Posted on 02/04/2014 3:08:58 PM PST by cotton1706
This just in! The Georgia Senate has passed the COS application by a vote of 37-17, becoming the first state legislative body to do so.
The resolution has six sponsors: Majority Whip Cecil Staton (R-Macon) of the 18th District, Senate President Pro Tempore David Shafer (R-Duluth) of the 48th District, Ronnie Chance (R-Tyrone) of the 16th District, Butch Miller (R-Gainesville) of the 49th District, Judson Hill (R-Marietta) of the 32nd District and Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) of the 51st District.
Both state senators representing Bartow County, Chuck Hufstetler (R-Rome) and Bruce Thompson (R-White), are among the resolution’s co-signers.
We'll post more details soon. For now, share the good news!
(Excerpt) Read more at conventionofstates.com ...
Outstanding! Article V ping!
Great job, GEORGIA!!!
Now, I want to see how quickly TEXAS follows suit!
Come on, TEXAS!
Might be of interest ping!
Baby steps first. Wait till it becomes a marathon!
Agreed. They need to follow suit.
Georgia is first!
Need to make some more calls to my State Senator and Rep. I want them out front on this.
Wow! Great! Awesome!
What is COS?
Convention of States
Here’s the link for the application:
Agreed. This should be a no-brainer for Texas and we don't need to be state# 34 to pass this.
You got that right!
Yes, sir, that’s what I’m talking about!
I might have to read up a bit on it. I don’t cotton to wholesale rewriting of the Constitution by DemocRat amateurs. But let’s see if it’s better than that.
This is a last resort... that is 50 years late. Godspeed Georgia.
*** BEGIN ***
The amendatory process under Article V consists of three steps: Proposal, Disposal, and Ratification.
Proposal:
There are two ways to propose an amendment to the Constitution.
Article V gives Congress and an Amendments Convention exactly the same power to propose amendments, no more and no less.
Disposal:
Once Congress, or an Amendments Convention, proposes amendments, Congress must decide whether the states will ratify by the:
The State Ratifying Convention Method has only been used twice: once to ratify the Constitution, and once to ratify the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition.
Ratification:
Depending upon which ratification method is chosen by Congress, either the state legislatures vote up-or-down on the proposed amendment, or the voters elect a state ratifying convention to vote up-or-down. If three-quarters of the states vote to ratify, the amendment becomes part of the Constitution.
Forbidden Subjects:
Article V contains two explicitly forbidden subjects and one implicitly forbidden subject.
Explicitly forbidden:
Implicity forbidden:
I have two reference works for those interested.
The first is from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative pro-business group. This document has been sent to every state legislator in the country.
Proposing Constitutional Amendments by a Convention of the States: A Handbook for State Lawmakers
The second is a 1973 report from the American Bar Association attempting to identify gray areas in the amendatory process to include an Amendments Convention. It represents the view of the ruling class of 40 years ago. While I dislike some of their conclusions, they have laid out the precedents that may justify those conclusions. What I respect is the comprehensive job they did in locating all the gray areas. They went so far as to identify a gray area that didn't pop up until the Equal Rights Amendment crashed and burned a decade later. Even if you find yourself in disagreement with their vision, it's worth reading to see the view of the ruling class toward the process.
Report of the ABA Special Constitutional Convention Study Committee
Get ready for the trolls to start posting about various “OMG....RUNAWAY CONVENTION” bullcrap.
However, I don't see how you get this from Article V: "The states may request a single-subject convention or a general convention open to all subjects."
The specific wording is,"The Congress ... shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments," when requested to do so by 2/3 of the States. Don't see anything in there about limiting the freedom of such a Convention.
Article V only authorizes “a convention for proposing amendments to this Constitution”; therefore, the Constitution of 1787 is locked in place forever.
Somewhat ironic, since that is all (most at least of) the delegates to the 1787 Convention were authorized to do. It is at any rate irrelevant, as sufficiently broad amending equates to a new Constitution in practice.
No amendment may be added to the Constitution to change the principle of equal representation in the Senate.
True. However, it's always seemed to me that an amendment could be passed deleting this provision, then one changing Senatorial representation as desired. A moot point, since I believe there is zero support for any such proposition. And it couldn't pass half the states, much less 3/4, anyway.
OMG RUNAWAY CONVENTION THAT THE 3/4 OF THE STATES WOULD HAVE TO RATIFY....
OMG THEY WILL BE RUNNING AWAY WITH THE CONVENTION..... OMG
Just have to channel the un educated moron who think this is a “runaway convention process”.....
We need to do the article V thing NOW rather than in 50 years when more mid west states are “Blue” and it would be impossible or they pass a Article V convention ratifying communism...
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