.
88 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this concurrent
89 resolution be dispatched to the President of the United States,
90 the President and President Pro Tempore of the United States
91 Senate, the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the United States
92 House of Representatives, each member of the Florida delegation
93 to the United States Congress, and the presiding officers of
94 each house of the several state legislatures.
