Regular constitutional convention

PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION Section 1. There is established a National Convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to the United States Constitution. There is established an Office of the National Convention for the purpose of facilitating the National Convention. Congress shall make the necessary provisions for the Convention and the office. Section 2. The Convention shall be composed of delegations from the several states. Each delegation shall be composed of at least two delegates. No delegation shall have more delegates than the number of Senators and Representatives sent to Congress by the most populous state. Section 3. The Convention shall open on the first Monday after July Fourth, in the next calendar year immediately preceding a year in which a Presidential election occurs. The National Convention shall again convene at the same time in each twelfth succeeding year thereafter. The Convention shall not be held as scheduled if, during the months of August and September prior to a scheduled Convention, a majority of the several states transmit to the Office of the National Convention their requests that the Convention not occur the following July. The requirements for a proper “request” for each state shall be determined by that state’s law. Section 4. The procedure for selection of delegates for each delegation shall be determined by state law, subject to the following requirements: A. Each person serving as delegate shall have attained the age of 30 years; B. No person shall serve as delegate who has been a candidate for elective public office within seven years of the Convention to be held. C. No person shall serve as delegate who is employed by the federal government. D. No person shall serve as delegate who has derived income by influencing federal legislation, within ten years of the Convention to be held. Each state may impose further qualifications for their respective delegates. Section 5. After selection of delegates, each delegation shall meet in its respective state, and select a member of the delegation to speak for the delegation at the convention, known as the delegation legate. The identity of the delegates and the legate shall be transmitted to the office of the National Convention no later than the Fourth day of March preceding the Convention. Section 6. The Convention shall open in the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, unless, by the Fourth day of April preceding the Convention, the Office of the National Convention receives written objections to that site from a majority of the legates, which objections agree on an alternate site. Section 7. Delegations from each of a majority of all the several states, present at the Convention site, shall be sufficient to open the Convention.Section 8. The presiding officer of the National Convention shall be styled “Chair.” The Chair of the National Convention shall be a member of the federal judiciary, nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. If the Chair is vacant at the open of, or during, the Convention, any citizen can be appointed to the Chair by majority vote of the Convention. Any rules governing the Convention, regarding procedure, arrangements or credentials, shall place any authority to make final resolution of disputes with the Chair. The Chair shall not be a delegate. Section 9. For any “vote of the Convention” under this Article, each state participating in the convention shall have one vote. For each vote of the Convention, the legates shall, in accordance with the law of their respective states, determine the state’s vote, and transmit the same to the Chair of the Convention. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, no state may pass a law requiring the individual delegates to cast their votes either for or against specific proposals before the Convention. Any Constitutional amendment approved by vote of the Convention (representing a majority of the several states) shall be deposited with the Office of the National Convention. Said amendment shall be part of the Constitution when, within seven years of the Convention’s adjournment, it is ratified by the legislatures of 3/4 of the several states, or by convention or plebiscite in 3/4 thereof, whichever mode of ratification or combination thereof, as may be proposed by the National Convention. In the alternative, said amendment shall be part of the Constitution when, within seven years of the Convention’s adjournment, it is ratified by the legislatures of a majority of the several states, or by convention or plebiscite in a majority thereof, whichever mode of ratification or combination thereof, as may be proposed by the National Convention, so long as the combined populations of the states ratifying by this method constitute a majority of the population of the nation as a whole, as per the result of the last decennial census prior to the proposing Convention. Section 10. The National Convention shall remain in session no longer than the August 31 following the opening of the Convention, except by extension approved by 2/3 vote of the Convention. No extension shall increase compensation to delegates, and once the convention adjourns, it is adjourned until the next scheduled convention. Section 11. No delegate to the National Convention shall be eligible to stand for elective public office for seven years after the adjournment of the Convention in which they served. Each state shall provide compensation to its delegates in amounts as provided by Congress. No state, or subdivision thereof, nor any person or entity, may make provision for compensation to delegates, or the Convention, in addition to provisions made by Congress, other than for transportation expenses. The Office or the Chair shall publish all amendments to the Constitution ratified under Article V or this Article, along with necessary documentation supporting successful ratification. Said publication shall be reviewable by the courts of the United States, in an action commencing in the state that completed the ratification. Nothing in this Article should be construed to supplant, limit, repeal or alter Article V of the constitution, which remains in full force and effect, with the following clarifications. Any proposed amendment may set a deadline for ratification, and amendments proposed pursuant to this article automatically contain such a deadline. A state’s purported rescission of a ratifying act shall have no effect. Any application to congress by a state asking for a convention counts toward the 2/3 requirement, regardless of the wording of such request. Except for subjects herein reserved to state law, Congress shall have the power to enforce this Article by appropriate legislation, or to delegate this authority to the Office of the National Convention.

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