What does it take to pass an amendment to the constitution?

[LegisBrief] Amending the U.S. Constitution

By Brenda Erickson | Vol . 25, No. 30 / August 2017

Electric current efforts by some country legislatures and other groups to amend the U.S. Constitution take brought forth questions about the procedure for doing so. The Founding Fathers, in crafting the Constitution, believed information technology should not be like shooting fish in a barrel to improve the nation's founding certificate and principles.

Authority to Amend the U.S. Constitution

Article V of the U.s.a. Constitution outlines bones procedures for constitutional amendment.

1. Congress may submit a proposed ramble amendment to the states, if the proposed amendment linguistic communication is approved by a ii-thirds vote of both houses.
2. Congress must call a convention for proposing amendments upon application of the legislatures of two-thirds of usa (i.e., 34 of 50 states).
3. Amendments proposed by Congress or convention become valid only when ratified by the legislatures of, or conventions in, 3-fourths of u.s. (i.e., 38 of l states).

Amendments Proposed by Congress

To date, Congress has submitted 33 amendment proposals to us, 27 of which were ratified. The 27^thursday Amendment, which prevents members of Congress from granting themselves pay raises during a current session, was ratified in 1992—202 years after information technology was kickoff submitted to united states of america.

The post-obit steps must be completed for an subpoena proposed past Congress to exist added to the U.s. Constitution.\

Stride 1. Passage past Congress. Proposed amendment language must be approved by a two-thirds vote of both houses.

Step 2. Notification of u.s.a.. The national archivist sends notification and materials to the governor of each state.

Step 3. Ratification by three-fourths of the states. Ratification of the subpoena language adopted by Congress is an up-or-downward vote in each legislative chamber. A country legislature cannot change the language. If it does, its ratification is invalid. A governor's signature on the ratification nib or resolution is not necessary.

Step iv. Tracking state deportment. Proposed amendments must be ratified by three-fourths of the states in society to take effect. Congress may set a time limit for state action. The official count is kept by Office of the Federal Register at the National Archives. Legislatures must return specific materials to show proof of ratification.

Pace five. Announcement. When the requisite number of states ratify a proposed subpoena, the archivist of the Usa proclaims information technology equally a new amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Actual certification is published immediately in the Federal Register and eventually in the U.s.a. Statutes-at-Big.

State legislatures ofttimes call upon Congress to advise ramble amendments. While these calls may bring some political pressure to bear, Congress is under no ramble obligation to respond. The U.S. Constitution does non incorporate a provision requiring Congress to submit a proposed subpoena upon request by some requisite number of states.

Amendment past Constitutional Convention

In add-on to ramble amendments proposed by Congress, states have the pick of petitioning Congress to call a constitutional convention. Legislatures in two-thirds of states must agree, however. While the convention process has withal to exist triggered, efforts to do so are not new. In fact, they may be "as former as the republic." Unofficial sources report convention applications beingness filed as early every bit 1789.

Interest in a U.S. constitutional convention has peaked and waned several times over the decades. In the early 1900s, direct election of senators was a hot topic. In the 1940s and 1950s, federal taxing ability was the focus of many applications. Two problems came shut to triggering conventions during the 1960s to 1990s—apportionment and a balanced federal budget.

The current wave of interest began effectually 2010. Its focus is non a single issue nor is it being driven by ane organisation. Various groups are pushing their viewpoints—exist they conservative, liberal, populist or progressive—and are urging action. On the 1 hand, legislation calls for a convention on a broad array of topics, such every bit limiting dominance of the federal government, balanced federal budget, campaign finance reform, congressional term limits or federal debt. On the other hand, some legislation proposes to rescind previous calls for a convention.

The volume of legislation introduced in country legislatures illustrates recent interest.

• 2011—78 bills or resolutions
• 2012—40 bills or resolutions
• 2013—62 bills or resolutions
• 2014—66 bills or resolutions
• 2015—65 bills or resolutions
• 2016—89 bills or resolutions
• 2017 (through July 12, 2017)—120 bills or resolutions

It is difficult to predict whether current efforts will lead to a ramble convention. And since an Article 5 convention has never been held, questions are being raised nearly when and how this may happen:

• Does someone officially track convention applications?
• Has an official listing of the applications been created?
• What constitutes an official application by a state legislature?
• What is the proper procedure for enacting and submitting state legislative applications?
• Must the language of the states' applications exist identical?
• Must the applications be made be fabricated within a specific or relatively close timeframe?
• May a legislature rescind its own application?
• May a subsequent legislature rescind an application submitted by a previous legislature?
• May the telescopic of the convention be limited?
• May the state legislatures establish the scope limit within their calls? Or is that a congressional function?

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Source: https://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/amending-the-u-s-constitution.aspx

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