I received a deluge of feedback on my WSJ column, The Case for a Federalism Amendment. The overwhelming response was positive–indeed enthusiastic–but some took issue with aspects of my proposal with well founded objections. Many also had their own favorite provisions they wanted to see included. And there were also objections to the wisdom of the entire project of seeking constitutional changes through the states.
This feedback caused me to reconsider (a) the substance of some aspects of my proposal, (b) whether it might not be a better idea to disaggregate it into constituent parts while (c) adding provisions favored by others.
The result is a tentative draft of a Bill of Federalism with 10 amendments, along with a Preamble and explanation of each provision. I discuss the strategy behind this initiative and proposal on PJTV here. In particular, I address objections to asking states to petition for a convention to propose constitutional amendments, and the advantages of a Bill of Federalism over a single amendment with multiple interrelated parts.
A website has been created to collect comments, some of which are very useful. I intend to rewrite the proposal soon, and make substantial revisions to it. If you want to provide your comments, you can do so here. (Comments are moderated so there will be a delay in their posting.) I encourage anyone with comments or objections to post them on FederalismAmendment.com, where others can read them too. What follows are the first draft of the amendments with my explanations in hidden text.
Let me stress once again that THIS PROPOSAL WILL CHANGE SUBSTANTIALLY. Some provisions will be deleted, combined, or altered, and others added.
Resolution for Congress to Convene a Convention to Propose Amendments Constituting a Bill of Federalism
Whereas Article I of the Constitution of the United States begins
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