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AN ACT relating to the selection and oversight of Article V convention delegates 1
and declaring an emergency. 2
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 3
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 6 IS CREATED TO 4
READ AS FOLLOWS: 5
As used in Sections 1 to 5 of this Act: 6
(1) "Alternate delegate" means an individual appointed under Section 2 of this Act 7
to represent this Commonwealth as an alternate who is paired to a delegate at an 8
Article V convention; 9
(2) "Article V convention" means a convention called by the United States Congress 10
under Article V of the United States Constitution; 11
(3) "Committee" means the Article V Oversight Committee; 12
(4) "Delegate" means an: 13
(a) Individual appointed under Section 2 of this Act to represent this 14
Commonwealth as a delegate at an Article V convention; or 15
(b) Alternate delegate who fills a vacancy in the office of the alternate 16
delegate's paired delegate; and 17
(5) "Recall" means an act by one (1) chamber of the General Assembly to revoke the 18
appointment of an individual from his or her duties as a delegate or alternate 19
delegate representing this Commonwealth at an Article V convention; and 20
(6) "Unauthorized vote" means a vote cast by a delegate or alternate delegate at an 21
Article V convention that: 22
(a) Is contrary to the instructions adopted under Section 4 of this Act that are 23
in effect at the time the vote is taken; 24
(b) Exceeds the scope or subject matter of the Article V convention as 25
authorized by the General Assembly in the application to the United States 26
Congress to call the convention if the General Assembly made an 27
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application to call the convention; 1
(c) Exceeds the scope or subject matter of the Article V convention if the 2
General Assembly did not make an application to the United States 3
Congress to call the convention; 4
(d) Alters the one-state, one-vote rule for proposing amendments; or 5
(e) Modifies fundamental rights protected by the United States Constitution. 6
SECTION 2. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 6 IS CREATED TO 7
READ AS FOLLOWS: 8
(1) As soon as possible following the calling of an Article V convention, the General 9
Assembly shall appoint delegates and alternate delegates to the convention 10
pursuant to subsection (2) or (3) of this section. 11
(2) Except as provided by subsection (3) of this section, the General Assembly shall 12
appoint five (5) delegates and five (5) alternate delegates to the Article V 13
convention as follows: 14
(a) The House of Representatives shall appoint three (3) members of the House 15
of Representatives as delegates and three (3) members of the House of 16
Representatives as alternate delegates; and 17
(b) The Senate shall appoint two (2) members of the Senate as delegates and 18
two (2) members of the Senate as alternate delegates. 19
(3) If the number of delegates allocated to represent the Commonwealth at the 20
Article V convention is determined by agreement among the states to be a number 21
other than five (5), the General Assembly shall appoin t the allocated number of 22
delegates and an equal number of alternate delegates as follows: 23
(a) If the allocated number of delegates is an odd number: 24
1. The House of Representatives shall appoint a number of members of 25
the House of Representatives as deleg ates that is equal to three -fifths 26
(3/5) of the allocated number or as close to that proportion as possible 27
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and the same number of members of the House of Representatives as 1
alternate delegates; and 2
2. The Senate shall appoint a number of members of the Se nate as 3
delegates that is equal to two -fifths (2/5) of the allocated number or as 4
close to that proportion as possible and the same number of members 5
of the Senate as alternate delegates; and 6
(b) If the allocated number of delegates is an even number: 7
1. The House of Representatives shall appoint a number of members of 8
the House of Representatives as delegates that is equal to one -half 9
(1/2) of the allocated number and the same number of members of the 10
House of Representatives as alternate delegates; and 11
2. The Senate shall appoint a number of members of the Senate as 12
delegates that is equal to one -half (1/2) of the allocated number and 13
the same number of members of the Senate as alternate delegates. 14
(4) The appointing chamber shall pair each alternate deleg ate with a delegate at the 15
time each appointment is made. The alternate delegate shall act in the place of 16
his or her paired delegate when the delegate is absent from the convention. 17
(5) An alternate delegate automatically fills a vacancy in the office of the alternate 18
delegate's paired delegate unless the office of the alternate delegate is 19
simultaneously vacated. 20
(6) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, the chamber that appointed a 21
delegate or alternate delegate shall fill a vacancy in th e office of the delegate or 22
alternate delegate as soon as possible after the vacancy occurs. 23
(7) The chamber that appointed a delegate or alternate delegate may recall the 24
delegate or alternate delegate. A vacancy created by the recall of a delegate or 25
alternate delegate shall be filled in the same manner provided by subsections (5) 26
and (6) of this section. 27
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(8) (a) A chamber that seeks to appoint, recall, or fill a vacancy of a delegate or 1
alternate delegate may do so by adopting a resolution. 2
(b) If the committee determines that a delegate or alternate delegate made an 3
unauthorized vote pursuant to Section 5 of this Act, the appointing chamber 4
of the General Assembly may recall the delegate or alternate delegate. 5
SECTION 3. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 6 IS CREATED TO 6
READ AS FOLLOWS: 7
(1) Service as a delegate or alt ernate delegate by a member of the General Assembly 8
is an additional duty of the member's office. 9
(2) A delegate or alternate delegate shall not be entitled to compensation for service 10
as a delegate or alternate delegate. 11
(3) A delegate or alternate delega te shall be entitled to reimbursement for necessary 12
expenses incurred in performance of official duties, subject to any applicable 13
limitation on reimbursement provided by state law. 14
(4) A delegate or alternate delegate shall not accept a gift, loan, food o r beverages, 15
entertainment, lodging, transportation, or other benefit from any lobbyist or 16
legislative agent as defined in KRS 6.611. 17
(5) (a) An individual appointed as a delegate or alternate delegate shall take the 18
following oath before voting or taking an action as a delegate or alternate 19
delegate of this Commonwealth: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that to the 20
best of my abilities, I will, as a delegate (or alternate delegate) to the Article 21
V convention, act according to the limits of the authority g ranted to me by 22
Kentucky law, not consider or vote to approve any amendment to the United 23
States Constitution not authorized by the General Assembly in its 24
application to Congress to call this convention or any amendment outside 25
the scope of this conventio n if the General Assembly did not make an 26
application, faithfully abide by and execute the instructions to delegates or 27
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alternate delegates adopted by the General Assembly, not propose, support, 1
or vote for any amendment or rule change that alters the one -state, one-vote 2
rule for proposing amendments, proposes amendments outside the scope of 3
the convention call, or modifies fundamental rights protected by the United 4
States Constitution, and otherwise act only within the authority and scope 5
granted to me by this Commonwealth, so help me God." 6
(b) Each delegate and alternate delegate shall file the executed oath with the 7
Secretary of State. 8
SECTION 4. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 6 IS CREATED TO 9
READ AS FOLLOWS: 10
(1) The General Assembly by joint resolution shall adopt instructions to the delegates 11
and alternate delegates to govern the actions of those officers at an Article V 12
convention. 13
(2) The General Assembly shall not adopt instructions for an Article V convention 14
called following an application by the General Assembly to the United States 15
Congress for the convention that would authorize a delegate or alternate delegate 16
to consider or vote to approve an amendment to the United States Constitution 17
that is not authorized by the General Assembly in its application for the 18
convention. 19
(3) The General Assembly may amend instructions for an Article V convention at 20
any time by joint resolution, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section. 21
(4) A delegate or alternate delegate shall not cast an unauthorized vote. 22
(5) Except as provided in Section 5 of this Act, the determination that a vote is an 23
unauthorized vote may only be made by the chamber of the General Assembly 24
that appointed the delegate or alternate delegate who cast the vote in question. 25
(6) A vote determined to be an unauthorized vote shall be considered invalid. 26
(7) A delegate or alternate delegate who casts a vote determined to be an 27
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unauthorized vote shall be disqualified to continue to serve as a delegate or 1
alternate delegate. A vacancy in the office of a delegate or alternate delegate 2
created by the disqualification of the delegate or alternate delegate shall be filled 3
in the manner provided in Section 2 of this Act. 4
(8) The President of the Senate or Speaker of the House of Representatives that 5
determined that a delegate or alternate delegate has cast an unauthorized vote 6
shall promptly notify the presiding officer of the Article V convention that the 7
delegate or alternate delegate has cast an unauthorized vo te and is disqualified to 8
serve as a delegate or alternate delegate. 9
(9) A delegate or alternate delegate who casts an unauthorized vote shall be guilty of 10
a Class D felony and shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand 11
dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment for a term of not more than one (1) year, or 12
both. 13
(10) Any person who knowingly bribes, threatens, intimidates, or obstructs a delegate 14
or alternate delegate in the performance of his or her duties, or attempts to do so, 15
while not being ot herwise privileged by law to so act, shall be guilty of a Class D 16
felony and shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars 17
($1,000), or by imprisonment for a term of not more than one (1) year, or both. 18
SECTION 5. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 6 IS CREATED TO 19
READ AS FOLLOWS: 20
(1) The General Assembly shall appoint an Article V Oversight Committee at the 21
time delegates and alternate delegates are appointed under Section 2 of this Act. 22
(2) The committee shall consist of the following ten (10) members: 23
(a) Four (4) members of the Senate, appointed by the President of the Senate; 24
(b) Four (4) members of the House of Representatives, appointed by the 25
Speaker of the House of Representatives; and 26
(c) The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of 27
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Representatives, who shall serve as joint chairs of the committee. 1
(3) If the General Assembly is not convened in regular or extraordinary session at 2
any time during which an Article V convention is convened, the members of the 3
committee shall: 4
(a) Meet at the call of the chairs at the State Capitol; and 5
(b) Determine whether a vote cast by a delegate or alternate delegate is an 6
unauthorized vote for the purposes of Section 4 of this Act. 7
(4) A det ermination that a delegate or alternate delegate has cast an unauthorized 8
vote pursuant to subsection (3)(b) of this section requires seven (7) or more 9
members of the committee to vote in favor of that determination. Such a 10
determination by the members of the committee shall have the same effect as a 11
determination by the appointing chamber under subsection (7) of Section 4 of 12
this Act, and the committee shall immediately: 13
(a) Communicate its determination to the appointing chamber of the General 14
Assembly that the delegate or alternate delegate who cast the unauthorized 15
vote is disqualified to continue to serve as a delegate or alternate delegate, 16
and may recommend that the appointing chamber recall the delegate or 17
alternate delegate who cast the unauthorized vote; and 18
(b) Notify the presiding officer of the Article V convention that the delegate or 19
alternate delegate is disqualified to serve as a delegate or alternate delegate 20
for casting an unauthorized vote, and that a vacancy has been created in the 21
office of the delegate or alternate delegate. 22
(5) The committee may meet or act under subsection (3) of this section only when at 23
least six (6) members are present, which shall constitute a quorum. Any action 24
requires a majority vote of those present unless a hi gher threshold is specified in 25
Sections 1 to 5 of this Act. 26
(6) The committee shall not be authorized to take any action when the General 27
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Assembly is convened in regular or extraordinary session. 1
Section 6. If any provis ion of this Act or the application thereof to any person 2
or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or 3
applications of the Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or 4
application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable. 5
Section 7. This Act may be cited as the Article V Delegate Accountability Act. 6
Section 8. Whereas an Article V convention could be called at any time, an 7
emergency is declared to exist, and this Act takes effect upon its passage and approval by 8
the Governor or upon its otherwise becoming a law. 9