September 12, 2024 (#3 in series)
BE A VOLUNTEER! WHAT DO YOU DO!
HOW MUCH TIME DOES IT TAKE!
We understand that life is busy. We know that you are concerned about our country, and think it is great that people are out there trying to do something….anything to save our country.
An Article V Convention, according to the US Constitution, is the ONLY OPTION where regular people like you and I can submit proposed amendments through our state legislators and get:
- TERM LIMITS FOR CONGRESS AND OTHER FEDERAL OFFICIALS,
- MAKE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAVE FISCAL RESTRAINTS (follow a budget)
- AND REDUCE THE SIZE AND POWER OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT and bring the power back to each state.
It is “fine and dandy” that other people are trying to get our state legislators to pass a resolution for an Article V Convention. But we need help….we need YOU to become involved ….we need people who really care about saving our country to step up and do a small bit in your community.
Here are some ways you can give just a little of your time and it will make a HUGE DIFFERENCE:
Block Walking - Walking with a team to knock on doors and speak to residents in selected blocks of districts for candidates that support COS.
Phone Team (Telepatriot)- This program trains you to call petition signers to encourage COS support for candidates. We also utilize this program when our legislators need to be reminded BY THEIR CONSTITUENTS that we want them to support COS and they need to vote accordingly. (We remind people and they contact their legislators).
Writer - Hand written notes to legislators now and during the Legislative session. It costs 56 cents for a post card and 69 cents for a letter to be sent.
Event Attender - Being available to attend activities and Rallies in Helena - this shows support for Convention of States and our legislators take notice - the more people the better and the more effective we are.
Petition Signing - Allotting time to help at a booth to inform people what COS is about, collect signatures on petitions (2hrs., 4hrs, 6hrs - as little or long as you want)
Leaders - We are always looking for those who are interested and willing to hold a leadership positions.
Provide Testimony - Attend legislative session in person or by Zoom to provide testimony supporting the COS Resolution or Faithful Delegate Bill.
There are other volunteer options - we just wanted to give you an idea that you may spend minutes helping or hours helping. Please consider volunteering to help your Montana Convention of States Action team.
To get involved or more details, CLICK HERE.
Our next portion of this series will give you some ideas or what can be said to your legislators when writing a note or email to them. Handwritten notes are always more effective but ANYTHING WRITTEN from a legislators own constituent is effective, even a note of encouragement or holiday card.
Thank you everyone - Hope you have a great day. You can make a difference and we can save
our country!!!
Get INVOLVED HERE.
August 14, 2024 (#2 in series)
MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN SAVING OUR COUNTRY
This week we are reviewing the reason you put your signature on the Convention of States petition - Article V of our U.S. Constitution.
Article V of the Constitution says:
"The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses, shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of it’s equal Suffrage in the Senate."
Let's break it down into “layman” language…..Regular people like you and me THROUGH our state legislators can propose Amendments to the Constitution…
1) “WE THE PEOPLE” lead - We, as Citizens, ask our State Legislators to sponsor and support the Article V resolution.
2) This resolution MUST PASS committee and floor votes in both chambers of the MT State Legislature.
3) A convention is called when 34 States pass the RESOLUTION. The States send commissioner(s) (selected by our State Legislators) to the convention. EACH STATE GETS ONE VOTE. At the Convention, Commissioners propose, debate and vote on amendments limited to the language contained in the Resolution as approved by the Legislators.
4) Proposed amendments OUTSIDE of that agenda WOULD BE OUT OF ORDER. ONLY the amendments in the application for a Convention of the States under Article V of the Constitution of the United States are proposed, debated and voted on….this is not a free for all….and is very specific to the scope in the application submitted….nothing else.
5) When proposed amendment(s) are passed by a simple majority at the Convention, the amendment(s) are then sent back out to each of the 50 states for “Ratification”.
6) PROPOSED AMENDMENTS ONLY BECOME VALID IF RATIFIED BY 38 STATES (THREE FOURTHS OF THE STATES)- EACH STATE GETS ONE VOTE. It only takes 13 states opposing the amendment to stop a bad amendment from being ratified.
7) When 38 states ratify the amendment, then the Constitution is Amended.
(The ONLY action Congress has is to set the PLACE, DATE and TIME of the meeting)
8) The three items that have been presented on the application for a Convention for the Purpose of Proposing Amendments are:
1. IMPOSE FISCAL RESTRAINTS ON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
2. LIMIT THE POWER AND JURISDICTION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
3. SET TERM LIMITS ON CONGRESS AND FEDERAL OFFICIALS
This is not a SIMPLE process - we all need to work together to get our state legislators to pass this resolution when it comes up in session January 2025.
YOU can start NOW by contacting your state representative and senator, asking them to support an Article V Convention. Find them HERE.
We are not powerless…..we need to work together and unite and get our legislators to pass this resolution. Thank you again for listening - talk to you in a couple weeks. Have a wonderful day!!
To get more involved, please CLICK HERE.
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July 23, 2024 (#1 in series)
FELLOW MONTANANS WE NEED 3 MINUTES
OF YOUR TIME TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN SAVING
OUR COUNTRY.
From NOW until February 2025 we will be providing a short and precise email and/or text message every two weeks to help “refresh your knowledge regarding Convention of States”:
- informing you whether your legislator (in your district) supports COSA
- advising you what your Montana COS Action team is doing
- and what actions all Montanans can do to get our legislators to approve a resolution once the state legislators are in session in January 2025.
When the Montana COSA team met this summer, we brainstormed about how we can get more people involved in a small way (because we know people are busy and have plenty to do other than getting involved in another organization).
We came up with the following:
1) State legislators will listen to their OWN CONSTITUENTS in their own districts
2) We want to be more effective with our communications (both email and texts) with legislators while they are in Helena.
3) We need to refresh your knowledge of Article V of the U.S. Constitution.
4) If we provide information and knowledge (at your finger tips) NOW RATHER then after the general election, you can start notifying your own legislators (in your district) to support an Article V Convention (because they want to hear from their own constituents).
We will try our hardest to make the information short and precise. We are truly trying to help you become more knowledgeable because we need to be effective when notifying our state legislators and that is through you, their own constituents.
Of course always feel free to research and look things up yourself.
To GET MORE INVOLVED CLICK HERE
More to come....stay tuned HERE.
