The ⅔ majority voting requirement places an unfair burden on Kansas’ participation in the amendment process of the US Constitution. No other state legislature has a similar restriction on their application process. The rule prevents Kansans from equal participation in the amendment process.
The Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment prevents states from having laws that create classes of citizens with different rights. House Rule 2707 treats all Kansans equally but it makes all Kansans second class citizens of the United States, unable to participate equally with other Americans.
The founders made the amendment process arduous by requiring 2/3 majorities of both the House and Senate for Congress to propose amendments. Alternatively the legislatures of 2/3 of the states are required to call a convention for proposing amendments. The hurdle is set high enough in Article V. It is unlikely that the founders expected or intended that a state legislature would obstruct the process.
Obstructing Kansas' participation in applying to have an amendment convention denies all Americans the benefit of Kansas conservatism being brought to bear at this time of dire need to rein in federal overreach and corruption. Congress is passing another omnibus spending blowout with every liberal policy change the left could not otherwise pass. There are enough goodies for everyone to blow past the filibuster! We have no recourse because the power given to Congress in our Constitution was intended to be exercised by people of integrity and honor. The nation is being destroyed from the inside while Kansas can only watch.
If a popular amendment was proposed tomorrow the Kansas Legislature could not ratify it because House Rule 2707 would likely prevent the legislature from reaching the majority required. The rule prevents Kansas from equal participation in the amendment process as a sovereign state.
Article 2 § 13 of the Kansas Constitution does not apply. The federal court's decision in Dyer v. Blair, 390 F. Supp. 1291 (N.D. Ill. 1975) concluded that the authority of a state legislature ratifying an amendment to the federal constitution is derived from the federal constitution and not a state constitution. By virtue of the supremacy clause in Article VI it is clear that the legislature's ratifying function may not be abridged by a state. Following this conclusion it may be confidently presumed that the Kansas Legislature’s function in applying to have a convention for proposing amendments may not be similarly abridged by the Kansas Constitution. The governing law over amending our US Constitution is the US Constitution. It is only amended from within the context of itself. The authority of the Kansas Legislature to apply to call an amendment convention comes solely from Article V.
The 2/3 majority requirement was likely added to House Rule 2707 when someone realized that the Kansas Constitution has no authority in this matter.
The current rule is the fruit of a poisonous tree. The poisonous tree doctrine ordinarily refers to criminal evidence acquired without due process. While Article 2 § 13 was legally adopted the process was far from transparent. The consequences of the amendment were not publicized or explained to voters. The ballot question did not highlight or otherwise reveal the insertion of the ⅔ majority voting requirement. The official publication of the ballot question from the Parsons Sun from October 1974 (copy below) shows just how the question was presented to the public before the election and how it appeared on the ballot. Kansas voters were not advised that a Yes vote on the question would result in the dilution of their authority to participate in the amendment process. Such a question would have never passed.
After the rule is changed the Kansas Legislature can pass the resolution required to apply to have an amendment convention. When that is done our COS grassroots army can pivot to line up with our conservative legislators to fight for school choice, tax reform, and other conservative measures. This is what the COS grassroots is doing in passed states like Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Florida, Nebraska...
We don't expect to ride off into the sunset after Kansas applies to have an amendment convention. This is not the end, it is the beginning!
Contact your state representative and ask them to tell House leaders they will support changing House Rule 2707.
