The Indiana Senate today approved a legislative package to exert states' constitutional rights and place a check on federal government overreach. The legislation, put together by Indiana Senate President Pro-Tem David Long, includes a joint resolution exercising Indiana's ability under Article V of the U.S. Constitution to call for a “convention for proposing amendments” to the Constitution, specifically confined to the topics of limiting Congress' power to tax and regulate commerce. The Senate also passed two companion bills, also authored by Long, that outline the process for selecting Indiana's delegates to an Article V amendments convention and strictly limit the duties and authority such delegates would have. The legislation now moves on the House.
Article V of the U.S. Constitution says a state-led convention for proposing amendments will take place whenever two-thirds of the states, meaning at least 34 states, apply to Congress to call such a convention, and any amendments approved by the convention would then require ratification by three-fourths of the states, or at least 38 states, to be added to the constitution.
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