Title: House Bill H-3233
Original CoS Document (slug): house-bill-h-3233
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Attached File: House_Bill_H-3233_Printable_.pdf
Created: 2018-04-28 21:52:20
Updated: 2019-04-28 23:00:08
Published: 2018-04-28 20:00:00
Converted: 2025-04-14T19:30:55.130516726
House Bill H-3233
A JOINT RESOLUTION
TO MAKE APPLICATION TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES TO
CALL A CONVENTION FOR PROPOSING AMENDMENTS PURSUANT TO
ARTICLE V OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION LIMITED TO
PROPOSING AMENDMENTS THAT IMPOSE FISCAL RESTRAINTS ON THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, LIMIT THE POWER AND JURISDICTION OF THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, AND LIMIT THE TERMS OF OFFICE FOR ITS
OFFICIALS AND FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS; TO PROVIDE CERTAIN
RESERVATIONS, UNDERSTANDINGS, AND DECLARATIONS LIMITING
THE APPLICATION; AND TO PROVIDE CERTAIN SELECTION CRITERIA
FOR COMMISSIONERS AS WELL AS LIMITATIONS UPON THEIR
AUTHORITY.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. (A) The General Assembly finds:
(1) the Founders of the United States Constitution empowered state legislators to be
guardians of liberty against excessive use of power by the federal government;
(2) the federal government has created a crushing national debt through improper
and imprudent spending;
(3) the federal government has ceased to operate under a proper interpretation of the
United States Constitution;
(4) the federal government has invaded the legitimate roles of the states through the
manipulative process of federal mandates, most of which are unfunded to a great
extent; and
(5) it is the solemn duty of the states to protect the liberty of our people, particularly
for the generations to come, by proposing amendments to the United States
Constitution through a convention of the states under Article V for the purpose of
restraining these and related abuses of power.
(B) The General Assembly of South Carolina, by this joint resolution, hereby makes
application to the Congress of the United States to call an amendment convention of
the states pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution limited to proposing
amendments to the United States Constitution that impose fiscal restraints on the
federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and
limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress.
(C) This application shall constitute a continuing application for the convention of
the states pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution until the legislatures
of two-thirds of the states have made applications on the same subject and the
convention has been called by the Congress of the United States.
(D) The Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Senate shall transmit copies
of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Speaker and the Clerk of
the United States House of Representatives, the President and the Clerk of the United
States Senate, the members of the South Carolina Congressional Delegation, and the
legislatures of each of the several states, attesting to the enactment of this joint
resolution by the South Carolina General Assembly.
SECTION 2. The South Carolina General Assembly adopts this application
expressly subject to the following reservations, understandings, and declarations:
(1) an application to the Congress of the United States to call an amendment
convention of the states pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution
confers no power to Congress other than the power to call such a convention. The
power of Congress to exercise this ministerial duty consists solely of the authority to
name a reasonable time and place for the initial meeting of a convention;
(2) Congress shall perform its ministerial duty of calling an amendment convention
of the states only upon the receipt of applications for an amendment convention for
the substantially same purpose as this application from two-thirds of the legislatures
of the several states;
(3) Congress does not have the power or authority to determine any rules for the
governing of an amendment convention of the states called pursuant to Article V of
the United States Constitution. Congress does not have the power to set the number of
delegates to be sent by any state to such a convention, nor does it have the power to
name delegates to such a convention. The power to name delegates remains
exclusively within the authority of the legislatures of the several states;
(4) by definition, an amendment convention of the states means that states shall vote
on the basis of one state, one vote;
(5) a convention of the states convened pursuant to this application must be limited
to consideration of the topics specified in this joint resolution and no other. This
application is made with the express understanding that an amendment that in any
way seeks to amend, modify, or repeal any provision of the Bill of Rights shall not be
authorized for consideration at any stage. This application shall be void ab initio if
ever used at any stage to consider any change to any provision of the Bill of Rights;
(6) pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, Congress may determine
whether proposed amendments shall be ratified by the legislatures of the several states
or by special state ratification conventions. The South Carolina General Assembly
recommends that Congress select ratification by the legislatures of the several states;
and
(7) the South Carolina General Assembly may provide further instructions to its
delegates and may recall its delegates at any time for a breach of a duty or a violation
of the instructions provided.
SECTION 3. (A) Any time a convention is called pursuant to Article V of the
United States Constitution, the selection of commissioners from South Carolina to the
convention and their participation must be governed as follows:
(1) Eligible commissioners and alternates must be residents of South Carolina and
otherwise shall meet the same qualifications necessary to hold office in the South
Carolina House of Representatives. Commissioners and alternates may include
persons holding public office, except that no member of the United States House of
Representatives or Senate is eligible.
(2) The House shall select, by simple majority vote, three commissioners who meet
the eligibility requirements outlined in item (1), and the Senate shall select, by simple
majority vote, two commissioners who meet these requirements. These five
commissioners then shall nominate five additional commissioners who meet the
eligibility requirements outlined in item (1) and are not sitting members of the South
Carolina General Assembly. From these five nominated commissioners, the Speaker
of the House shall select one to serve as a commissioner, the President Pro Tempore
of the Senate shall select one to serve as a commissioner, and the other three
nominated commissioners shall serve as alternate commissioners. This total of seven
commissioners and three alternate commissioners shall constitute South Carolina's
delegation to the convention.
(3) Each commissioner and alternate shall, by oath or affirmation as provided for in
Section 26, Article III of the Constitution of South Carolina, 1895, and as a condition
of participating in the convention, agree to faithfully and impartially discharge all the
duties incumbent upon a convention commissioner, including the duty to abide by
instructions established by joint resolution of the South Carolina General Assembly
for participation in the convention and not to act outside the scope of the call for the
convention. Each commissioner and alternate shall further agree to immediately notify
the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President Pro Tempore of the Senate
if he or she believes that any South Carolina commissioner or alternate has violated
his or her oath or instructions while participating in the convention.
(4) After commissioners and alternates have been selected, the South Carolina
General Assembly by joint resolution may recall commissioners or alternates to the
convention, or appoint new commissioners or alternates.
(5) When the South Carolina General Assembly is not in session, commissioners
may be recalled pending a joint resolution by a joint legislative committee duly
authorized by the South Carolina General Assembly for that purpose. This joint
legislative committee is authorized to conduct its business via telephone or via other
forms of electronic communication.
(6) A commissioner who is recalled, disqualified, or otherwise unable to perform his
or her duties shall be replaced immediately by one of the alternates, as directed by the
joint resolution or duly authorized joint legislative committee.
(B) Prior to the convention, the General Assembly by joint resolution shall provide
instructions to the commissioners and alternates selected pursuant to subsection (A)
regarding the scope of matters they may consider and vote on at a convention,
including rules of procedure and proposed amendments. These instructions may be
changed by the South Carolina General Assembly prior to or during the course of the
convention. These instructions shall include, but are not limited to:
(1) an instruction that the South Carolina commissioners may not support any voting
rule other than the default rule whereby each state exercises one vote; and
(2) an instruction that on all voting matters at the convention, the decision of a
simple majority of the South Carolina commissioners shall constitute a single vote for
South Carolina.
(C) Should the convention adopt a voting rule other than the default rule whereby
each state exercises one vote, the authority of the South Carolina commissioners and
alternates is automatically revoked.
(D) Any vote cast by a commissioner or alternate at an Article V convention is void
that is outside the scope of:
(1) the instructions established by a joint resolution adopted under subsection (B) of
this joint resolution;
(2) the limits placed by the South Carolina General Assembly in a joint resolution
that calls for an Article V convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to the
Constitution of the United States on the subjects and amendments that may be
considered by the Article V convention; or
(3) if South Carolina was not one of the states applying for the Article V
Convention, the limits contained in the narrowest state resolution applying for the
Article V Convention.
(E) In the event that the Speaker of the House of Representatives or President Pro
Tempore of the Senate receives notice that a commissioner or alternate has violated
his or her oath or instructions, an emergency meeting of the joint legislative
committee described in item (5) of subsection (A) shall be convened within twenty-
four hours of the notification to consider recalling the commissioner or alternate in
question.
(F) Should the provisions of subsection (A) be in conflict with the rules or
procedures established by the convention, the General Assembly by joint resolution
may conform the provisions of subsection (A) to such rules or procedures.
(G) Commissioners and alternates traveling and participating in the convention shall
be paid the usual mileage, subsistence and per diem as is paid to members of state
boards, commissions, and committees to be paid equally from the approved accounts
of the South Carolina House of Representatives and the Senate.
SECTION 4. This joint resolution takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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