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SCR122.....................................................by STATE AFFAIRS CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION - Stating findings of the Legislature and repealing, rescinding, canceling, nullifying and superseding certain applications made by the Legislature of the State of Idaho to call a constitutional convention to propose amendments to the Constitution of the United States. 02/15 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing 02/16 Rpt prt - to St Aff
SCR122|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO |||| Fifty-fifth Legislature First Regular Session - 1999IN THE SENATE SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 122 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE 1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 2 STATING FINDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE, REPEALING, RESCINDING, CANCELING, VOIDING 3 AND SUPERSEDING CERTAIN EXTANT APPLICATIONS BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE 4 STATE OF IDAHO HERETOFORE MADE TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF 5 AMERICA TO CALL A CONVENTION PURSUANT TO THE TERMS OF ARTICLE V OF THE 6 UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION FOR PROPOSING ONE OR MORE AMENDMENTS TO THE 7 CONSTITUTION AND URGING THE LEGISLATURES OF THE OTHER STATES TO DO THE 8 SAME AND DIRECTING COPIES OF THIS RESOLUTION BE SENT TO SPECIFIED PERSONS. 9 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 10 WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Idaho, acting with the best of 11 intentions, has at various times, and during various sessions, previously made 12 applications to the Congress of the United States of America to call one or 13 more conventions to propose either a single amendment concerning a specific 14 subject or to call a general convention to propose an unspecified and unlim- 15 ited number of amendments to the United States Constitution, pursuant to the 16 provisions of Article V thereof; and 17 WHEREAS, former Justice of the United States of America Warren E. Burger, 18 former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Arthur J. Goldberg 19 and other leading constitutional scholars agree that such a convention may 20 propose sweeping changes to the Constitution, any limitations or restrictions 21 purportedly imposed by the states in applying for such a convention or conven- 22 tions to the contrary notwithstanding, thereby creating an imminent peril to 23 the well-established rights of the citizens and the duties of various levels 24 of government; and 25 WHEREAS, the Constitution of the United States of America has been amended 26 many times in the history of this nation and may be amended many more times, 27 without the need to resort to a constitutional convention, and has been inter- 28 preted for more than two hundred years and has been found to be a sound docu- 29 ment which protects the lives and liberties of the citizens; and 30 WHEREAS, there is no need for, rather, there is great danger in, a new 31 Constitution or in opening the Constitution to sweeping changes, the adoption 32 of which would only create legal chaos in this nation and only begin the proc- 33 ess of another two centuries of litigation over its meaning and interpreta- 34 tion. 35 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the First Regular Session 36 of the Fifty-fifth Idaho Legislature, the Senate and the House of Representa- 37 tives concurring therein, that the Legislature does hereby repeal, rescind, 38 cancel, nullify, and supersede to the same effect as if they had never been 39 passed, certain extant applications by the Legislature of the State of Idaho 40 to the Congress of the United States of America to call a convention to pro- 41 pose amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America, pursuant 42 to the terms of Article V thereof, regardless of when or by which session or 43 sessions of the Idaho Legislature such applications were made and regardless 44 of whether such applications were for a limited convention to propose one or 2 1 more amendments regarding one or more specific subjects and purposes or for a 2 general convention to propose an unlimited number of amendments upon an unlim- 3 ited number of subjects. 4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following resolutions and memorials, be, 5 and the same are hereby specifically repealed, rescinded, canceled, nullified 6 and superseded: S.J.M. 2, 1901 Session of the Legislature; S.J.R. 2, 1927 Ses- 7 sion of the Legislature; H.C.R. 6, 1957 Session of the Legislature; S.J.M. 9, 8 1963 Session of the Legislature; H.J.M. 7, 1963 Session of the Legislature; 9 S.J.M. 1, 1965 Session of the Legislature; and S.C.R. 132, 1980 Session of the 10 Legislature. 11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, notwithstanding any other provision of this 12 Resolution, the Legislature hereby reaffirms application to the Congress of 13 the United States of America that procedures be initiated to call a limited 14 constitutional convention, for the specific and exclusive purpose of proposing 15 an amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America requiring, in 16 the absence of a national emergency, that the total of all federal outlays for 17 any fiscal year shall not exceed the total of all federal receipts for that 18 fiscal year, which amendment may also limit the power of Congress to increase 19 federal taxes. 20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the application made by this Resolution shall 21 be null and void and without effect if the Congress proposes to the states for 22 ratification a constitutional amendment as described in the preceding para- 23 graph. 24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the application made by this Resolution may 25 not be counted in aggregation with any other application by any other state if 26 such other application would allow in any way a constitutional convention to 27 address any other subject. 28 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the application made by this Resolution shall 29 be null and void and without effect if any instrumentality of the federal gov- 30 ernment, in any official action, however preliminary, attempts to aggregate, 31 to permit aggregating, or to issue a legal opinion in favor of aggregating, 32 the applications of several states regarding different subjects, for the pur- 33 pose of attaining the number of state applications necessary to call a consti- 34 tutional convention. 35 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate be, and she is 36 hereby authorized and directed to send copies of this Resolution to the Secre- 37 tary of State of each state in the Union, to the presiding officers of both 38 houses of the legislatures of each state in the Union, to the President of the 39 United States Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of Representa- 40 tives, to the members of the Congress of the United States representing the 41 state and people of Idaho, and the administrator of General Services, Washing- 42 ton, D.C.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
09074
Since Idaho became a state, the Legislature has, at various
times, made application to the Congress of the United States to
call one or more constitutional conventions. Eight such calls
have been identified since 1901.
We recognize that many of these calls are outdated and
unneccessary. We also recognize that there are those who have
concern that a constitutional convention -- in the unlikely
event one is convened -- may not be limited to a single topic,
and fear the possibility of a "runaway convention".
The purpose of this resolution is to repeal, rescind, cancel and
nullify all previous applications from the state of Idaho for a
constitutional convention -- WITH ONE EXCEPTION -- namely H.C.R.
7 from 1979 relating to amendment of the constitution requiring
a Federal Balanced Budget.
The resolution also puts into place, a mechanism that
automatically nullifies Idaho's call for a convention relating
to a Balanced Budget Amendment in any one three instances:
1. It nullifies the call if the United States Congress
proposes to the states for ratification, a Balanced Budget
Amendment to the Constitution.
2. It prevents a "runaway" convention by disallowing
Idaho's call for a convention if said convention is not limited
to the single subject of the Balanced Budget Amendment
3. Prevents the aggregation of constitutional convention
calls on different subjects for the purpose of calling a single
convention. No federal entity can even take the first step
toward mixing Idaho's call for any other purpose without voiding
Idaho's call.
FISCAL NOTE
None
CONTACT: Senator Sorensen 332-1319
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE / FISCAL NOTE SCR122