Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HJR121 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R10876 BEF-D
2	2	By: Nevárez H.J.R. No. 121
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4	4
5	5	A JOINT RESOLUTION
6	6	applying to the Congress of the United States to call a convention
7	7	under Article V of the United States Constitution for the limited
8	8	purpose of proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution
9	9	to ensure balance, integrity, and transparency in our national
10	10	campaign finance system.
11	11	WHEREAS, The framers of the United States Constitution gave
12	12	us a republic and intended that the Congress of the United States
13	13	should be "dependent on the people alone" (James Madison,
14	14	Federalist No. 52); and
15	15	WHEREAS, That dependency has evolved from a dependency on the
16	16	people alone to a dependency on powerful special interests, through
17	17	spending by third-party groups, campaigns, and out-of-state
18	18	donors, that has created a fundamental imbalance in our
19	19	representative democracy and eroded the people's trust in
20	20	government; and
21	21	WHEREAS, The Texas Constitution states: "All political power
22	22	is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on
23	23	their authority, and instituted for their benefit" and the people
24	24	have the right at all times to reform their government "in such
25	25	manner as they may think expedient" (Section 2, Article I); and
26	26	WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution requires
27	27	Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments to that
28	28	constitution on the application of two-thirds of the legislatures
29	29	of the several states; and
30	30	WHEREAS, The 86th Texas Legislature perceives the need for a
31	31	convention to propose an amendment to the United States
32	32	Constitution to ensure balance, integrity, and transparency in our
33	33	national system of campaign finance and desires that said
34	34	convention be so limited to that purpose; and
35	35	WHEREAS, The 86th Texas Legislature intends that this joint
36	36	resolution be a continuing application considered together with
37	37	applications calling for a convention for a similar purpose until
38	38	such time as the legislatures of at least two-thirds of the several
39	39	states have applied for a convention and the convention is convened
40	40	by Congress; and
41	41	WHEREAS, A national convention would give us an opportunity
42	42	to come together as a nation to discuss solutions for ensuring the
43	43	integrity of our elections and renew the American people's trust in
44	44	government; and
45	45	WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution clearly
46	46	states that any amendment, whether proposed by Congress or a
47	47	convention, must be ratified by three-fourths of the states
48	48	(presently 38 states), ensuring that only the most reasonable
49	49	proposals with widespread support become part of our constitution;
50	50	and
51	51	WHEREAS, Notwithstanding any federal or state law, the State
52	52	of Texas desires that the delegates to a convention be composed
53	53	equally of individuals currently elected to state and local office,
54	54	or be selected by election in each congressional district in Texas,
55	55	though all individuals elected or appointed to federal office now
56	56	or in the past be prohibited from serving as Texas delegates to the
57	57	convention; and the State of Texas intends to retain the ability to
58	58	enforce the responsibility and conduct of its delegation within the
59	59	limits herein expressed; now, therefore, be it
60	60	RESOLVED, That the people of the State of Texas speaking
61	61	through their legislature, and pursuant to Article V of the United
62	62	States Constitution, hereby apply to the United States Congress to
63	63	call a convention for the exclusive and limited purpose of
64	64	proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution that will
65	65	permanently protect fair elections as described herein by ensuring
66	66	balance, integrity, and transparency in our national system of
67	67	campaign finance as soon as two-thirds of the legislatures of the
68	68	several states have applied for a convention for a similar purpose;
69	69	and, be it further
70	70	RESOLVED, That the Texas Secretary of State forward official
71	71	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, the
72	72	speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, the
73	73	presiding officer of the Senate of the United States, and all
74	74	members of the Texas delegation to Congress, with the respectful
75	75	request that the full and complete text of this resolution be
76	76	printed in the Congressional Record, and to the presiding officers
77	77	of each legislative body of each of the several states, requesting
78	78	the cooperation of the states in issuing an application compelling
79	79	Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments pursuant to
80	80	Article V of the United States Constitution on this subject.