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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 181 1
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE GRAGG.
5212H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 21, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to the appointment
and duties of commissioners to attend an Article V convention.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 21, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 21.950, to read as follows:
21.950. 1. When a convention is called to pr opose amendments to the United
2 States Constitution pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, the selection
3 and participation of commissioners fr om Missouri to such convention shall be governed
4 by this section.
5 2. (1) Missouri shall have a number of commissioners equal to the number of
6 congr essional districts in the state at the time with one commissioner fr om each
7 congr essional district and a number of alternate commissioners equal to the number of
8 congr essional districts in the state at the time with one alternate commissioner fr om
9 each congressiona l district.
10 (2) Commissioners and alternates shall be citizens of the state of Missouri and
11 shall otherwise meet the same qualifications necessary to hold office in the Missouri
12 house of repr esentatives. Commissioners and alternates may include persons holding
13 public office, subject to further limits described below , except that no person shall be
14 eligible who is:
15 (a) A member of the United States House of Repre sentatives or Senate;
16 (b) An employee of the United States;
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
17 (c) An employee or other repr esentative of a contractor with the United States;
18 or
19 (d) An elected official holding a statewide office.
20
21 Commissioners and alternates are also subject to those existing ethics rules that apply to
22 members of the general assembly .
23 (3) The house of repr esentatives and senate shall select, by adoption of a
24 concurr ent r esolution, the commissioners and alternates who meet the eligibility
25 r equir ements described in this section and who ar e submitted to the house of
26 r epresent atives and the senate by the joint legislative committee as pr ovided in
27 subsection 4 of this section. Of the commissioners, at least one-third shall not be sitting
28 members of the general assembly . Of the alternate commissioners, at least one-third
29 shall not be sitting members of the general assembly .
30 (4) A majority of the commissioners shall constitute a quorum for all decisions
31 made by the delegation, and no commissioner may give his or her vote by proxy or
32 otherwise to any other commissioner . The commissioners shall select a chair to
33 administer the work of the commissioners.
34 3. (1) Each commissioner and alternate shall, by oath or affirmation as a
35 condition of participating in the convention, agree to faithfully and impartially
36 discharge all the duties incumbent upon a commissioner , including the duty to abide by
37 instructions established by concurr ent r esolution of the general assembly for
3 8 participation in the convention and the duty to act only within the scope of the
39 general assembly's application for the convention if Missouri applied for the convention
40 in which the commissioners ar e participating. Each commissioner and alternate shall
41 further agr ee to immediately notify the joint legislative committee if he or she believes
42 that any Missouri commissioner or alternate has violated his or her oath or instructions
43 while participating in the convention.
44 (2) Prior to the Article V convention, the general assembly shall consider
45 "Recommended Commissioner Instructions" present ed to it by the joint legislative
46 committee as discussed further in subsection 4 of this section and shall by concurr ent
47 r esolution prov ide duly appr oved instructions to the commissioners and alternates
48 r egarding the scope of matters the commissioners may consider and vote on at the
49 convention, including rules of pr ocedur e and prop osed amendments. Such instructions
50 may be changed by the general assembly prior to or during the convention. These
51 instructions shall include, but shall not be limited to:
52 (a) An instruction that the commissioners shall not support any voting rule other
53 than the rule whereb y each state exercises one vote; and
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54 (b) An instruction that on all voting matters at the convention, the decision of a
55 simple majority of the Missouri commissioners shall constitute a single vote for the state
56 of Missouri.
57 (3) Any vote cast by a commissioner or alternate at an Article V convention that
58 is outside the scope of any of the following is an unauthorized vote and is ther efor e void:
59 (a) The instructions established by any concurr ent res olution adopted under this
60 section; or
61 (b) Any limits identified in the Missouri general assembly's application for the
62 convention.
63 4. (1) After or near the time an Article V convention is called, a joint legislative
64 committee shall be duly authorized by the general assembly for the purposes described
65 in this section. The joint legislative committee shall be comprised of five members of the
66 senate appointed by the pr esident pr o tempor e of the senate, with thr ee members fr om
67 the majority party and two members fr om the minority party , and five members of the
68 house of r epresent atives appointed by the speaker of the house of repr esentatives, with
69 thr ee members fro m the majority party and two members fr om the minority party , and
70 shall have the initial task of reco mmending eligible commissioners to the house of
71 r epresent atives and the senate for consideration of appointment as commissioners. The
72 joint legislative committee shall submit at least thr ee persons fr om each congr essional
73 district who are eligible, as pr ovided in this section, to serve as commissioners and at
74 least thr ee differ ent persons fr om each congr essional district who are eligible, as
75 pr ovided in this section, to serve as alternate commissioners. The house of
7 6 r epresent atives and the senate shall select a commissioner and alternate commissioner
77 fr om each congr essional district fr om the names submitted by the joint legislative
78 committee. The joint legislative committee shall also be charged with pr esenting
79 "Recommended Commissioner Instructions" to the full general assembly for
8 0 consideration leading to a concurr ent r esolution as discussed in subdivision (2) of
81 subsection 3 of this section. Such commissioner instructions shall define the scope of
82 matters the commissioners may consider and vote on at the Article V convention,
83 including rules of pr ocedur e and pr oposed amendments as discussed mor e fully in
84 subsection 3 of this section. All r ecommendations that secure a simple majority vote of
85 the members pr esent shall be deemed appr oved "Recommended Commissioner
86 Instructions" to be submitted to the full general assembly for its consideration.
87 (2) After commissioners have been selected, the joint legislative committee may
88 r ecall any commissioner and r evoke such commissioner's authority . However , the joint
89 legislative committee shall recall and r evoke the authority only in the event the
90 commissioner casts or attempts to cast an unauthorized vote as described in this section.
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91 The joint legislative committee shall also appoint one of the selected alternates to take
92 the place of a commissioner so recall ed. The joint legislative committee shall pr omptly
93 investigate any notice that a commissioner or alternate has cast an unauthorized vote or
94 otherwise exceeded the scope of the general assembly's application for the convention or
95 the general assembly's instructions to the commissioners. The joint legislative
96 committee shall act to ensure that the commissioners rem ain faithful to the terms of
97 the convention application and the general assembly's instructions. Befor e or during
98 the Article V convention, the joint legislative committee may advise the commissioners
99 on questions that arise regard ing the scope of the convention and the legislative
100 instructions to commissioners.
101 (3) By concurr ent re solution, the general assembly may change or supersede any
102 action of the joint legislative committee or reca ll commissioners or alternates to the
103 convention, or appoint new commissioners or alternates.
104 (4) The joint legislative committee shall be authorized to conduct its business via
105 telephone or by electr onic communication.
106 5. If the pro visions of this section conflict with the rules or proce dures
107 established by the Article V convention, the general assembly may , by concurr ent
108 r esolution, conform these pr ovisions to such rules or proce dures.
✔
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