Alert Montana!
SB120: HEARING January 24, Friday, 8 am, Room 303, on SB120 Article V Constitutional Convention Commissioners bill, at the Montana State Capitol.
You can participate by attending the hearing and testifying.
Or Sign up to testify on Zoom at least 2 hours before the hearing at this link: https://www.legmt.gov/
You can submit written testimony at the same link.
CONTACT THE Senators, info below.
SJ4: HEARING January 28, Tuesday, 8am, Room 303, on SJ4 Article V Constitutional Convention on a Balanced Budget Amendment. More information below Commissioner Bill info. The Balanced Budget just won’t work like we’d like it to work.
MESSAGE: Please vote NO on SB120 the Commissioners limitation bill which will not work. The remedy in SB120 for controlling the Montana Commissioners and Delegation at a Constitutional Convention is to RECALL the Commissioners and Delegation. However, if Montana’s delegation is recalled because they have “exceeded their authority”… the Article V Constitutional Convention will continue, but WITHOUT any representation from Montana. AND the Convention’s actions to amend the U.S. Constitution will continue without Montana.
Please vote NO on SJ4 the Article V Constitutional Convention for a Balanced Budget. The only way to balance the budget is to raise taxes or cut spending. There is no requirement in Montana’s Article V Balanced Budget applications that prohibits tax increases and in case of an “emergency,” the balance budget requirements would have to be set aside. Because Montana receives 46% of its state revenue from the Federal Government taxes would have to be raised on Montanans. An Article V Convention cannot be limited to a single subject. It will open the Constitution to unlimited changes. Give the Trump administration a chance to cut the federal budget. (Or better yet write your own message) Much more information is below.
Please CONTACT these Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee:
Senators: Very likely in favor:
Barry Usher: 406 252-2888 (Chair of Committee)
Daniel Emrich: 406 781-3955
Senators position unknown:
Vince Ricci: 406 855-9153 (Vice Chair of Committee)
Gayle Lammers: 406 679-0020
Sue Vinton: 406 855-2625
Copy and Paste EMAIL for Senators on Committee:
barry.usher@leg.mt.gov, daniel.emrich@legmt.gov, Vince.ricci@legmt.gov, gayle.lammers@legmt.gov, sue.vinton@legmt.gov
Copy of SB120: https://bills.legmt.gov/#/
Copy of SJ4: https://bills.legmt.gov/#/
Oppose Commissioner Limitation Bill for an
Article V Constitutional Convention
By Eagle Forum National Constitutional Issues Chairman Janine Hansen, director@nevadafamilies.org 775-397-6859
If you oppose an Article V Constitutional Convention then you must oppose any commissioner limitation bill. The purpose of SB120, the Montana commissioner limitation bill is to take away your fears about what may actually happen at an Article V Constitutional Convention. But, the limitation bill will not work.
The remedy in SB120 for controlling the Montana Commissioners and Delegation at a Convention is to RECALL the Commissioners and Delegation. However, if Montana’s delegation is recalled because they have “exceeded their authority”… the Article V Constitutional Convention will continue, but WITHOUT any representation from Montana. AND the Convention’s actions to amend the Constitution will continue without Montana.
SB120 makes the flawed assumption that a Convention will allow only one vote per state. That is preposterous!
“Between 1973 and 1992, 22 bills were introduced in the U.S. House and 19 in the U.S. Senate that sought to establish a procedural framework that would apply to an Article V Convention…The Senate…passed constitutional Convention procedures bills, the ‘Federal Constitutional Convention Procedures Act,’ on two separate occasions; as S 215 in 1971 and as S 1272 in 1983.” Source Congressional Research Service, April 11, 2014.
These bills called for proportional representation of States based on the formula for the Electoral College. None suggested one vote per state as SB120 does. With this historic precedence, it is folly to assume that Congress would not determine in legislation the formula for state representation, as a prerequisite for calling a convention. Again it is folly to assume that any formula could pass Congress without obtaining the necessary votes from large population States that would insist on proportional representation.
Why would California with 54 Electoral votes, Texas with 38, New York and Florida with 29 each, voluntarily vote themselves such a huge disadvantage to be equal in a Convention to states like Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, North and South Dakota with 3 or 4 Electoral votes each? It is not reasonable to assume that politically it could possibly happen.
Article V does not give states the power to limit the actions of commissioners. Article V gives Congress the power to Call the Convention which includes, by implication, making the rules. In Article 1 Section 7 Clause 18, the Constitution gives Congress the power, “To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department of Office thereof.”
Right now the proponents of the Article V Constitutional Convention, because they have failed to reach the 34 states constitutionally required threshold, are finding new ways to COUNT. They are adding together diverse subjects of Article V State Applications from as long ago as one from New York in 1789. They add others from the Civil War era, some opposing polygamy, and still others calling for the direct election of Senators which is already part of the Constitution….to make their argument that they have reached the required 34 states. They also add in many of the 12 States, like Montana, that rescinded all of their previous Applications for an Article V Convention. All of that is astonishing! And as crooked as stealing an election, except they will steal our beloved Constitution instead!
Another concern is that proponents who claim to want a limited Article V Constitutional Convention have lists of amendments they propose themselves, for instance, Mark Levin in his book promotes eleven amendments, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas wants nine amendments and the Convention of States Pocket Guide promotes an unlimited plethora of amendments.
Phyllis Schlafly the founder of Eagle Forum often quoted Chief Justice Warren Burger as the highest authority in the United States to ever speak out on a Constitutional Convention. He stated: “I have also repeatedly given my opinion that there is no effective way to limit or muzzle the actions of a Constitutional Convention. The Convention could make its own rules and set its own agenda. Congress might try to limit the Convention to one amendment or to one issue, but there is no way to ensure that the Convention would obey. After a Convention is convened, it will be too late to stop the convention if we don’t like its agenda…”
http://www.eagleforum.org/
Who do you trust with your Constitution today? Unelected appointed delegates to a Constitutional Convention who will never face the voters?
A Balanced Budget Amendment Just Won’t Work Like We’d Like It To Work
Janine Hansen, Eagle Forum National Constitutional Issues Chairman,
director@nevadafamilies.org, eagle@eagleforum.org
The only way to balance a budget is to raise taxes or cut spending. There is no requirement in Article V Balanced Budget applications like Montana’s that prohibits tax increases and in case of an “emergency,” the balance budget requirements would have to be set aside.
Montana receives 46.58% of its state revenue from the Federal Government. Montana would have to raise taxes if a Federal Balanced Budget Amendment was adopted to cover the 46% of state revenue that comes from the Federal Government. https://smartasset.com/data-
State Legislators, both Republicans and Democrats, continue to vote for Federal Mandates and money. How can they honestly say they support limiting spending by the Federal Government when they continue to vote to take more money from the Feds?
The Balanced Budget sounds very good to conservatives. We wish there was an easy way to reign in the out-of-control spending of the Federal Government. However, the Constitution is not the problem. The Federal Government has ignored the Enumerated Powers listed in the Constitution and spends money on countless things that are not authorized by the Constitution, like education. If a Balanced Budget Amendment was in the Constitution it would make matters worse by actually constitutionally authorizing Federal Spending outside of the Enumerated Powers.
An Article V Convention should be of great concern, especially to small population conservative states like Montana. Article V does not tell us how many delegates there will be or how they will be selected. But, “Between 1973 and 1992, 22 bills were introduced in the U.S. House and 19 in the U.S. Senate that sought to establish a procedural framework that would apply to an Article V Convention…The Senate… passed the ‘Federal Constitutional Convention Procedures Act,’ on two separate occasions; as S 215 in 1971 and as S 1272 in 1983.” Although these bills did not pass Congress, they asserted Congress’s intent on setting the formula for delegates and all other procedures for an Article V Convention. Source Congressional Research Service, April 11, 2014. https://www.everycrsreport.
These bills called for proportional representation of States based on the formula for the Electoral College, which adds the state’s number of Congressmen and 2 Senators, not one vote per state. So, Montana would have 4 votes and California 54 at a Convention. As a conservative that’s very scary.
California, which will be a participant in an Article V Constitutional Convention, passed in September 2023 an application for an Article V Convention which completely guts the Second Amendment. Eagle Forum has long contended that an Article V Constitutional Convention for proposing amendments would result in the loss of our Second Amendment Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms. In addition, we know the Electoral College would be in jeopardy because already 17 states and the District of Columbia have passed the National Popular Vote Compact. Thankfully there is pushback nationally to the “woke” agenda, but we still at are risk of losing our Freedom of Speech and the Free Exercise of Religion in a Constitutional Convention. https://eagleforum.org/topics/
In 2012 the National Republican Committee adopted a Resolution opposing all Article V Constitutional Convention applications and for good reason. Their Resolution still stands.
With all of these concerns about a BBA, the greatest concern is that an Article V Constitutional Convention cannot be limited.
Phyllis Schlafly the founder of Eagle Forum often quoted Chief Justice Warren Burger as the highest authority in the United States to ever speak out on a Constitutional Convention. He stated: “I have also repeatedly given my opinion that there is no effective way to limit or muzzle the actions of a Constitutional Convention. The Convention could make its own rules and set its own agenda. Congress might try to limit the Convention to one amendment or to one issue, but there is no way to ensure that the Convention would obey. After a Convention is convened, it will be too late to stop the convention if we don’t like its agenda…”
http://www.eagleforum.org/
In addition, in 2015 the New Jersey Law Journal reported that Supreme Court Justice “Scalia called it ‘a horrible idea’ to hold a constitutional convention in this age of special interests.”
What can we do with an out-of-control Federal Government? First of all, give the Trump administration a chance to cut the federal budget. Elections are a big answer, just as we witnessed in the 2024 election. And State Legislators can refuse federal mandates and federal money. One encouraging sign is that States have realized they can push back against Federal Bullying. Texas is a prime example. They have passed laws to deal in their state with the massive illegal immigration invasion and 25 state Governors are supporting them.
The Balanced Budget Amendment won’t work and will result in higher taxes. Let’s not take a chance on losing our precious fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep comments short. Long comments will be deleted.