As members of Virginia’s Convention of States team, at any given time we perform one of four critical actions, captured in the mnemonic TERM: Train, Engage, Recruit, Mobilize.
This Friday is Citizen Activist Day in Richmond (details here). We will mobilize our team members, train new members, engage legislators and their staffs, all while recruiting new supporters.
But this day TERM will have no limits. You can participate no matter from where.
Our objective is to gain commitments of support from legislators for SJ 268, the Faithful Commissioner Resolution.
Whether you can attend events in Richmond on Friday or not, all COS supporters can help by asking their delegate and state senator (via email and phone calls) to support SJ 268.
Here are the key themes to share with your legislators:
The U.S. Constitution incorporated the Framers’ conviction that state legislators like you are more attuned and responsive to voters than those wielding power in Washington, D.C.If attending Citizen Activist Day events in Richmond, please let us know here.
Over many decades, self-interested politicians, bureaucrats, and justices have eviscerated the Framers’ carefully crafted checks and balances on DC’s elites.
One consequence is runaway national debt. Currently about $180,000 per taxpayer, the debt is double what it was just ten years ago with no end in sight to its continued rapid growth. For the sake of our nation’s future, all citizens should join us in saying, “Enough!”
But state legislators like you can and should do more. The Framers ensured that you alone could stop dangerously irresponsible federal actions. They did this through Article V which empowers state delegations to propose constitutional amendments at a "convention of states," or COS, which are then sent back to the states for ratification.
COS Project is a nationwide effort to rein in D.C. by reestablishing constitutional checks on its self-dealing elites.
To propose amendments, two-thirds of state legislatures (that’s 34 states) must first call for an amendment-proposing COS. Twelve states already have. Dozens more will consider the resolution this year.
An objection we hear to a COS is that those sent to represent us may “go rogue.”
The Faithful Commissioner Resolution, SJ 268, is our response. This commonsense measure that clarifies and provides enforcement mechanisms for the scope of authority held by those the General Assembly chooses to represent it at a COS. It details the means of selecting, empowering, and if necessary, replacing such persons.
We are asking all state legislators to help regain control of Washington before it’s too late. Will you make clear to your concerned constituents that this a priority now, in 2019, by supporting SJ 268?
