Convention of States Action lists Kansas as one of six states ‘poised to pass the Convention of States resolution in 2023’

Article - 3 minute read

On Friday, November 25, Convention of States Action sent out an email listing six states “poised to pass the Convention of States resolution in 2023.” The states include North Carolina, Ohio, Kansas, Wyoming, Montana, and Iowa.

Although data shows that a Convention of States is popular among both those on the left and right, Republicans tend to be more likely to vote in favor of a convention. Due to the large number of Republicans in both the House and Senate in Kansas, Convention of States Action concluded Kansas as one of the six states. They boasted that Kansas has 29 Republicans in the Senate compared to 11 Democrats. The email also stated, “The KS House gained 2 Republicans bringing total Republican Representatives to a whopping 86 seats compared to 39 Democrats.” This, however, is untrue. According to the 2022 unofficial general election results for Kansas there are 85 Republican seats compared to 40 Democrat seats, meaning we lost one seat.

Furthermore, it should be understood that in order to pass a Convention of States, also known as an Article V Convention, Kansas needs 2/3 of its legislature (84 in the House) to vote in favor of the convention. Though Article V of the United States Constitution requires a simple majority to pass a convention at the state level, a 1974 amendment to the Kansas Constitution made the requirement to be a 2/3 vote in the state.

This year, HCR 5027 a bill to call a Convention of States was voted on in Kansas, receiving 76 of the 84 needed votes to pass. A total of six seats in the House did not vote, but when asked, three determined that they would have voted in favor of a Convention of States.    

Nevertheless, there is still hope for Kansas. According to Kansas’ State Director for Convention of States David Copeland, despite the fact that we lost one Republican in the House, support for a Convention of States in Kansas actually grew.

“The 2022 election may have not been a great night for Kansas Republicans, but it was a great night for all Americans as the Kansas Legislature moved closer to becoming one of the 34 states to make an application to have a convention for proposing amendments to rein in our out of control federal government,” Copeland said. “Most of our legislators know that the framers of our Constitution unanimously adopted the convention of states method of proposing amendments because they knew the government system they were creating would naturally push beyond the limits of the enumerated powers and the states would be required to make structural adjustments. Kansans should contact their legislators and insist they exercise their authority [to] propose amendments to put an end to runaway federal spending, reduce the authority of the federal bureaucracy and term limit politicians in DC. The easiest way to do that is to sign the petition at conventionofstates.com.”

According to the unofficial general election, 30 of the 43 legislators that voted against a Convention of States in 2022 still hold their seat in House including 6 Republicans and 24 Democrats. This includes districts 1, 2, 4, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 31, 32, 34, 44, 45, 46, 52, 56, 57, 60, 61, 89, 92, 95, 102

To find out if you are in one of the listed House districts above, click here.