Bill Text: HI HR177 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requesting Congress To Convene A Limited National Convention Under Article V For The Exclusive Purpose Of Proposing An Amendment To The United States Constitution That Will Limit The Influence Of Money In Our Electoral Process.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-13 - Referred to JUD, FIN, referral sheet 39 [HR177 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2018-HR177-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	177
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

Requesting CONGRESS to convene A LIMITED NATIONAL CONVENTION UNDER ARTICLE V FOR THE EXCLUSIVE PURPOSE OF PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION THAT WILL LIMIT THE INFLUENCE OF MONEY IN OUR ELECTORAL PROCESS.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, the framers of the Constitution of the United States of America intended 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 powerful special interests, through campaigns or third-party groups, that has created a fundamental imbalance in our representative democracy; and

 

     WHEREAS, Americans across the political spectrum agree that elections in the United States of America should be free from the disproportional influence of special interests and fair enough that any citizen can be elected into office; and

 

     WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution requires Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments to the federal Constitution on the application of two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Constitution of the State of Hawaii states that all political power "is inherent in the people and the responsibility for the exercise thereof rests with the people. All government is founded on this authority" (Article I, Section 1); and

 

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii State Legislature perceives the need for an amendments convention in order to restore balance and integrity to our elections by proposing an amendment to the federal Constitution that will permanently protect free and fair elections in America by addressing, inter alia, issues raised by the decisions of the United States Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 130 S.Ct. 876 (2010) and related cases and events, and desires that said convention should be so limited; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii desires that the delegates to said convention shall be comprised 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, provided that all individuals elected or appointed to federal office, now or in the past, be prohibited from serving as delegates to the convention, as the State intends to retain the ability to restrict or expand the power of its delegates within the limits expressed herein; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii intends that this be a continuing application considered together with applications calling for a convention passed in the 2013-2014 Vermont Legislature as R-454, the 2013-2014 California Legislature as Resolution Chapter 77, the 98th Illinois General Assembly as SJR 42, the 2014-2015 New Jersey Legislature as SCR 132, the 2015-2016 Rhode Island Legislature as HR 7670 and SR 2589, and all other passed, pending, and future applications until such time as two-thirds of the several states have applied for a convention for a similar purpose and said convention is convened by Congress; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, that this body hereby requests the United States Congress to call a convention for the exclusive purpose of proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America that will limit the influence of money in our electoral process, by overturning the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission and related cases, as soon as two-thirds of the several states have applied for a convention for a similar purpose; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this application is for an Article V convention and does not grant Congress the authority to call a convention for any purpose other than for the sole purpose set forth in this resolution, as soon as two-thirds of the several states have applied for a convention for a similar purpose; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States in his capacity as presiding officer of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, the President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, to each Senator and Representative from Hawaii in the Congress of the United States with the respectful request that the full and complete text of this Resolution be printed in the Congressional Record, and to the presiding officers of each legislative body of each of the several states, requesting the cooperation of the states in issuing an application compelling Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the U.S. Constitution.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Requesting Congress to convene a limited national convention for the purpose of amending the United States Constitution.