S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  7176

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                             April 27, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ROSENTHAL  --  read once and referred to the
  Committee on Election Law

AN ACT on the application of the legislature of the state  of  New  York
  petitioning  the  Congress  of  the United States of America to call a
  national constitutional convention to propose amendments in  order  to
  address  concerns  raised by the decision of the United States Supreme
  Court in CITIZENS UNITED V. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 130 S.Ct. 876

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Legislative  findings  and  intent. The legislature finds
that:
  a. the first President of the United States, George Washington,  stat-
ed:    "The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to
make and to alter their Constitutions of Government.";
  b. it was the stated intention of the framers of the  Constitution  of
the  United  States of America that the Congress of the United States of
America should be "dependent  on  the  people  alone."  (James  Madison,
Federalist 52);
  c.  that  dependency has evolved from a dependency on the people alone
to a dependency on those who spend  excessively  in  elections,  through
campaigns or third-party groups;
  d.  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  ruling  in CITIZENS UNITED V.
FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 558 U.S. 310 (2010) removed restrictions  on
amount of independent political spending;
  e. the removal of those restrictions has resulted in the unjust influ-
ence  of powerful economic forces, which have supplanted the will of the
people by undermining our ability to choose  our  political  leadership,
write our own laws, and determine the fate of our state; and
  f.  Article  V  of  the United States Constitution requires the United
States Congress to call  a  convention  for  proposing  amendments  upon

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD05461-01-5

              

A. 7176                             2

application  of two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states for
the purpose of proposing amendments to the United States Constitution.
  S 2. The legislature declares that:
  a.  the  State  of  New York sees the need for a convention to propose
amendments in order to address concerns such  as  those  raised  by  the
decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  in CITIZENS UNITED V.
FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION (2010) 130 S.Ct. 876 and related  cases  and
events  including  those  occurring  long  before  or afterward or for a
substantially similar purpose, and desires that said  convention  should
be so limited; and
  b. the State of New York desires that the delegates to said convention
shall  be  comprised equally from individuals currently elected to state
and local office, or be  selected  by  election  in  each  Congressional
district for the purpose of serving as delegates, though all individuals
elected or appointed to federal office, now or in the past, be prohibit-
ed  from  serving  as delegates to the Convention, and intends to retain
the ability to restrict or expand the power of its delegates within  the
limits expressed above; and
  c. the State of New York intends that this be a continuing application
considered together with applications calling for a convention currently
pending in the 188th Massachusetts legislature as S.1727 and H.3190, the
2013-2014  Vermont  legislature  as  SJR 27 and the 2013-2014 California
legislature as AJR 1, the  97th  Michigan  legislature  as  House  Joint
Resolution  BB  and  all other passed, pending, and future applications,
the aforementioned concerns of New York notwithstanding until such  time
as  two-thirds  of  the several States have applied for a Convention and
said Convention is convened by Congress.
  S 3. Pursuant to Article V of  the  United  States  Constitution,  the
Legislature  hereby  petitions  the  United  States  Congress  to call a
Convention for the purpose of proposing Amendments to  the  Constitution
of  the  United  States  of America as soon as two-thirds of the several
States have applied for a Convention.
  S 4. The Governor of the State of New York shall  transmit  copies  of
this  act  to the President and Vice President of the United States, 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, to each Senator and  Representative
from  New  York in the Congress of the United States, to the Governor of
each State, and to the presiding officers of each  legislative  body  of
each  of  the  several States, requesting the cooperation of the several
States in issuing an application compelling Congress to call  a  conven-
tion for proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the United States
Constitution.
  S 5. This act shall take effect immediately.