Freedom, Federalism, and Fundamental Rights (F3)
A. Overview
The mission for Convention of States is to, “Build an engaged army of self-governing grassroots activists.” While our main goal is to pass our resolution calling for a Convention of States to propose amendments to reign in our Federal government. Another goal is to have our grassroots army be the driving force in the political and cultural narrative across Hawaii, by engaging with our local (County) and State elected officials, and participating in the legislative process, because “All politics is local.”
The F3 campaign is COS’s first step to move our grassroots army into engaging at the local and State level by developing a strategy and using COS resources to support or oppose legislative actions that infringe or improve our Freedom, Federalism, or Fundamental Rights (F3).
We all know that every legislative session in Hawaii there are hundreds of bills that will infringe on our Freedom, our Fundamental Rights, and Federalism. In 2023 there were 3,132 proposed legislation submitted, but only 274 became law. Additionally, we have a biennium legislature which means in every odd year proposed legislation that doesn't become law are carried over to the next year and are eligible for reconsideration. This means even before the legislature opens on January 17th, we already have 2,858 proposed legislation pending.
B. F3s
| 1. Freedom - Proposed legislation or ordinances that infringe on our freedoms as outlined in the U.S. Bill of Rights or Hawaii State Constitution, Article I Bill of Rights. |
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| 2. Federalism - Proposed legislation or ordinances that subvert the definition of Federalism, including State and County governments. |
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| 3. Fundamental Rights - Proposed legislation or ordinances that infringe on our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness and property per Hawaii State Constitution, Article I, Section 2 Rights of Individuals. |
C. Subject Areas - Under F3 we will focus and monitor Proposed legislation or ordinances in the following specific subjects:
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D. Procedure
| 1. Using the training provided in our Learn, Engage, Persist specifically, Using the Legislative Website, we will request our supporters to create an account and help us identify F3 proposed legislation or ordinances in the specific subject areas. |
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| 2. Submit your recommendations for F3 proposed legislation or ordinance HERE. |
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| 3. Our State team leaders will select proposed legislation or ordinances for consideration using the following criteria: |
| a. Proposed legislation or ordinances to support: (1) Relates to the core principles of federalism; (2) It involves the rights of citizens to govern themselves (freedom); (3) Directly involves civil liberties or fundamental rights; and (4) High probability of passing. |
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| b. Proposed legislation or ordinances to oppose: (1) In contradiction to: (a) The core principles of federalism; (b) Significant negative impact on the rights of citizens to govern themselves (freedom); (c) Directly involves civil liberties or fundamental rights; and (d) High probability of passing. |
| 4. Once we select proposed legislation or ordinances to engage on, we will request approval from COS Legal. |
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| 5. Upon approval we will monitor the progress of the proposed F3 legislation and ordinances: |
| a. State Legislation - Through the legislative process to the First Crossover (March 7th) using Legiscan. Advising our supporters when to submit hearing testimony. |
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| b. County Ordinances - Through the county process using COS Hawaii F3 County Report. |
