FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 16, 2015

Contact: Rob Natelson, 303-279-6536, ext. 114 or Rob@i2i.org

New “Article V Information Center” Helps Federal Reform Efforts

DENVER — The burgeoning “convention of states” movement wants to save the republic, and the Independence Institute is pitching in to help.

The Institute’s new “Article V Information Center” website provides journalists, state lawmakers and other citizens with up-to-date, accurate and unbiased information on a little-known part of the U.S. Constitution that could be triggered in the next year or two.

Article V of the Constitution empowers state legislatures to force reforms on the federal government. If 34 state legislatures demand a particular kind of constitutional amendment, the result is a meeting of state legislatures that the Constitution calls a “convention for proposing amendments.” The gathering can then propose reforms, which become part of the Constitution if 38 states agree.

A convention for proposing amendments is a limited-purpose gathering, and NOT a constitutional convention, with which it is sometimes confused.

Advocates of an amendment forcing Congress to balance the federal budget are only a few states away from the necessary 34. They have added three states to their tally this year.

Also picking up steam are amendments imposing term limits on federal officials, campaign finance reform, and cuts in the federal bureaucracy.

“Relatively few people realize it yet, but we could be on the cusp of a major change for the better,” says Rob Natelson, the long-time constitutional law professor who heads the Article V Information Center. Natelson’s publications on the amendment process sparked the “convention of states” movement.

“When I first started investigating, there was widespread ignorance about how the amendment process worked and what its possibilities are,” he added. Journalists and state lawmakers are still being fed misinformation by people who appear to know more than they do. That’s why we started the Article V Information Center.”

Natelson hopes the Article V Information Center will clear up the confusion. “We don’t endorse particular amendments; we just help the process,” he said. “Similar conventions have a very long track record, and we know how they work,” he says. “Our goal is to provide people with the facts.”

Visit the Article V Info Center here.

Learn more about the Center from Rob Natelson and Ken Clark:

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