LRB-2332/1
JK:wlj&klm
2017 - 2018 LEGISLATURE
March 20, 2017 - Introduced by Representatives Bernier, Knodl, E. Brooks,
Duchow, Edming, Horlacher, Hutton, Jarchow, Kremer, Krug, Kuglitsch,
Kulp, Mursau, Neylon, Rohrkaste, Sanfelippo, Schraa, Spiros, Steffen,
Thiesfeldt and R. Brooks, cosponsored by Senators Kapenga, Craig, Lasee
and Stroebel. Referred to Committee on Federalism and Interstate
Relations.
AB165,1,2 1An Act to create 13.176 of the statutes; relating to: appointing delegates for
2a convention under Article V of the United States Constitution.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under Article V of the United States Constitution, upon the application of the
legislatures of at least two-thirds of the states, Congress must call a convention for
the purpose of proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Under this bill, if
Congress calls such a convention, the legislature and the governor must appoint
seven delegates to attend the convention as representatives of this state.
Under this bill, if a delegate votes at the convention to consider or approve an
unauthorized amendment, the delegate may be immediately dismissed by the
approval of a majority of the other appointed delegates for this state and replaced
with a new appointee. The bill defines an “unauthorized amendment" as an
amendment that is outside the scope of the application or the call of the convention.
The bill also requires the legislature to create a joint committee of
correspondence that is responsible for communications with delegates to the
convention. The delegates are to presume that the committee approves any proposed
adoption or modification of rules governing the convention if the committee does not
render a decision on the proposed adoption or modification of such rules within six
hours of receiving notice from the delegates.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB165,1
1Section 1. 13.176 of the statutes is created to read:
AB165,2,2 213.176 Article V convention. (1) In this section:
AB165,2,53 (a) “Article V application" means a joint resolution, as authorized under article
4V of the U.S. Constitution, adopted by both houses of the legislature applying to
5Congress for an article V convention for proposing amendments.
AB165,2,96 (b) “Article V convention" means a convention called by Congress upon
7application of the legislatures of at least two-thirds of the states for the purpose of
8proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as authorized by article V of the
9U.S. Constitution.
AB165,2,1110 (c) “Delegate" means an individual appointed under sub. (2) to represent the
11state of Wisconsin at an article V convention.
AB165,2,1412 (d) “Unauthorized amendment" means a proposed amendment to the U.S.
13Constitution that is outside the scope of the subject matter of the article V application
14or the call of the article V convention.
AB165,2,17 15(2) (a) If, as a result of an article V application, Congress calls an article V
16convention, the legislature and the governor shall appoint 7 delegates to attend the
17convention as follows:
AB165,2,1818 1. The speaker of the assembly shall appoint 3 members of the assembly.
AB165,2,1919 2. The president of the senate shall appoint 3 members of the senate.
AB165,2,2020 3. The governor shall appoint 1 member of either the assembly or the senate.
AB165,2,2221 (b) The legislature and the governor shall appoint 5 alternate delegates to
22attend the convention as follows:
AB165,2,2323 1. The speaker of the assembly shall appoint 2 members of the assembly.
AB165,2,2424 2. The president of the senate shall appoint 2 members of the senate.
AB165,2,2525 3. The governor shall appoint 1 member of either the assembly or the senate.
AB165,3,2
1(c) Any vacancy in the delegation appointed under par. (a) shall be filled by an
2alternate delegate appointed under par. (b) within 24 hours.
AB165,3,43 (d) The term for each delegate begins with the call of the article V convention
4and ends on the day of the final adjournment of the convention.
AB165,3,6 5(3) (a) No delegate appointed under sub. (2) may vote at an article V convention
6to consider or approve an unauthorized amendment.
AB165,3,117 (b) Any delegate voting in violation of par. (a) may be immediately dismissed
8as a delegate by the approval of a majority of the other delegates appointed under
9sub. (2). No more than one delegate at a time may be dismissed under this
10paragraph. If a delegate is dismissed, another delegate may not be dismissed until
11a new delegate has been appointed to replace the first dismissed delegate.
AB165,3,1512 (c) The speaker of the assembly, president of the senate, and governor shall
13each maintain a list of alternate appointees, in addition to the alternate delegates
14appointed under sub. (2) (b), in case a delegate is dismissed as provided under par.
15(b).
AB165,3,18 16(4) The secretary of state shall certify in writing to the article V convention the
17identity of the delegates appointed under sub. (2) or dismissed under sub. (3) (b) and
18the filling of any delegation vacancy within 24 hours.
AB165,4,5 19(5) After Congress calls for an article V convention, the legislature shall create
20a joint committee of correspondence responsible for communications with the
21delegates to the convention. The delegates shall direct all communications with the
22legislature to the joint committee of correspondence, including the proposed
23adoption or modification of the rules governing the convention. If the joint committee
24of correspondence does not render a decision on any proposed adoption or
25modification of rules governing the article V convention within 6 hours of receiving

1notification from the delegates, the delegates shall presume that the committee
2approves the proposed adoption or modification of such rules. For the purpose of
3determining a quorum of the committee necessary to transact business, a committee
4member who participates in a meeting of the committee by telephone or by other
5means of telecommunication or electronic communications is considered present.
AB165,4,66 (End)
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