HM 113 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hm0113-00
Page 1 of 4
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
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
House Memorial 1
A memorial to the Congress of the United States, 2
urging Congress to propose to the states an amendment 3
to the Constitution of the United States which would 4
increase the number of United States Senators to three 5
in any state that has a population of more than 6 6
million as determined by the federal census. 7
8
WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United States 9
authorizes Congress to propose amendment s to the Constitution of 10
the United States which shall become valid when ratified by the 11
states, and 12
WHEREAS, the United States Senate, as set forth in the 13
Constitution, consists of two members from each state, 14
regardless of the population of the state, a nd 15
WHEREAS, since the admission of Alaska and Hawaii in 1959, 16
which raised the number of states in the United States to 50, 17
the number of United States Senators has been 100, and 18
WHEREAS, the system of giving each state two senators was 19
devised by the founding fathers to protect small states from the 20
domination of larger states, and 21
WHEREAS, at the time the United States Constitution was 22
drafted, there was a real disparity between the populations of 23
large states, such as Virginia, and small states, such as 24
HM 113 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hm0113-00
Page 2 of 4
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
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Delaware and Rhode Island, but that disparity, at its greatest, 25
was only on the order of 10 to 1, and 26
WHEREAS, the population of larger states has since grown to 27
numbers unimaginable to our founding fathers, headed by 28
California, with an estimated popu lation of 40 million people, 29
followed by Texas, with a population of nearly 30 million 30
people, and Florida, now ranked the third most populous state, 31
with nearly 22 million people, and 32
WHEREAS, the smallest states by population, Wyoming and 33
Vermont, have populations barely in excess of 500,000 people, 34
less than the current population of the District of Columbia, 35
or, as Bill Maher has said, "Why do we need two Dakotas?" and 36
WHEREAS, the population disparity between the largest and 37
smallest states has grown from a proportion of about 10 to 1 to 38
a ratio that now is closer to 100 to 1, and 39
WHEREAS, as a result of this unprecedented disparity, the 40
United States Senate has become extremely malapportioned to the 41
degree that soon 30 percent of the country's popul ation will 42
elect 70 percent of the members of the United States Senate, 43
while conversely 70 percent of the country's population will 44
elect only 30 percent of the members of the United States 45
Senate, a disparity fraught with unhappy consequences for the 46
vast majority of the country's population, which will be almost 47
powerless to address many pressing issues for the overwhelming 48
number of urban and suburban residents of the United States, and 49
HM 113 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hm0113-00
Page 3 of 4
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
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
WHEREAS, were this system not provided for directly in the 50
United States Constitution, it would be manifestly 51
unconstitutional for reasons including that the system would be 52
a denial of equal protection, and of the one person, one vote 53
principle prevalent in all other elections, and 54
WHEREAS, there is a need to address t his growing imbalance 55
of electoral power, while still preserving the principle of 56
protecting the rights of smaller states, and 57
WHEREAS, 19 states, including Maryland, Georgia, North 58
Carolina, Arizona, Tennessee, and Indiana, currently have 59
populations in excess of 6 million people, approximately 10 60
times the population of the smallest states, and 61
WHEREAS, one method of addressing the current imbalance in 62
a modest way, while giving an increased voice to larger states 63
but not denying any current representat ion to smaller states and 64
not having any appreciable partisan effect on current levels of 65
representation and retaining the basic formula of having states 66
receive allocations of senators not directly based on relative 67
populations, as is done with the United States House of 68
Representatives, would be to grant each state with a population 69
in excess of 6 million people an additional senate seat, so 70
those states would have three senators, while all other states 71
would continue to have two senators, and 72
WHEREAS, such a method would result in a total of 120 73
United States Senators, once the 20th state crosses the 6 74
HM 113 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hm0113-00
Page 4 of 4
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
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
million population threshold, which would be a modest increase 75
but still be a workable number of senators, and would still 76
provide ample protection for sm aller states from being dominated 77
by larger states, and 78
WHEREAS, Congress should pass this proposal for an 79
amendment to the Constitution of the United States as a modest 80
attempt to address a very real and ever growing problem and 81
submit this amendment to the states for ratification, NOW, 82
THEREFORE, 83
84
Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 85
86
That Congress is respectfully petitioned to propose to the 87
states an amendment to the Constitution of the United States 88
which would increase the number of United States Senators to 89
three in any state that has a population of more than 6 million 90
as determined by the federal census. 91
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be 92
dispatched to the President of the Uni ted States, to the 93
President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the 94
United States House of Representatives, and to each member of 95
the Florida delegation to the United States Congress. 96