ACR133

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON

District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)

Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR.

District 7 (Burlington)

Assemblyman TIMOTHY J. EUSTACE

District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Diegnan

SYNOPSIS

Applies to Congress for constitutional convention to propose amendment to overturn Citizens United decision.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

As introduced.

A Concurrent Resolution applying to the Congress of the United States for the calling of a convention for the purpose of overturning the decision of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission.

Whereas, Elections should be free of the corrupting influence of excessive spending by outside interests and fair enough that any citizen can run for public office; and

Whereas, The citizens of New Jersey have shown support for clean elections through the public financing of gubernatorial candidates, the 2005 and 2007 Clean Elections pilot programs, and the successful passage of numerous State and local measures to ban the practice known as “pay to play;” and

Whereas, The United States Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010) removed restrictions on the amount of money that can be contributed to candidates for elective public office by independent organizations and corporations; and

Whereas, The removal of those restrictions has fueled the damaging influence of powerful economic forces on the political process in this country, thereby diminishing the will of the people by undermining our ability to choose our political leadership, write our own laws, and determine the fate of our country; and

Whereas, The New Jersey General Assembly and the New Jersey State Senate passed Assembly Resolution No. 86 and Senate Resolution No. 47, respectively, in the 2012-2013 legislative session; and

Whereas, Those resolutions expressed the Legislature’s “strong opposition to [the] U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission [and called] upon [the] Congress of the United States to propose amending [the] U.S. Constitution” to overturn that decision; and

Whereas, Congress has failed to propose, pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, amendments thereto that would adequately address the concerns expressed in Assembly Resolution No. 86 and Senate Resolution No. 47; and

Whereas, Article V of the United States Constitution also requires Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments thereto upon application by two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states; and

Whereas, The State of New Jersey believes there is a great need for a convention, be it proposed by Congress or called for by the several states, to propose amendments to address the concerns raised by the citizens opposed to the decision of the Supreme Court in the Citizens United decision and subsequent related cases, and believes that such a convention must be limited solely, specifically and exclusively to addressing those concerns; and

Whereas, The State of New Jersey believes that the delegates to such a convention should be selected equally from individuals currently holding State or local office, or selected by election from each Congressional district for the purpose of serving as delegates, though past or present holders of federal elective office should be prohibited from serving as convention delegates, and the State should retain the ability to restrict or expand the power of its delegates within the limits noted above; and

Whereas, The State of New Jersey intends that this be a continuing application considered together with all other applications calling for a convention currently pending in other state legislatures, and all other passed, pending, and future applications with the aforementioned concerns until two-thirds of the several states have applied for a convention and it is convened by Congress; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey (the Senate concurring):

1. The Legislature of the State of New Jersey makes application to the Congress of the United States for a convention to be called under Article V of the Constitution of the United States of America for the sole, specific and exclusive purpose of an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to overturn the decision of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission.

2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly 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, each Senator and Representative from New Jersey in the Congress of the United States, the Governor of each state, and the presiding officer of each house of each state legislature in the United States.

STATEMENT

This concurrent resolution makes application to the Congress of the United States of America for a convention to be called under Article V of the Constitution of the United States for the sole, specific and exclusive purpose of an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to overturn the decision of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission.

The resolution provides that copies of the resolution are to be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly 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, each Senator and Representative from New Jersey in the Congress of the United States, the Governor of each state, and the presiding officer of each house of each state legislature in the United States.