Some think that the idea of using Article V to call a convention for proposing Amendments to the United States Constitution as a new movement in Wyoming. Of course, it is not, as Article V is in the original Constitution ratified just over a hundred years before Wyoming became a state.
Wyoming has a long history of calling for reforms using the convention of states to propose amendments process. In fact, there was zero fear of this process prior to the 1980’s corresponding to the leftists inserting this fear into the conservative circles.
Here is a list of nine efforts to call a convention of states to propose amendments to the US Constitution prior to conservatives latching on to caution letter from one of the authors of Roe v Wade:
February 23, 1939 - House Joint Memorial No. 6 – application to call a convention of states to repeal the 16th Amendment (Income Tax)
February 26, 1959 - House Joint Resolution No. 4 – application to call a convention of states to repeal the income, estate, and gift taxes AND to prohibit the federal government from engaging in business in competition with WE THE PEOPLE
February 21, 1961 - House Joint Resolution No. 7 – application to call a convention of states to propose a Balanced Budget Amendment
February 9, 1963 - House Joint Memorial No. 13 – Prohibit the federal government from interfering with redistricting or apportionment within each state for the purpose of the state legislature
February 14, 1963 - Senate Joint Resolution No. 4 – application to call a convention of states to propose an amendment to provide a Court of the Union.
February 15, 1963 - House Joint Memorial No. 14 – application to call a convention of states to propose an amendment to Article V of the Constitution (to make the process easier!)
February 14, 1975 - House Joint Resolution No. 4 – application to call a convention of states to propose an amendment that would prohibit Congress, the President, or any federal agency from withholding or withdrawing federal funds as a means of implementing federal policies (mandates, etc)
February 17, 1977 - House Joint Resolution No. 12 – application to call a convention of states to propose a Balanced Budget Amendment
February 28, 1979 - Senate Joint Resolution No. 4 – application to call a convention of states to propose a Balanced Budget Amendment tied to the Consumer Price Index, population on a per capita basis.
June 22, 1988 – Letter from Chief Justice Warren Burger (activist leftist jurist that signed on to Roe v Wade) that warned conservatives in a letter about the dangers of using Article V convention process. (21 states had already applied to Congress to call a convention of states to overturn Roe)
Between 1988 and 2009, the efforts mostly laid still, and the Article V convention process largely was forgotten and the left seized upon the opportunity to find dupes to listen to their nonsense. This led to the rescission of all the above calls for a convention on March 3, 2009 with House Joint Resolution No. 7.
In 2010, legal scholar, Professor Robert Natelson, began his deep dive into the convention process in Article V and sparked a revival in understanding the logistics and actual history of the convention process.
In 2013, talk show host, Mark Levin, wrote his book the “Liberty Amendments”. This book brought the effort once again to the national spotlight. The same year, Michael Farris approached Mark Meckler with the idea of calling a convention for proposing amendments combining the previous efforts under a combined application. The two co-founded Convention of States almost simultaneously (without prior knowledge) with the release of Levin’s bestseller.
A revival in the history and understanding of the Article V convention process is ongoing, but it is a constant educational struggle with the fake history and misinformation related to process laid out right in the Constitution. Here are the modern efforts to get Wyoming on board with this process:
2015:
· House Joint Resolution No. 4: Balanced Budget Amendment (failed)
· Senate Joint Resolution No. 4: Convention of States (failed)
2017:
· House Joint Resolution No. 1: Convention of States (failed)
· House Joint Resolution No. 2: Balanced Budget (passed)
· House Joint Resolution No. 3: Single Subject Amendment (failed)
· Senate Joint Resolution No. 5: Countermand Amendment (failed)
2018:
· House Joint Resolution No. 3: Single Subject Amendment (failed)
· House Joint Resolution No. 10: Convention of States (failed)
2019:
· House Joint Resolution No. 7: Rescind the application to call a convention to propose a Balanced Budget (failed)
· Senate Joint Resolution No. 4: Convention of States (failed)
2020:
· House Joint Resolution No. 5: Rescind the application to call a convention to propose a Balanced Budget (failed)
2021:
· Senate Joint Resolution No. 2: Convention of States (failed)
2022:
· House Joint Resolution No. 2: Convention of States (failed)
One thing is clear, Wyoming is getting tired of the out of control federal government. It is time to dust off our Constitution, and use the provision in it to fight back within the confines of the document.
The Framers of the Constitution were brilliant, and you cannot profess to be a constitutionalist without believing in the document's remedies and processes. What are we waiting for?
Clearly our Wyoming forefathers were not afraid of using the Constitutional provision in Article V to call a convention. They knew they had to fight back against the Progressives in Washington, D.C. Those Progressives were shoving the New Deal, the Income Tax, and other big government programs down their throats...sound familiar?
The solution will never come from Washington, D.C. The federal system is broken. If anyone is fearful of a convention of states, they only need to look at Washington, D.C. to see everything they should be fearful of. We must join the states together to fight this tyranny about using the constitutional provision for just a time like this.
