LRBs0068/1
JK:klm
2017 - 2018 LEGISLATURE
ASSEMBLY SUBSTITUTE AMENDMENT 1,
TO ASSEMBLY BILL 165
May 16, 2017 - Offered by Representative Bernier.
AB165-ASA1,1,2 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
substitute amendment, if Congress calls such a convention, the legislature and the
governor must appoint nine delegates to attend the convention as representatives of
this state, but only after the legislature has adopted a joint resolution applying to
Congress for an Article V convention.
Under this substitute amendment, if a delegate votes or takes any other action
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 substitute
amendment defines an “unauthorized amendment" as an amendment that is outside
the scope of the application or the call of the convention.
The substitute amendment 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. If the joint committee of
correspondence does not render a decision on any proposed final amendment within
six hours of receiving notification from the delegates, the delegates shall presume
that the committee determined that the amendment is not an unauthorized
amendment and may vote on the proposed final amendment. If the joint committee
of correspondence decides within the six-hour period that a proposed final
amendment is an unauthorized amendment, the delegates may not vote on the
amendment and may not participate further in the convention.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB165-ASA1,1 1Section 1. 13.176 of the statutes is created to read:
AB165-ASA1,2,2 213.176 Article V convention. (1) In this section:
AB165-ASA1,2,43 (a) “Alternate delegate” means an individual appointed under sub. (2) (b) to fill
4a vacancy in the delegation appointed under sub. (2) (a).
AB165-ASA1,2,75 (b) “Article V application" means a joint resolution, as authorized under article
6V of the U.S. Constitution, adopted by both houses of the Wisconsin legislature
7applying to Congress for an article V convention for proposing amendments.
AB165-ASA1,2,118 (c) “Article V convention" means a convention called by Congress upon
9application of the legislatures of at least two-thirds of the states for the purpose of
10proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as authorized by article V of the
11U.S. Constitution.
AB165-ASA1,2,1312 (d) “Delegate" means an individual appointed under sub. (2) (a) to represent
13the state of Wisconsin at an article V convention.
AB165-ASA1,2,1614 (e) “Unauthorized amendment" means a proposed amendment to the U.S.
15Constitution that is outside the scope of the subject matter of the article V
16application.
AB165-ASA1,3,3
1(2) (a) If Congress calls an article V convention, the legislature and the
2governor shall appoint 9 delegates to attend the convention as follows, but only after
3the legislature has passed an article V application:
AB165-ASA1,3,44 1. The speaker of the assembly shall appoint 3 members of the assembly.
AB165-ASA1,3,55 2. The president of the senate shall appoint 3 members of the senate.
AB165-ASA1,3,66 3. The governor shall appoint 1 member of either the assembly or the senate.
AB165-ASA1,3,77 4. The minority leader of the assembly shall appoint 1 member of the assembly.
AB165-ASA1,3,88 5. The minority leader of the senate shall appoint 1 member of the senate.
AB165-ASA1,3,109 (b) The legislature and the governor shall appoint 6 alternate delegates to
10attend the convention as follows:
AB165-ASA1,3,1111 1. The speaker of the assembly shall appoint 2 members of the assembly.
AB165-ASA1,3,1212 2. The president of the senate shall appoint 2 members of the senate.
AB165-ASA1,3,1313 3. The governor shall appoint 1 member of either the assembly or the senate.
AB165-ASA1,3,1514 4. The minority leader of the assembly and the minority leader of the senate
15shall appoint 1 member of the assembly or of the senate.
AB165-ASA1,3,2216 (c) Any vacancy in the delegation appointed under par. (a) shall be filled by an
17alternate delegate appointed under par. (b) within 24 hours after the vacancy occurs.
18Any vacancy in the alternate delegation appointed under par. (b) shall be filled by
19an alternate appointee from the list maintained under sub. (3) (c) within 24 hours
20after the vacancy occurs. If a delegate or an alternate delegate is dismissed or
21vacates his or her appointment for any reason, the person who made the original
22appointment shall appoint the replacement of the delegate or alternate delegate.
AB165-ASA1,3,2423 (d) The term for each delegate begins with the call of the article V convention
24and ends on the day of the final adjournment of the convention.
AB165-ASA1,4,3
1(3) (a) No delegate appointed under sub. (2) (a) may vote or take any other
2action at an article V convention to consider or approve an unauthorized
3amendment.
AB165-ASA1,4,104 (b) If any delegate votes or takes any other action in violation of par. (a), the
5other delegates, at the request of any one delegate, may convene to consider
6removing the delegate voting in violation of par. (a) and may immediately dismiss
7that delegate by the approval of a majority of the other delegates appointed under
8sub. (2) (a). No more than one delegate at a time may be dismissed under this
9paragraph. If a delegate is dismissed, another delegate may not be dismissed until
10a new delegate has been appointed to replace the first dismissed delegate.
AB165-ASA1,4,1411 (c) The speaker of the assembly, president of the senate, minority leader of the
12assembly, minority leader of the senate, and governor shall each maintain a list of
13alternate appointees, in addition to the alternate delegates appointed under sub. (2)
14(b), in case a delegate is dismissed as provided under par. (b).
AB165-ASA1,4,18 15(4) The chief clerk of the assembly and chief clerk of the senate shall jointly
16certify in writing to the article V convention the identity of the delegates appointed
17under sub. (2) or dismissed under sub. (3) (b) and the filling of any delegation vacancy
18within 24 hours after the appointment or dismissal or the filling of a vacancy.
AB165-ASA1,4,23 19(5) (a) After Congress calls for an article V convention, the legislature shall
20create a joint committee of correspondence responsible for communications with the
21delegates to the convention. The joint committee of correspondence shall be
22comprised of 6 members appointed as follows, except that no delegate may be
23appointed to the committee:
AB165-ASA1,4,2424 1. The speaker of the assembly shall appoint 2 members of the assembly.
AB165-ASA1,4,2525 2. The president of the senate shall appoint 2 members of the senate.
AB165-ASA1,5,1
13. The minority leader of the assembly shall appoint 1 member of the assembly.
AB165-ASA1,5,22 4. The minority leader of the senate shall appoint 1 member of the senate.
AB165-ASA1,5,73 (b) 1. The delegates shall direct all communications with the legislature to the
4joint committee of correspondence. Before any delegate may vote on a proposed
5adoption or modification of the rules governing the convention or any proposed final
6amendment, the delegates shall communicate with the joint committee of
7correspondence regarding any such proposal.
AB165-ASA1,5,168 2. If the joint committee of correspondence does not render a decision on any
9proposed adoption or modification of rules governing the article V convention within
106 hours of receiving notification from the delegates, the delegates shall presume that
11the committee approves the proposed adoption or modification of such rules. If the
12joint committee of correspondence decides within the 6-hour period against the
13adoption or modification of the rules governing the convention, the delegates shall
14vote against the adoption or modification of the rules. If the adoption or modification
15of the rules takes effect regardless of the disapproval of the joint committee and the
16delegates, the delegates may not participate further in the convention.
AB165-ASA1,6,217 3. If the joint committee of correspondence does not render a decision on any
18proposed final amendment within 6 hours of receiving notification from the
19delegates, the delegates shall presume that the committee determined that the
20amendment is not an unauthorized amendment and may vote on the proposed final
21amendment. If the joint committee of correspondence decides within the 6-hour
22period that the proposed final amendment is an unauthorized amendment, the
23delegates may not vote on the amendment and may not participate further in the
24convention. If the joint committee of correspondence decides within the 6-hour

1period that the proposed final amendment is within the scope of the subject matter
2of the article V application, the delegates may vote on the amendment.
AB165-ASA1,6,63 (c) For the purpose of determining a quorum of the committee necessary to
4transact business, a committee member who participates in a meeting of the
5committee by telephone or by other means of telecommunication or electronic
6communications is considered present.
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