Florida 2022 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0113 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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10	10	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
11	11	R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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13	13	House Memorial 1
14	14	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, 2
15	15	urging Congress to propose to the states an amendment 3
16	16	to the Constitution of the United States which would 4
17	17	increase the number of United States Senators to three 5
18	18	in any state that has a population of more than 6 6
19	19	million as determined by the federal census. 7
20	20	8
21	21	WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United States 9
22	22	authorizes Congress to propose amendment s to the Constitution of 10
23	23	the United States which shall become valid when ratified by the 11
24	24	states, and 12
25	25	WHEREAS, the United States Senate, as set forth in the 13
26	26	Constitution, consists of two members from each state, 14
27	27	regardless of the population of the state, a nd 15
28	28	WHEREAS, since the admission of Alaska and Hawaii in 1959, 16
29	29	which raised the number of states in the United States to 50, 17
30	30	the number of United States Senators has been 100, and 18
31	31	WHEREAS, the system of giving each state two senators was 19
32	32	devised by the founding fathers to protect small states from the 20
33	33	domination of larger states, and 21
34	34	WHEREAS, at the time the United States Constitution was 22
35	35	drafted, there was a real disparity between the populations of 23
36	36	large states, such as Virginia, and small states, such as 24 
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45	45	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
46	46	R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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48	48	Delaware and Rhode Island, but that disparity, at its greatest, 25
49	49	was only on the order of 10 to 1, and 26
50	50	WHEREAS, the population of larger states has since grown to 27
51	51	numbers unimaginable to our founding fathers, headed by 28
52	52	California, with an estimated popu lation of 40 million people, 29
53	53	followed by Texas, with a population of nearly 30 million 30
54	54	people, and Florida, now ranked the third most populous state, 31
55	55	with nearly 22 million people, and 32
56	56	WHEREAS, the smallest states by population, Wyoming and 33
57	57	Vermont, have populations barely in excess of 500,000 people, 34
58	58	less than the current population of the District of Columbia, 35
59	59	or, as Bill Maher has said, "Why do we need two Dakotas?" and 36
60	60	WHEREAS, the population disparity between the largest and 37
61	61	smallest states has grown from a proportion of about 10 to 1 to 38
62	62	a ratio that now is closer to 100 to 1, and 39
63	63	WHEREAS, as a result of this unprecedented disparity, the 40
64	64	United States Senate has become extremely malapportioned to the 41
65	65	degree that soon 30 percent of the country's popul ation will 42
66	66	elect 70 percent of the members of the United States Senate, 43
67	67	while conversely 70 percent of the country's population will 44
68	68	elect only 30 percent of the members of the United States 45
69	69	Senate, a disparity fraught with unhappy consequences for the 46
70	70	vast majority of the country's population, which will be almost 47
71	71	powerless to address many pressing issues for the overwhelming 48
72	72	number of urban and suburban residents of the United States, and 49 
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82	82	R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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84	84	WHEREAS, were this system not provided for directly in the 50
85	85	United States Constitution, it would be manifestly 51
86	86	unconstitutional for reasons including that the system would be 52
87	87	a denial of equal protection, and of the one person, one vote 53
88	88	principle prevalent in all other elections, and 54
89	89	WHEREAS, there is a need to address t his growing imbalance 55
90	90	of electoral power, while still preserving the principle of 56
91	91	protecting the rights of smaller states, and 57
92	92	WHEREAS, 19 states, including Maryland, Georgia, North 58
93	93	Carolina, Arizona, Tennessee, and Indiana, currently have 59
94	94	populations in excess of 6 million people, approximately 10 60
95	95	times the population of the smallest states, and 61
96	96	WHEREAS, one method of addressing the current imbalance in 62
97	97	a modest way, while giving an increased voice to larger states 63
98	98	but not denying any current representat ion to smaller states and 64
99	99	not having any appreciable partisan effect on current levels of 65
100	100	representation and retaining the basic formula of having states 66
101	101	receive allocations of senators not directly based on relative 67
102	102	populations, as is done with the United States House of 68
103	103	Representatives, would be to grant each state with a population 69
104	104	in excess of 6 million people an additional senate seat, so 70
105	105	those states would have three senators, while all other states 71
106	106	would continue to have two senators, and 72
107	107	WHEREAS, such a method would result in a total of 120 73
108	108	United States Senators, once the 20th state crosses the 6 74 
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120	120	million population threshold, which would be a modest increase 75
121	121	but still be a workable number of senators, and would still 76
122	122	provide ample protection for sm aller states from being dominated 77
123	123	by larger states, and 78
124	124	WHEREAS, Congress should pass this proposal for an 79
125	125	amendment to the Constitution of the United States as a modest 80
126	126	attempt to address a very real and ever growing problem and 81
127	127	submit this amendment to the states for ratification, NOW, 82
128	128	THEREFORE, 83
129	129	84
130	130	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 85
131	131	86
132	132	That Congress is respectfully petitioned to propose to the 87
133	133	states an amendment to the Constitution of the United States 88
134	134	which would increase the number of United States Senators to 89
135	135	three in any state that has a population of more than 6 million 90
136	136	as determined by the federal census. 91
137	137	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be 92
138	138	dispatched to the President of the Uni ted States, to the 93
139	139	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the 94
140	140	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of 95
141	141	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress. 96