LRB-3207/1
CMH:klm
2015 - 2016 LEGISLATURE
September 28, 2015 - Introduced by Representatives Pope, Sargent, Ohnstad,
Subeck, Sinicki, C. Taylor, Hebl, Zepnick, Hintz, Goyke, Genrich, Kahl and
Mason, cosponsored by Senators C. Larson, Lassa, L. Taylor and Vinehout.
Referred to Committee on Assembly Organization.
AJR67,1,2 1Relating to: Wisconsin Legislative Resolution to Restore Free and Fair Elections in
2the United States.
AJR67,1,53 Whereas, George Washington, the first president of the United States, stated,
4"The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their
5Constitutions of Government"; and
AJR67,1,86 Whereas, it was the stated intention of the framers of the Constitution of the
7United States of America that the Congress of the United States of America should
8be "dependent on the people alone" (James Madison, Federalist 52); and
AJR67,1,119 Whereas, that dependency has evolved from a dependency on the people alone
10to a dependency on those who spend excessively in elections, through campaigns, or
11through third-party groups; and
AJR67,1,1412 Whereas, the United States Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal
13Election Commission
, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), removed restrictions on amounts of
14independent political spending; and
AJR67,2,4
1Whereas, the removal of those restrictions has resulted in the unjust influence
2of powerful economic forces, which have supplanted the will of the people by
3undermining our ability to choose our political leadership, write our own laws, and
4determine the fate of our state; and
AJR67,2,85 Whereas, Article V of the United States Constitution requires the United
6States Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments upon application of
7two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states for the purpose of proposing
8amendments to the Constitution; and
AJR67,2,149 Whereas, the State of Wisconsin sees the need for a convention to propose
10amendments in order to address concerns such as those raised by the decision of the
11United States Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission,
12(2010) 130 S. Ct. 876, and related cases and events, including those occurring long
13before or afterward or for a substantially similar purpose, and desires that said
14convention should be so limited; and
AJR67,2,2115 Whereas, the State of Wisconsin desires that the delegates to said convention
16shall be comprised equally of individuals currently elected to state and local office,
17or be selected by election, in each congressional district for the purpose of serving as
18delegates, though all individuals elected or appointed to federal office, now or in the
19past, be prohibited from serving as delegates to the convention, and intends to retain
20the ability to restrict or expand the power of its delegates within the limits expressed
21above; and
AJR67,3,422 Whereas, the State of Wisconsin intends that this be a continuing application
23considered together with applications calling for a convention passed in the 2013-14
24Vermont legislature as R454, the 2013-14 California legislature as Resolution
25Chapter 77, the 98th Illinois General Assembly as Senate Joint Resolution No. 42,

1the 2014-15 New Jersey legislature as SCR 132, and all other passed, pending, and
2future applications, the aforementioned concerns of Wisconsin notwithstanding,
3until such time as two-thirds of the several states have applied for a convention and
4said convention is convened by Congress; now, therefore, be it
AJR67,3,10 5Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the people of the
6State of Wisconsin, speaking through its legislature, and pursuant to Article V of the
7United States Constitution, hereby petition the United States Congress to call a
8Convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to the Constitution of the
9United States of America as soon as two-thirds of the several states have applied for
10a convention; and, be it further
AJR67,3,22 11Resolved, That the chief clerk of the Wisconsin Assembly shall transmit copies
12of this resolution to the president of the United States; the vice president of the
13United States in his capacity as presiding officer of the United States Senate and
14addressed to him at Suite S-212, U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, DC 20510; the
15Speaker of the United States House of Representatives; the minority leader of the
16United States House of Representatives; the president pro tempore of the United
17States Senate; each senator and representative from Wisconsin in the Congress of
18the United States with the respectful request that the full and complete text of this
19resolution be printed in the Congressional Record; the governor of each state; and the
20presiding officers of each legislative body of each of the several states, requesting the
21cooperation of the states in issuing an application compelling Congress to call a
22convention for proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the U.S. Constitution.
AJR67,3,2323 (End)
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