In case you missed it, West Virginia became state #18 to fully pass the Convention of States Project’s Article V resolution. The vote wasn’t even close! Our resolution passed in the House 77 yeas, 19 nays and 4 absent. The Senate passed on a voice vote.
This sounds incredibly easy. We know better.
When we attend a sporting event, concert, PTA meeting or any other event, we see the finished product. The preparation, practice, planning and organization necessary to hold a successful event is not readily known.
The West Virginia COSA Team has been working on this for nine years. The floor vote may have occurred quickly but the road to their success certainly did not! Let’s take a closer look into what happened behind the scenes for West Virginia to become state #18.
Last session, the West Virginia Speaker of the House advised our West Virginia Team to move the resolution in the Senate first. If we could pass in the Senate, the House would bring our resolution up for a floor vote quickly.
Well, the West Virginia Senate passed our resolution last session. When the West Virginia team approached the House Speaker, suddenly there were “other priorities.” As a result, the House Speaker did not follow through on his promise.
The West Virginia Team was undeterred, and they worked with the House and Senate sponsors to formulate a strategy. They worked with our lobbyist on the ground. They cultivated and relied on relationships with their legislators. The team did the basic blocking and tackling necessary for effective grassroots action. As a result of their hard work, they knew “behind the scenes” information about what needed to occur for the resolution to move forward.
Fast forward to last Friday, March 4. The West Virginia Team expected the House to bring our resolution for a floor vote. Knowing we had the votes to pass in the House, the expectation was the Senate would have a floor vote soon thereafter. Little did anyone know how quickly that would happen!
The West Virginia House began floor debate Friday morning. The typical objections and mythical claims of “runaway conventions” and “just follow the Constitution” were raised. The debate concluded and the vote was called. The resolution passed on an overwhelming, bi-partisan basis.
That’s when the magic happened.
As our Facebook first livestream wrapped up, a new development occurred. The President Pro Tem of the Senate had the resolution immediately sent to the Senate chamber. The Senate took up the resolution 15 minutes after the House had passed it. Our Facebook livestream was restarted to witness the Senate floor action. After brief discussion on the floor, the West Virginia Senate passed our resolution on a voice vote.
This was a tremendous and shockingly quick move to the final passage of our resolution. Nine years of effort and then a miracle day: in no other state has our resolution passed in both houses on the same day.
This was a result of the tireless efforts of our West Virginia Team. You might be aware a similar thing happened in Missouri. In 2016, our resolution had passed the House 105-43. We were told it would be taken up quickly in the Senate. As the 2016 session neared its close, Leadership had other issues they prioritized. A deal was made to pass those bills and not bring up our resolution.
We immediately went to work and to do everything we could to ensure that would not happen again. Thanks to the efforts of our team and House and Senate Leadership following through on their commitments, our resolution passed the following year.
These are examples of the power of the grassroots. We The People have the ability to make positive change and defend liberty. This is a task we have every day of our lives.
Join the team in your state and make a difference! Sign the Convention of States Petition today!
Brett Sterley is the State Content Writer for Convention of States Missouri.
