Can the states propose an amendment to the Constitution?
Technically, Yes. Article V of the US Constituion describes how amendments to the Constitution can be made. Amendments may be proposed by the United States Congress or by a national convention assembled at the request of the legislatures of at least two-thirds of the states. Here’s a good passage explaining how it has happened in the past: “If at least two-thirds of the legislatures of the states so request, Congress is required to call a convention for the purpose of proposing an amendment. The state legislatures have, in times past, used their power to apply for a national convention in order to pressure Congress into proposing the desired amendment. For example, the movement to amend the Constitution to provide for the direct election of U.S. Senators began to see such proposals regularly pass the House of Representatives only to die in the Senate from the early 1890s onward. As time went by, more and more state legislatures adopted resolutions demanding that a convention be called,
Related Questions
- How does the proposed amendment interact with the Missouri Constitutions existing Hancock Amendment, and does Hancock already provide adequate legal protection against a transfer tax?
- why political advertising is protected to the maximum by the First Amendment in the US Constitution?
- Can two thirds of the US Congress propose an amendment to the Constitution?
