SB115 outlines a procedure for West Virginia to select delegates to a “convention for proposing amendments” under Article V of the U.S. Constitution.
The Senate passed SB115 on January 20, 2023, by a vote of 29 to 1. We have assigned minuses to the yeas because efforts to call an Article V convention should be resisted. Instead of failing to uphold their oath of office and risking a constitutional convention, legislators in West Virginia and the rest of the States can “support and defend” the U.S. Constitution, as required under Article VI, Clauses 2 and 3, by acting to immediately nullify all unconstitutional federal laws. Whenever the federal government assumes undelegated powers, in blatant violation of the 10th Amendment, nullification of such acts is the proper remedy. Article V of the Constitution was designed to correct potential errors or defects in the Constitution, not to misconstrue or abuse its powers. The States need to use Article VI to enforce the Constitution, rather than use Article V to change it.