Bill Text: MI HJRWW | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Campaign finance; contributions and expenditures; petition Congress to propose amendments to Constitution to reverse Citizens United; provide for. Creates new joint resolution.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-12-14 - Join Resolution Electronically Reproduced 12/13/2016 [HJRWW Detail]
Download: Michigan-2015-HJRWW-Introduced.html
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION WW
December 13, 2016, Introduced by Reps. Lauren Plawecki, Pagan, Liberati and Wittenberg.
A joint resolution to petition the Congress of the United
States to call a convention to propose an amendment to the
Constitution of the United States to restrict independent political
spending.
Whereas, the 1st President of the United States, George
Washington, stated, "The basis of our political systems is the
right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of
Government."; and,
Whereas, it was the stated intention of the framers of the
Constitution of the United States of America that the Congress of
the United States of America should be "dependent on the people
alone." (James Madison, Federalist 52); and,
Whereas, that dependency has evolved from a dependency on the
people alone to a dependency on those who spend excessively in
elections, through campaigns or third-party groups; and,
Whereas, the United States Supreme Court ruling in Citizens
United v Federal Election Commission, 558 US 310 (2010), removed
restrictions on amounts of independent political spending; and,
Whereas, the removal of those restrictions has resulted in the
unjust influence of powerful economic forces, which have supplanted
the will of the people by undermining our ability to choose our
political leadership, write our own laws, and determine the fate of
our state; and,
Whereas, Article V of the United States Constitution requires
the United States Congress to call a convention for proposing
amendments upon application of two-thirds of the legislatures of
the several states for the purpose of proposing amendments to the
United States Constitution; and,
Whereas, the state of Michigan sees the need for a convention
to propose amendments in order to address concerns such as those
raised by the decision of the United States Supreme Court in
Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, 558 US 310 (2010),
and related cases and events including those occurring long before
or afterward or for a substantially similar purpose, and desires
that said convention should be so limited; and,
Whereas, the state of Michigan desires that the delegates to
said convention shall be composed equally of individuals currently
elected to state and local office, or be selected by election in
each congressional district for the purpose of serving as
delegates, though all individuals elected or appointed to federal
office, now or in the past, be prohibited from serving as delegates
to the convention, and intends to retain the ability to restrict or
expand the power of its delegates within the limits expressed
above; and,
Whereas, the state of Michigan intends that this be a
continuing application considered together with applications
calling for a convention passed in the 2013-2014 Vermont
legislature as R454, the 2013-2014 California legislature as
Resolution Chapter 77, the 98th Illinois General Assembly as Senate
Joint Resolution No. 42, the 2014-2015 New Jersey legislature as
SCR 132, and all other passed, pending, and future applications,
the aforementioned concerns of Michigan notwithstanding until such
time as two-thirds of the several states have applied for a
convention and said convention is convened by Congress.
Be it resolved, That the legislature of the state of Michigan,
pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, hereby
petitions the United States Congress to call a convention for the
purpose of proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United
States of America as soon as two-thirds of the several states have
applied for a convention; and
Be it further resolved, That copies of this resolution be
transmitted to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the United States House of
Representatives, to the Minority Leader of the United States House
of Representatives, to the President Pro Tempore of the United
States Senate, to each senator and representative from Michigan in
the Congress of the United States, to the governor of each state,
and to the presiding officers of each legislative body of each of
the several states, requesting the cooperation of the several
states in issuing an application compelling congress to call a
convention for proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the
United States Constitution.