By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.
This past week the Legislature did something either completely irrelevant or extremely significant.
It passed a resolution adding Arkansas to the slowly growing list of states calling for a convention to consider constitutional amendments to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit its power, and enact term limits.
The U.S. Constitution can be amended two ways under its own Article V: Congress starts the process, or the states do. The states have never succeeded in doing it.
But Arkansas became the 13th of a necessary 34 states to approve this particular resolution. This occurred after the House said yes Wednesday, and then the Senate, which had already approved it, agreed to add the names of House sponsors Thursday.
The effort is being pushed nationally by the Convention of States movement. Its argument is bolstered by the growing national debt (your share of $22 trillion: $67,000), and by the federal government being a complete mess with no fix in sight.
But we’re a long way from having a constitutional convention. Thirty-four states must approve the resolution, then Congress must call a convention, and then 38 states must approve whatever amendments the convention proposes.
Opponents fear a runaway convention, but it’s unlikely one will even occur. If one did, no amendment too radical could win agreement in 38 of these divided states of America. In fact, it’s hard to see how anything gets through the process.
Why bother, then? If the federal government won’t fix itself, the Constitution provides a way for the states to try. Perhaps if the number of participating states nears 34, Congress might be pressured to enact reforms.
Anyway, it’s done here. Now we’ll see how many other states pass their own resolutions.
Third parties
While we’re on the subject of the Legislature, here’s an update on two stories we’ve been following.
First, the bill that would make it harder for third parties to get on the ballot easily passed the House Wednesday and heads to the governor’s desk.
Under current law, any party not winning 3 percent of the vote in the previous presidential or gubernatorial election must collect 10,000 signatures. Senate Bill 163 by Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, would increase the number to 3 percent of the votes in the previous gubernatorial election. In 2020, it would be almost 26,750 signatures, a high bar.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he has not thoroughly reviewed the bill and needs to discuss it with Garner. Even if he were to veto it, the Legislature could override with a simple majority. The bill passed the House 60-20 with no debate after earlier passing the Senate 27-7.
The Libertarian Party of Arkansas’ gubernatorial candidate won 2.9 percent in 2018. Asked if the party would sue the state, LPA Chairman Dr. Michael Pakko told me, “It’s difficult to see any other way forward.”
E-cigarette taxes
Another recent column discussed enacting e-cigarette taxes, which are not taxed any more than a pack of gum is, and increasing tobacco taxes. Use of e-cigarettes is skyrocketing among young people.
House Bill 1442 by Rep. Andy Davis, Little Rock, would create a tax of 10 cents per milliliter of e-liquid sold, and it would increase the excise tax on cigarette paper. It also would increase medical marijuana taxes from 4 percent to 6 percent.
The revenues would help the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute become a National Cancer Institute-designated center.
This would increase its access to federal funds, attract physicians and scientists, and give cancer patients access to treatments that currently require an out-of-state trip. Thirty-six states have an NCI-designated center.
The bill would increase taxes, which means it faces an uphill climb.
But the policy case would be strong. It would discourage young people’s use of harmful e-cigarettes while increasing cancer treatment opportunities. Politically, Davis and the Senate sponsor, Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, have some clout this session. And the Legislature’s 20 Republican women collectively have made achieving the NCI designation a top priority.
As with the constitutional convention and a possible lawsuit by the Libertarians over that third party bill, we’ll see.
It’s avoiding the fact that it takes to states to give the Constitution “effect” according to the Federalist Papers. That’s because most federal law is administered by the states. And of course, the states don’t know or care to know the US Constitution or even the state constitution because they don’t follow it either. And neither the state legislature or the US congress CARE to know the Constitution because the PEOPLE DON’T KNOW IT OR CARE TO KNOW IT either. Congress can easily seize the convention, has announced their intent to do so with a CRS study time and again and has actually passed laws to do it. The SCOTUS has already ruled that, in 2 cases, a legislature is performing a FEDERAL FUNCTION when ratifying an amendment. If ratifying conventions are called, as is becoming the new thing with ratifying amendments, what is the function of a ratifying convention? I’ll bet that it is FEDERAL function thus the ratification convention can be called by CONGRESS and populated by THEIR choice. Article V is in the Constitution, is subject to the Congress to administer and states can only make an application and host a convention. There’s what should be and what is being practiced. Just like the Congress disobeys the Constitution for their interests and the states’ gov’ts gain from it, the convention will do nothing but increase gov’t power.
Shouldn’t you emails be focused on on issue and provide action that you will be taking, suggested actions that the reader can use and then provide specific points that need to be emphasized by the reader.