LR9 LR9
2019 2019
ONE HUNDRED SIXTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION 9
Introduced by Wayne, 13.
Read first time January 16, 2019
Committee: Government, Military and Veterans Affairs WHEREAS, the framers of the Constitution of the United States of America intended that Congress be "dependent on the people alone" (The Federalist No.
52, Alexander Hamilton or James Madison); and WHEREAS, what was a dependency on the people alone has transformed into a dependency on powerful special interests, through campaigns or third-party groups, which 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 disproportionate influence of special interests and fair enough that any citizen can be elected into office; and WHEREAS, overreaching decisions such as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010) and its progeny have frustrated or
prevented reasonable campaign laws. This includes decisions such as American Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Bullock, 567 U.S. 516 (2012), which summarily overturned the Montana Supreme Court without oral argument, throwing out a century of effective campaign laws in that state, and McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, 572 U.S. 185 (2014), which removed the individual spending limit, allowing for the unprecedented funneling of campaign contributions from all over the nation; and WHEREAS, the Constitution of Nebraska states that "governments are instituted among people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." (Article I, section 1); and
-1-
LR9 LR9
2019 2019
WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United States requires Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments to the Constitution on
the application of two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states; and WHEREAS, in order to restore balance and integrity to our nation's elections, the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature perceives the need for an
Article V convention limited to proposing an amendment to the Constitution of
the United States that would permanently protect free and fair elections in
America; and WHEREAS, the State of Nebraska desires that delegates to the convention be
comprised equally of individuals currently elected to state and local office or
that such delegates be selected by election in each congressional district for the purpose of serving as delegates, and further desires that all individuals elected or appointed to federal office, now or in the past, be prohibited from serving as delegates to the convention; and WHEREAS, the State of Nebraska intends this resolution to be a continuing application for an Article V convention to be considered together with the applications calling for a convention passed in the 2013–2014 Vermont General Assembly as J.R.S. 27 (Act R-454), the 2013–2014 California State Legislature as AJR 1 (res. ch. 77), the 2013–2014 Illinois General Assembly as SJR 42, the
2014–2015 New Jersey Legislature as SCR 132, and the 2016 Rhode Island General Assembly as HR 7670 and SR 2589, and with 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 such convention is convened by
Congress.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE ONE HUNDRED SIXTH
LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA, FIRST SESSION:
1. That the people of the State of Nebraska, speaking through their Nebraska Unicameral Legislature, and pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the United States, hereby apply to the United States Congress to call a convention for the exclusive purpose of proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States that would restore free and fair elections as
-2-
LR9 LR9
2019 2019
described in this resolution, as soon as two-thirds of the several states have applied for a convention for a similar purpose.
2. That the Nebraska delegates to such convention shall have no discretion beyond that granted by the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature and that the Legislature retains its authority to restrict or expand the power of Nebraska's delegates within the limits expressed in this resolution.
3. That the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature shall not ratify and the Nebraska delegates to a convention authorized by this resolution shall not vote to propose any amendment unless it allows each state to determine the campaign finance laws that will apply to its local and federal officials.
4. That the Clerk of the Legislature transmit copies of this resolution 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, the members of the Senate and House of Representatives from this state,
the Archivist of the United States, and the respective clerks of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, with the respectful request that the full and complete text of this resolution be
printed in the Congressional Record and recorded in the published tally of
state applications for an Article V convention.
5. That the Clerk of the Legislature transmit copies of this resolution 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 an Article V convention to propose an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to restore free and fair elections as
described in this resolution.
-3-