The New York State Senate

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1070
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 6, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sens. KRUEGER, BIAGGI, BOYLE, COMRIE, GAUGHRAN, GIANARIS,
   GOUNARDES,  HOYLMAN,  JACKSON,  MAYER,  SALAZAR,  SANDERS,  SEPULVEDA,
   SERRANO,  SKOUFIS, STAVISKY, THOMAS -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
 
 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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00723-01-1

 S. 1070                             2
 
   f.  Article  V  of  the United States Constitution requires the United
 States Congress to call  a  convention  for  proposing  amendments  upon
 application  of two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states for
 the purpose of proposing amendments to the United States Constitution.
   § 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 passed in
 the  2013-2014  Vermont  Legislature  as R-454; the 2013-2014 California
 Legislature as Concurrent Resolution No. 1, Chapter 77; the  98th  Illi-
 nois General Assembly as SJR 42; the 2014-2015 New Jersey Legislature as
 SCR  132; the 2015-2016 Rhode Island Legislature as HR 7670 and SR 2589;
 and all other passed, pending, and future applications until  such  time
 as  two-thirds of the several states have applied for a convention for a
 similar purpose and said convention is convened by Congress.
   § 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.
   § 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.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.