Bill Text: HI SCR52 | 2015 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: United States Constitutional Convention; Citizens United; Free and Fair Elections; Constitutional Amendment (SD1)
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-04-01 - Report adopted, as amended (SD 1) and referred to JDL. [SCR52 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2015-SCR52-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
52 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
PETITIONING CONGRESS FOR A LIMITED AMENDMENTS CONVENTION TO RESTORE FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS BY ADDRESSING CONCERNS RAISED BY THE DECISION OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT IN CITIZENS UNITED V. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION, 558 U.S. 310 (2010) AND RELATED CASES AND ADDRESS whether money spent on candidate elections and ballot measures should constitute "speech" under the First Amendment.
WHEREAS, the first President of the United States, George Washington, stated, "[t]he 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 intention of the framers of the Constitution of the United States of America as stated in James Madison's Federalist Papers that the Congress of the United States of America should be "dependent on the people alone"; 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 U.S. 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 the people's ability to choose their political leadership, write their own laws, and determine the fate of their state; and
WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution requires the United States Congress to call a convention 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, this body sees the need for a convention to propose amendments to address concerns such as those raised by the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and related cases and events, regardless of when they occur or have occurred; whether money spent on candidate elections and ballot measures should constitute "speech" under the First Amendment; or for a substantially similar purpose, and desires that the convention should be so limited; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the House of Representatives concurring, that pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, the United States Congress is petitioned to call a convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America to address concerns raised by the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010) and related cases and events and address whether money spent on candidate elections and ballot measures should constitute "speech" under the First Amendment; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this be a standing 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 2013-2014 Illinois legislature as Senate Joint Resolution No. 42, and all other past, pending, and future applications until at least two-thirds of the several states have applied for a convention and the convention is convened by Congress; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the delegates to the convention be comprised equally from individuals currently elected to state and local office or individuals elected as delegates from each Congressional district; provided that all individuals elected or appointed to federal office, now or in the past, be prohibited from serving as delegates to the Convention, and for the State of Hawaii to retain the ability to restrict or expand the power of its delegates within the limits expressed above; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President and Vice President of the United States, 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, and Hawaii's congressional delegation.
United States Constitutional Convention; Citizens United; Free and Fair Elections; Constitutional Amendment (SD1)
