Open letter to all California legislators by Todd Gentry, volunteer for Convention of States California.
Members of the California State Senate and Assembly,
Upon taking office, you took an oath to support, defend, and bear true allegiance to both the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of California.
By taking this oath, you have assumed the responsibility to pass legislation that reflects the values of the citizens of the state of California within the framework of the Constitution of the United States established by the Founders.
However, your job has been made significantly more difficult over the past several decades by the actions of a federal government that has incrementally usurped power and resources belonging to the states and the people, inhibiting your ability to provide results to your constituents.
According to a study published by the California Legislative Analyst’s Office in early 2017, California ranked 42nd among the 50 states and the District of Columbia regarding the amount of federal spending per capita.
In a 2007 analysis The Tax Foundation determined that California was only receiving $0.78 in federal spending for each $1.00 in federal taxes by California residents. These inequities significantly hamper your ability as legislators to fund the initiatives that you feel are important to long-term success of the State of California.
Furthermore, initiatives are currently being undertaken by the federal government that threaten existing California state laws in areas of power that rightly belong to the states under the concept of federalism established in the Constitution of the United States.
For example, recently the federal government issued a memorandum that rescinded previous guidance which enabled states to legalize marijuana without federal intervention. This threatens the new recreational marijuana laws duly passed by the California Legislature which should rightly be an issue solely for the states to determine given the clear language of the Commerce Clause limiting Congress to the regulation of interstate commerce.
However, a U.S. Supreme Court decision (Wickard v. Filburn) twisted the meaning of this clause to essentially mean intrastate non-commerce enabling Congress to insert itself with laws governing almost any activity of U. .citizens, a direct threat to the legislative authority of state legislators.
To permanently address the issues described above, one or more amendments to the Constitution would be needed.
The amendment process is described in Article V of the Constitution of the United States. Amendments previously ratified have been sent to the states for ratification after first being approved by a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress.
However, it is entirely unrealistic to expect Congress to ever approve any amendment for ratification that would restore the original concept of federalism that would be needed since it would necessarily entail the curtailment of their own power.
This would appear to be a hopeless situation, but the Founders created a second method within Article V to initiate amendments for ratification which bypasses Congress by allowing for states to propose amendments directly via a Convention of States after two-thirds of the states pass resolutions for this purpose.
An Article V convention represents the only means within the structure of the Constitution for the states and the people to regain the power they have lost without interference from the federal government at any level.
We ask you today to consider joining us in the drafting of a resolution to call for a Convention of States as Article V describes to regain the full power entitled to you as legislators to address the needs of the citizens of the state of California.
