Kansas passes convention of states
U.S. Constitution: Article V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
With the passage of SCR1604 last week, Kansas has made application to the U.S. Congress to call a convention of states for the purposes of imposing fiscal restraints on the federal government, imposing limits on the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and establishing term limits for members of Congress and federal officials.
When the citizens of the United States of America feel Congress is not being responsive to the people, they can call on their state legislatures to effectively force Congress to act. This provision was built in to the U.S. Constitution from the very beginning because the founders were well aware of how a tyrannical government can become a bombastic beast unconcerned with the plight of the common people while it continues to feed its insatiable appetite for more power and control.
It is unlikely a convention will ever be called because any time a grassroots issue is getting close to the required 34 states to force Congress to act, they usually take action to address the issue. Congress has never called a convention of states. Of the 27 amendments, none have been from a convention of states.
Historically, Virginia was the first state to call for a convention of states on November 14, 1788, just 147 days after the final state (New Hampshire) ratified the original U.S. Constitution and 111 days before it was even officially implemented. Virginia and New York both called for a convention of states for the purpose of establishing a bill of rights in those early days. No other states called for a convention because, by September of 1789, Congress had proposed 12 amendments to the Constitution, 10 of which became ratified and known as the Bill of Rights.
[Trivia question: Can you name which two amendments were not ratified? I’ll tell you at the end of this article!]
There have been multiple other amendment topics that were called by state legislatures, but the issues were resolved before the required number of states had passed applications for a convention: Resolution of slavery (1860s), direct election of U.S. Senators (1900s), anti-prohibition (1930s), Presidential term limits (1940s), and legislative apportionment (1960s).
Other popular topics for which Congress has received numerous applications are: income tax limits, balanced federal budget requirement, right to life, and congressional term limits.
Kansas has outstanding applications for income tax limits (1951), balanced federal budget (1978), and now the three subjects contained in SCR1604.
Personally, I find the convention of states arguments intriguing. There is great concern, not necessarily over the subject matter, but rather the uncertainty around the power of a convention of states. There are no parameters set forth in Article V of the Constitution that govern how a convention would operate or be limited. Although the individual topics are applied for, there is no guarantee that an attempt would not be made to propose amendments outside the scope of the applications. For instance, if a convention was called for a balanced federal budget, someone could propose repealing the 2nd Amendment! Would activists get 34 states to support this? I highly doubt it. Even if they did, would 38 states then ratify this proposal? I’d say there’s a higher chance the wind doesn’t blow for an entire year in western Kansas.
The Kansas House of Representatives also passed HB2065 which establishes our own state guidelines for selecting delegates, should a convention ever be called. This is necessary because once again, Article V does not set forth any standardized guidance on this. This bill also acknowledges that Kansas delegates are limited to the purpose for which the convention has been called, and sets forth penalties if they cast a vote for any other topic. While the resolution has passed, the bill has yet to be considered by the Senate.
There are very intelligent constitutional scholars on both sides of the convention of states arguments. Opponents say it’s too dangerous and that a convention could potentially rewrite the entire U.S. Constitution, causing us to lose many of our freedoms. Supporters believe there is security in the ratification process – even if radical amendments were proposed, there is very little chance they would be adopted by the full convention and an even slimmer chance they would ever be ratified by the required 38 states to become officially adopted.
I confidently voted for the passage of the resolution. I believe in the protection of the ratification process. Until a new constitution is ratified, our existing Constitution is the law of the land. Even if a number of amendments are proposed, just like the original 12 amendments, they are ratified one by one and not as a combined proposal. I am not worried that we would ever struggle to find 25% of the states to block ratification of something like repealing the 2nd Amendment, or whatever other egregious amendments folks may worry about.
I received quite a few emails and calls regarding this matter, and the overwhelming majority of my constituents were in favor. It was probably a 10:1 ratio of constituents in favor of the convention of states application. Most of the opponents were not from the 120th district, and many were not even from Kansas.
Kansas was the 20th state under this application. The application closest to approval is the balanced federal budget, which has 27 active applications at the moment. As new states passed theses applications, other states are also rescinding their applications. Our neighboring state of Colorado recently rescinded their balanced budget application, as well as three other states. South Carolina just passed their balanced budget application a few weeks ago. Hawaii is the only state never to call for a convention of states for any purpose.
Trivia Answer:
One of the two amendments that were part of the original 12 but not ratified in the Bill of Rights was Congressional Apportionment, which determined the size of the House of Representatives. The second was the Congressional Compensation Amendment, which established the limits regarding congressional pay raises. In 1992, after 202 years, it finally met the requirements for ratification and became the 27th Amendment. If you know a student needing a unique research project, have them chronicle the ratification of the 27th Amendment – it’s a fascinating story of the legal process and civic engagement! Four states still have not ratified it. Nebraska was the most recent in 2016. Kansas ratified it in 1990.
