Bill Text: FL S7066 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Equal Application of the Law
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-03-04 - Laid on Table, refer to HCR 7055 [S7066 Detail]
Download: Florida-2024-S7066-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2024 SCR 7066 By the Committee on Fiscal Policy 594-03400-24 20247066__ 1 Senate Concurrent Resolution 2 A concurrent resolution applying to the Congress of 3 the United States to call a convention for the sole 4 purpose of proposing an amendment to the Constitution 5 of the United States stating that the United States 6 Congress shall make no law applying to the citizens of 7 the United States that does not also equally apply to 8 all United States Representatives, United States 9 Senators, and all members of the federal legislative 10 branch. 11 12 WHEREAS, one of the fundamental underpinnings of a 13 democracy is the rule of law; and 14 WHEREAS, in order for the rule of law to be respected and 15 adhered to by the citizenry, it must be applied fairly and in an 16 equal manner; and 17 WHEREAS, Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment to the 18 United States Constitution reads in part “...nor shall any State 19 deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due 20 process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction 21 the equal protection of the laws.”; and 22 WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has held that the 23 Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States 24 Constitution requires equal protection under the laws of the 25 federal government; and 26 WHEREAS, in spite of the Equal Protection Clause and the 27 Due Process Clause within the Constitution, over time the United 28 States Congress has chosen on a number of occasions to exempt 29 its members and the federal legislative branch from the 30 requirements of laws it has enacted that apply to all others 31 throughout the United States; and 32 WHEREAS, the United States Congress acknowledged this issue 33 and decided to address it in part by passing the Congressional 34 Accountability Act of 1995, which applied to Congress and its 35 agencies to adhere to the requirements of several laws that it 36 had previously exempted itself from; and 37 WHEREAS, at present, Congress and the federal legislative 38 branch remain exempt from the requirements of many laws Congress 39 has passed; and 40 WHEREAS, having laws passed by the United States Congress 41 apply differently to the general public versus members of 42 Congress and the federal legislative branch is a fundamental 43 unfairness under the rule of law, and violates the spirit of the 44 Constitution’s Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses; and 45 WHEREAS, under Article V of the United States Constitution, 46 on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the 47 several states, the Congress shall call a Constitutional 48 Convention for the purpose of proposing amendments, NOW, 49 THEREFORE, 50 51 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida, the House 52 of Representatives Concurring: 53 54 That the Legislature of the State of Florida applies to 55 Congress, under Article V of the Constitution of the United 56 States, to call a convention limited to proposing an amendment 57 to the Constitution which would prohibit the United States 58 Congress from making any law applying to the citizens of the 59 United States that does not also equally apply to all United 60 States Representatives, United States Senators, and all members 61 of the federal legislative branch; and 62 That this application constitutes a continuing application 63 in accordance with Article V until the legislatures of at least 64 two-thirds of the states have made applications on the same 65 subject. 66 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Legislature also proposes 67 that the legislatures of the states comprising the United States 68 apply to the Congress to call a constitutional convention for 69 proposing such an amendment to the Constitution. 70 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this concurrent resolution is 71 revoked and withdrawn, nullified, and superseded to the same 72 effect as if it had never been passed, and retroactive to the 73 date of passage, if it is used for the purpose of calling a 74 convention or used in support of conducting a convention to 75 amend the Constitution of the United States with any agenda 76 other than to propose an amendment to the Constitution which 77 would prohibit the United States Congress from making any law 78 applying to the citizens of the United States that does not also 79 equally apply to all United States Representatives, United 80 States Senators, and all members of the federal legislative 81 branch. 82 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this application be 83 dispatched to the President of the United States, to the 84 President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the 85 United States House of Representatives, to each member of the 86 Florida delegation to the United States Congress, and to the 87 presiding officer of each house of the legislature of each 88 state.