Article V Conventions to Amend the Constitution, and More from CRS
The Congressional Research Service has just produced a second report concerning “Article V Conventions” by which state legislatures can try to initiate amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
“The Article V Convention for proposing amendments was the subject of considerable debate and forethought at the Constitutional Convention [in 1787],” the new report says. “The founders clearly intended it as a balance to proposal of amendments by Congress, providing the people, through their state legislatures, with an alternative means to consider amendments, particularly if Congress was unable or unwilling to act on its own. Since it is one of the few provisions of the Constitution that has never been implemented, however, the Article V Convention presents many questions for Congress.”
See The Article V Convention for Proposing Constitutional Amendments: Historical Perspectives for Congress, July 10, 2012. The earlier Article V report on Contemporary Issues for Congress, noted yesterday, is here.
Other new and updated CRS reports that have not been made readily available to the public include the following.
Abortion: Judicial History and Legislative Response, July 9, 2012
Higher Education Tax Benefits: Brief Overview and Budgetary Effects, July 10, 2012
Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs, July 10, 2012
Yesterday, Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) and Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives that make non-confidential CRS reports publicly available on a congressional website. If the resolution is approved, the public would have authorized access to most CRS reports and would no longer have to rely on unauthorized access. See “New Bill Would Open CRS Reports to Public” by Daniel Schuman of the Sunlight Foundation.
Coordination among federal science agencies is essential to ensure government-wide alignment on R&D investment priorities. However, the federal R&D enterprise suffers from egregious siloization.
Don’t like the Chinese-backed EVs that are undercutting your market? Start with a well-designed statute to strengthen market oversight and competition while also providing American companies with support.
Cities and states are best positioned to design policies to accelerate clean energy, innovation, and economic development because they can design approaches that work in different social, political, and economic contexts.
Outcome-Based Contracting reframes procurement around the staged achievement of measurable mission outcomes rather than the delivery of predefined technical artifacts.