2022-01-10 00:00:00 - Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs

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[REP GENTILE:] [HB3658]436 [HB3657] [SB2402] Good morning Chair, McMurtry and congratulations Chair Velis . Good to be with all of you and members of the committee. I speak in support of each of these bills. Um it's been almost 12 years since the Supreme Court's disastrous decision and Citizens United versus the Federal Election Commission and validated many campaign462 finance laws throughout the country asserting that unlimited election spending was free speech protected by the First Amendment and also accorded artificial entities such as corporations, the inalienable rights of the people. Immediately the floodgates of unlimited political spending began by billionaires, foreign as well as domestic corporations and other artificial entities, drowning out the voices of citizens and steadily dismantling our democracy moving towards an oligarchy. And ultimately, if unchecked an authoritarian state.

January 6, 2021, we lived through the first unpeaceful transfer of power in the 204 years since the Commonwealth John Adams assumed office as509 our nation's second president. Since then, four business political action committees gave over $16 million to 147 members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election election, An average of $109,523 to each man and woman. Each of those men and women who value their own power over the rule of law and our democracy. Just 25 billionaires have funded half of the PAC money spent in542 the United States543 in the last 10 years, 1, 871,000 Massachusetts voters, 71% of those voting in our 2018 general election wanted a citizen's commission created to advance the policy of Massachusetts in favor of amending the constitution.

It was my privilege562 and honor to serve as one of the speakers appointees on the commission which met on 20 occasions and voted unanimously to recommend house 3658's enactment. As long as our constitution remains unamended as voters mandated in 2018, the commission's work remains unfinished. House 3657 would enable appointees who have resigned to be replaced and enable our work to continue to fruition. I want to thank the chair for taking me out of turn and I welcome any questions from, from you or from members of the committee. Thank you.

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[SEN ELDRIDGE:][SB2402][HB3658] Good morning Chair, McMurtry Good morning Chair Chair Chair Chair Velis um also extend my best wishes to my friend and colleague in the Senate with his wife expecting so wonderful news. I will be thinking of him today and thank you652 to to chair McMurtry for taking me out of turn. Um I am uh speaking before this committee also on the same bill that representative Gentile spoke on, we have filed this we the people bill together for several sessions uh Senate 2402 House 3658 States constitutional amendment in a limited amendment proposing convention. Um I would really want680 to thank representative Gentile leadership on that Citizens Commission that had some excellent recommendations including um proposing further action on this resolution that we filed.

And I would just pick up where he said is that, you know, representative Gentile mentioned uh the January, 6 attack on the capital and the attempt by at least some members of the Republican Party to overturn election results for our presidential election. And I really want to710 highlight that behind that effort, especially by elected officials was a lot of big money, a lot of dark money that really doesn't go reported uh due to the Supreme Court decision of Citizens United but also that we don't have strong enough laws at the federal and state level. And so this is really an effort730 to bring this issue directly to the people through a constitutional convention. Um I am greatly concerned about the corrupting influence of big money and dark money and what the citizens United Decision did as we know it from 2010 was remove restrictions on independent political spending more often than not by large corporations that can now spend unlimited money with almost no reporting.

The Legislature has taken action on a number of bills including a bill that I filed to require disclosure. That's a positive step, but we really need to make sure that Massachusetts is at the lead of joining with other states, calling for a federal constitutional convention. So I know representative Gentile explained what the what the bill does um you know, just very quickly is that if if U. S. Congress, if this bill were to pass in the legislature and the United States Congress were not to take action that would trigger a so called Citizens Constitutional Convention at the federal level, which Massachusetts of course would be represented at. Um I know that sometimes there's some concerns about changing the constitution in this way and I would really want to highlight that it's a very high bar to change the constitution as it should. Specifically. 2/3 of state legislatures would have to pass a amendment to our constitution. So I think that there are the appropriate checks and balances at the national level in our constitution and it applies pressure on Congress to take action on campaign finance reform827 to overturn the Citizens United decision and to make sure that every single person in this country has the ability to run for office despite their economic or financial circumstances. So thank you so much. Chair McMurtry for841 taking me out of turn, thank you to the committee and I844 ask for this bill respectfully to be reported favorably out of committee. Thank you.

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[WILLIAM KILMARTIN (CITIZENS COMMISSION):][HB3657][HB3658][SB2402] Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. The committee, Can you hear me okay? Very good. My name901 is Bill Kilmartin and I live in Newburyport. I was implied905 and appointed to the Massachusetts Citizens commission by governor Baker. I served as co chair. In my professional life, I was the national913 practice leader for a major consultant firm called Accenture in that capacity I worked with states across the nation. Prior to that I was the Commonwealth employee and served as state controller for 10 years. I'm testifying today to advocate your favorable action on house 3657 and House 3658 slash Senate 2402.

In the general election in November 2018, over 1.7 million of our fellow citizens voted to create the Massachusetts Citizens Commission. This mandate is memorialized in statute as chapter 322 acts of 2018, Pursuant to the statute. Citizens applied members were appointed and the Commission conducted its first meeting in May 2019. Members of the commission are special state employees, serve without pay and abide by all the commonwealth, ethics and policy guidance. I am extremely impressed962 with the depth and breadth of experience and expertise of my fellow commissioners. This high functioning group included law professors, business leaders, elected officials and public policy experts. It has been a privilege and a joy to serve with them.

The ensuing 18 months after its first meeting, the Commission completed extensive research and conducted 20 public meetings in locations across the Commonwealth. It is worth noting the commission performs all its activities in conformity to the public meeting and open records, laws and regulations to accomplish the objectives in his authorizing statute. Chapter997 322 The commission published two reports, the first in December 2019 and the second in August 2020. The reports contain compelling evidence that one unregulated spending and elections has gotten out of hand, two the root cause of this situation is the U. S. Supreme Court decision in the case, Citizens United versus the Federal1017 Election Commission in similar cases three, these decisions have effectively eliminated the ability of the legislative branch of both the federal and state levels to enact reasonable1026 regulations for raising and spending money in elections and four this trend has an adverse impact on our democracy.

A copy of the commission's reports has been sent to each Constitutional officer and all members of the General Court is also available via the mass.gov website. The bottom line is that a constitutional amendment is needed to enable the federal and state legislatures the ability to enact meaningful and appropriate bars to regulate spending in elections and thereby protect our democracy. Regarding the two bills. Under review, you might ask why do we need to continue the Massachusetts Citizens Commission? It is true the commission has done a tremendous amount of work, as evidenced by its two reports, but more work remains to achieve the mission of the commission i.e to overturn the Citizens United decision, continuation of the Commission will provide an effective venue for additional research of the issues and public discourse on the advantages and disadvantages of possible solutions.

Simply stated, The Citizens Commission can be a valuable resource to the commonwealth to promote more civic engagement. I urge the committee to support house 3657. Second you might ask why should the Commonwealth go on the record with over 20 other states so far calling for a limited constitutional convention. The Rationale was fully described in the report published in August 2020, Amending the U.S. constitution is by design an arduous process with two paths to ratification. The constitutional convention is one of those parts and1111 by itself could advance the process. In addition, the prospect of a constitutional constitutional convention could energize the other path. I.e. a 2/3 vote by Congress. Either path would be progress leading to ratification.

The commonwealth should send a clear message about the seriousness of the issue and willingness to join other states in the solution. I urge the committee to support House 3658 slash Senate 2402. In closing I should mention this committee recommended favorable action on these bills in the prior legislative session over other priorities and distractions of COVID in 2020 and 2021. These bills that.com to a full vote as we start 2022. I hope this is the year for affirmative action. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee with respect Thank you for considering my testimony. Please let me know if you have questions or want to continue the discussion.

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[BARRY ROSENBERG (CONCERNED RESIDENT):] [HB3658] [SB2402] Good morning. Um I'd also like to say it should go without saying I'm also speaking in support of Senate 2402 which is the same bill. Okay, thank you. Thank you for having me here. I am in favour of the we the people act unlimited political spending has turned my voice into a whisper. I feel bullied by the wealthy citizens and the corporations who use money to manipulate legislators in elections, environment and gun sense legislation cannot be passed even if passed. Corporate personhood will allow corporations to successfully challenge laws in court every week in the news I see murders by the mentally unstable. I see deaths and the loss of Homes from fires and hurricanes. I am powerless to stop this through my votes and letters. My 25 year old son will have a life increasingly controlled by the effects of global warming and I am powerless to help him. Democracy is for sale and I cannot afford it.

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[LAWRENCE LESSIG (HARVARD LAW1329 SCHOOL):] Good morning Mr Chairman and thank you so much for allowing me to testify. I am strongly supportive of both the amendment that is proposed and also the call for a convention and I'm also strongly supportive of the sentiment, sentiment of the testimony that has you've heard so far today. I want to use a couple of minutes that I've got here to make a slightly different complementing point about this convention. for those who like me believe that the convention is the only way that we will get this problem addressed as important as the substance of this particular convention is I also think it is critically important to protect1374 the convention process from the most poisonous influence within our political system today. That is the perception that the convention is partisan. And my strong concern right now is that the most prominent call for an Article five convention in the nation today is actually the call for what is viewed by most to be a right wing convention, the balanced budget amendment convention.

And if that movement actually succeeds in calling for a convention, then that convention will be framed as a right wing convention. Oppositions to conventions themselves will grow and the opportunity of a convention being used for any purpose, including the purpose you're discussing today will disappear. It's my view that we have to find a way to ensure that any limited1423 convention that the United States sees in the next decade include the opportunity to consider the issues that you are addressing today. If we had a convention that could consider this issues, you're discussing the issues raised by Citizens United as well as issues that were on the table from the right. It would be less likely that that convention would be discredited as partisan and therefore defeat the opportunity of the convention for any purpose at all.

And so here's the one idea I would suggest that might help to achieve that objective. It's my view that as well as enacting the bills that you're considering today calling for a convention, you should also consider1468 passing a resolution that preemptively rejects any amendment proposed by a convention that can only that can't consider the issues of representational integrity that you are bringing up today. And if you preemptively rejected that would put strong pressure on both sides to recognize that we need to move the convention process forward in a way that can't be hijacked by partisans on either side and give all of America a chance to consider amendments that would be amendments to help the American constitution. So I would submit that and I'm grateful for the work you're doing to try to push this cause along.

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[NICHOLAS DELSOBRAL (CONCERNED RESIDENT):] [HB3658] And hello committee members, my name is Nicholas DelSobral and I live in Concord. I would is born in less than five months after 9/11. My mother and grandmother have been and worried about me because of the yes situation that the country was in when I was born now I will have to fear for the next generation because as of climate change and corruption. Scientists predict that climate change will have significant catastrophic effects over the next few decades. I mean and there will be experiencing these conditions for the vast majority of my life. If nothing is done about this issue, politicians no longer have the courage they had during the new deal or the great society because as the corporations and have you used in the Supreme Court rulings to that's what politicians and who, who won't oppose them.

America claims to be a beacon of hope and freedom on the world stage. But those claims are hollow. If there are far system is corrupt at home, if the corporations are owning the government and we are no better than the countries that were where the government owns the corporations and so we do not pass and this um resolution then and there is an and we cannot hope to improve our country or our world. If you look throughout history,1645 you will see that that countries that develop a disconnect between the government and the people tend to have of violent revolutions from the French revolution to the European monarchies. At the end of World War One. The dustbin of history is littered with countries who1663 collapsed from the inside because of wealth inequality.

Most people think that revolution comparable to these, is impossible in the United States but the similarities are surprising. For example before the Russian revolution there was significant unrest in 1905 because the Russian-Japanese war was unpopular and also because of the famine in 1891. Russians had rightly believed that their government wasn't serving them for decades before the revolution in 1917. With the financial crisis in 2008 and now the pandemic in 2020 average Americans a now have good reason to believe1740 the government doesn't work for them. We need to direct the the current discontent with the government in the political directions and such as a constitutional amendment to mitigate corruption or else in the United States may join the dustbin of history And thank you for your time and please please vote yes and fight for S 2242 that we the People Act.

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[JOHN SHEN(WOLFPACK GRASSROOTS):][HB3658][SB2402] Hello and thank you members of the Veterans and Federal Affairs Committee. My name is John Shen and I'm the national Legislative Director for Wolfpack Grassroots Organization with over 50,000 volunteers sign ups nationwide founded with the singular goal of a constitutional amendment to end the undue influence of money in politics. I am also speaking today as a lifelong resident of Massachusetts, who currently1833 lives in Brighton. I'm here in strong support of H 3658 and S 2402 the we the People Act. I've been here in my current job for four years now advocating for a constitutional amendment through legislation like this around the country. In that time. Through some of the darker years in our history, I've seen a despair and decay steadily growing within our country.

The fact is that people1857 are starting to lose faith that our institutions work in their interest and the persistent corrupting influence of big money and special interests is a large part of that now, despite the challenging nature of the goal. I continue to see a constitutional amendment as a vital step because it is so big. You don't fight a slow death of decay with inaction and hesitation. Change that's capable of inspiring, motivating and transforming the spirit of our people has to be bold and unflinchingly aspirational. Now, the application for a convention in the We the People act is the best way to pressure Congress to act in this regard. Under Article five, a constitutional amendment can be proposed either by two thirds of Congress or convention called by two thirds of the state legislatures.

And the fact is that the majority of our amendments were preceded by the state's calling for a convention on that topic. The most significant significant example uh was with the 17th Amendment which established the direct election1918 of U. S. Senators. The United States House of Representatives proposed this amendment multiple times over the course of 50 years and not once did the Senate even hold the vote. It was only in the final 15 years of the effort when the state legislatures began a movement to call for a convention to propose the amendment and they1937 got within one state shy of the1939 two thirds threshold required to force the convention when Congress finally felt enough pressure to propose the amendment themselves. In the past 10 years since Massachusetts first formally requested that Congress proposed a campaign finance reform amendment.

It is extremely clear that Congress needs that additional pressure today. I respectfully urge you uh, to please vote favorably on the we the people act from your committee and do everything within your power to ensure it passes the Massachusetts legislature this year. Thank you.

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[JACK DEAN (CONCERNED RESIDENT):] [HB3658] [SB2402] Good morning. My name is Jack Dean. I'm a retired electrical engineer from Mattapoisett. I testified before this committee in 2015 and 2017. Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you once again in support of we the people act H 3658 and S 2402. I'm a U. S. Navy veteran. My ship in Oklahoma City provided gunfire support to U. S. Troops in Vietnam. In serving. I never expected anything special from my country other than a fair chance to compete in the civilian sphere once my military service was over. But today studies confirm that average Americans have lost wealth, mobility and job and educational opportunities. Our fiscal policy provides tax breaks for the rich while slashing services for the poor.

The 2014 Princeton study of national policy issues concluded that wealthy elites and large corporations have far more political influence than average citizens whose ability to shape public policies and affect their lives is near zero. The abuses of the robber barons of the 19th century prompted Teddy Roosevelt to warn of the dangers of concentrating the nation's wealth in the hands of the few he believed the government controls were necessary, either by legislation or by constitutional amendment. He signed the Tillman Act in 1907,2115 which prohibited corporations from contributing to national political campaigns. The 1910 Federal Corrupt Practices Act was passed to regulate campaign spending2128 and require public disclosure. Unfortunately, lack of enforcement undermine the effectiveness of these laws.

In 2002, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act was passed to limit big money in politics. However,2146 The BCRA. was effectively nullified by the Supreme Court's 2010 citizens United Decision. In 2012 and 2014, Massachusetts, voters passed ballot questions calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. These questions passed by supermajorities in every district where they appeared on the ballot In November 2018 passage of ballot question to by a 71% supermajority established a Citizen's Commission to recommend a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, After conducting 20 hearings across the state. The commission in its final report recommended passage of the We The People Act, including its call for an amendment proposing convention. If Congress fails to act, please respect the will of the voters in the recommendation of the Citizens Commission and vote favourably for the we the people have. Thank you.

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[GEOFF FOSTER (COMMON CAUSE):][HB3658]SB2402] Good morning, Chairman and2309 honorable committee members. Thanks so much for putting the hearing on today. My name is Geoff Foster. I'm the executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts and I'm joining today with my colleague and friend Nancy Brumback from the legal2321 women voters to represent the collective opposition to bills H 3658 and S 2402 of our organizations as well as the ACLU. AFL-CIO Massachusetts Teachers Association, AFSCME Council 93 and others. Throughout our 50 year history. Common cause has fought the corrosive influence of money in politics. We have obtained in hand with many of the sponsors of this legislation to overturn citizens united. We have pushed for resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment and led local and statewide ballot efforts.

That said, we strongly oppose the tactic of calling for an Article five convention. An Article five convention has never been called before in American history and we should not try to have one at this. Extraordinarily politically factious time. An Article five Convention would2370 be a dangerous threat to the U.S. Constitution, our democracy and our civil rights and liberties. There is no language in the constitution to limit a convention to one issue and it's widely understood that a convention once called will be able to consider any amendments that the delegates want to consider. That is true. Regardless of the restrictions the state includes in its call for such a convention, because there is2393 no way to limit the conventions focus. Any constitutional issue could be brought up and fundamental rights could be undermined, including marriage equality, civil rights and civil liberties, voting rights, privacy

And more many reputable experts have spoken out against the convention, such as Harvard constitutional law Professor Laurence Tribe and former Supreme Court Justice2414 Antonin Scalia who noticed who noted that a conventions agenda could not be controlled. S 2402 and H 3658 call for2422 an amendment or a convention to deal specifically with the issue of campaign finance. While our campaign finance system needs to be changed. The constitutional convention is not the right path to make that change. Especially the fact that the subject matter restriction is not possible. It should also be noted that there are other efforts led by wealthy conservative special interest to call2444 for an article five convention. One of these convention campaigns focused on enacting a federal balanced budget amendment And it's past already in 28 states, just six days away from the 34 state constitutional requirement to call for a convention.

Others include some very disturbing right wing proposals to significantly rewrite the constitution. In theory convention applications on different subjects could even be counted towards one convention call. Although this has not happened to date while we do not believe that Congress or any other governmental or judicial body should count convention applications in this way and the legislation before you specifically prohibits it. The U. S. Constitution does not give any guidelines on how convention application should be counted. And again delegates could pick their own agenda last session we were happy to see that although the similar bill came to the Senate floor it was amended to remove the language calling for a convention. We cannot and must not roll the dice when it comes to preserving the fundamental rights and the U. S. Constitution. We respectfully urge this committee to amend the2509 bill to remove the call for a convention. Study it further or oppose it. Thank you.

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[NANCY BRUMBACK (LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS):][HB3658][SB2402] Thank you. Representative McMurtry and also Chair Velis Congratulations and best wishes to you and to members of this committee. I'm Nancy Brumback, I'm Legislative Vice Chair for the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, representing our 47 local leagues across the Commonwealth. The league continues to oppose this bill. The resolutions for United States Constitutional Amendment and Limited amendment proposing convention. The League of Women voters at the national level has taken a strong stand against any2560 efforts to call for an Article five Constitutional convention until specific conditions governing such convention are in place. Certainly, the League supports the underlying purpose of these resolutions to undo the impact of the 2010 Citizens United decision and reform our campaign finance system.

The League issued a statement opposing that ruling the day it was issued by the Supreme Court. We support various legislative efforts at both the state and federal, federal levels to do that, and should a constitutional amendment be necessary to achieve certain goals. The League feels it should be handled the same way as every other amendment to the constitution so far Passed by Congress and ratified by 3/4 of the state's. We are concerned with these resolutions and with all the other bills or resolutions before the committee. Calling for2617 an Article five Constitutional Convention is the total lack of rules in place to govern such a convention and therefore the potential for damage to things like voting rights and basic civil rights and2633 indeed the entire structure of our democracy. Under the constitution, There2638 is no precedent for an Article five Constitutional Convention.

And despite the best efforts of the proponents of these resolutions to spell out limits to such a convention, there is no guarantee such limits would be legally binding. We don't know what delegates chosen by an unknown process and bound by unknown or no rules might do. These concerns. Led the league2669 to adopt a national position in 20162671 that the following conditions must legally be in place before a constitutional convention is called. Conditions that the constitutional Constitutional convention must be transparent and not conducted in secret. Representation of the convention must be based on population rather than a one state, one vote practice and delegates should be elected, not appointed, voting at the convention must be by delegate, not by state. The convention must be limited to a specific topic. The convention should not be able to consider issues or topics that were not initiated by the states in their call for a convention.

Only state resolutions on a single topic count when determining if a constitutional convention should be called. And finally, the validity of state calls for a constitutional convention must be determined by the most recent action of that state. Unless and until Congress enacts legislation establishing legal parameters for an Article five Constitutional Convention, the league opposes any cause for such a convention. We feel the very basis of our democracy is at risk with such proposals when there are no rules in place. Thank you.

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[COSTAS PANAGOPOULOS (NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY):][HB3657][HB3658][SB2402] My name is Costas Panagopoulos. I reside in Wellesley. I'm a professor of political science and chair of the Department of Political Science at Northeastern University was also my honor to serve as co chair of the Massachusetts Citizens Commission.2810 Established in November 2018. The commission was comprised of a dedicated group of citizens of the Commonwealth who diligently shared their expertise and engaged in thoughtful debate and examination of issues related to campaign finance and2823 drafted two detailed and comprehensive reports recommending constitutional amendments to address these crucial matters. I testify to provide strong support2832 for favorable action on House 3657 and House 3658 Senate 2402 because the work of the commission remains incomplete to make progress on our efforts. The work needs to continue. The commission needs to continue to push for further action and requires the support and resources to advance this important endeavor. This work is especially crucial, crucial given the fact that the law of the land remains the monumental citizens united ruling by the US Supreme Court issued 10 years ago.

Since then, we've watched public confidence with democracy decline as corporate influence has grown. This is not sustainable. Democracy cannot persist, let alone2870 flourish when average citizens feel as disenfranchised and disempowered as they do today. In my view, no other court decision has done more to change the landscape of campaign finance in America, unleashing a torrent of unregulated spending by corporations, wealthy Americans and political2886 committees, including super PACS under the guise of speech protected independent expenditures. A recent report by the Center for Responsive Politics found that independent group spent $4.5 billion over the past decade since the ruling often outpacing political parties and candidates themselves in crucial races and that just 10 donors alone have dominated political giving in this period, accounting for more than $1 billion in spending.

My own recent research has demonstrated that even elected judges cannot be counted upon to recuse themselves from cases involving campaign donors when they show up in their courtrooms as litigants in civil cases reversing Citizens United would not solve all of America's problems, but it would go a long way to restore public confidence in American elections and democracy, the most promising avenue to pursue reforms by means of constitutional amendment. of constitutional amendment. While this is an uphill battle under any circumstances, citizens in the commonwealth have started a movement to move forward along these2942 lines. It may be our last best hope to restore sensible campaign finance regulation and to rescue American democracy from the corporate stranglehold currently choking it. A constitutional convention convention may not have been our preferred way to proceed, but it is clear we cannot rely on Congress to take action. Still action is needed, favorable action on these bills would represent a step forward in this effort. Thank you.

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[JEFF CLEMENTS (AMERICAN PROMISE):][HB3657] Thank you and thanks to you and members of the committee and also to my colleagues on the Citizen commission where I had the honor to serve as well. Representative Gentile and our co chairs, Professor Panagopoulos and Bill Kilmartin, who you have heard from already. I serve as president and CEO of a nonprofit national nonpartisan organization based in Concord called American promise. We have members and staff throughout the country and I live in Cambridge. Before founding American promise in January 2016. I was a partner at Mintz Levin in Boston and in my own firm and I served as the chief of the Public Protection Bureau and Assistant Attorney General in the Massachusetts. Attorney General's office. I have taught election law at New England Law School since 19 2012 of Management and whaleback partners which invests in new England farmers and food systems. Um and as I said in 2019, I was appointed by the attorney general to serve on the Massachusetts Citizens Commission.

That's the subject of this hearing. American promise, what we do is unite and mobilize Americans around the country across partisan lines because this issue has such support among republicans, independents, democrats in every state and right here in Massachusetts and we are uniting and of course mobilizing Americans To pass and ratify this constitutional amendment, which we call the for our Freedom Amendment, which it is indeed for our freedom in this country. The amendment to the constitution that we are seeking in the Massachusetts is on record as supporting strongly both by the vote in 2018 and the vote of this general court is very simple. It restores to the states and Congress in their respective jurisdictions, the ability to enact effective laws to make money in politics transparent, accountable and a less corrupting force.

Both of these bills very much are advancing that3182 effort and I therefore testify and support both of them. Um So let me add a couple of thoughts that's in my written testimony at further length3192 um that I have submitted on H 3657 the Citizen Commission Improvement Act, I would call it I guess um is very simple and allows what has been a highly effective, efficient and near zero cost to the commonwealth Citizen Commission. That That has produced great I think reflection of what the testimony that we heard across the commonwealth in 20 public hearings and meetings uh two reports and as my colleagues on the commission have previously testified, there is more work to do. The bill simply allows that work to be more efficient. It addresses vacancies and replacements continuity and accountability and and3233 requiring a report to the people of the commonwealth. So I do urge you to move that forward.

Um, the other thing I would like to bring to your attention is especially important for Massachusetts, where we have long held the citizen ballot initiative. I actually quote former House Speaker David Walker in 1917 Constitutional Convention in Massachusetts that adopted the initiative about how it was intended to return power to the people and enable addressing some of the corruption concerns they had in that gilded age time3269 recently, the Federal Election Commission ruled that they had no authority to stop foreign governments from spending money in citizen ballot initiatives and foreign3279 governments are indeed, especially through foreign owned corporations, foreign government owned corporations spending money in ballot initiatives. California just had a $200 million ballot initiative to rewrite the labor laws of that state funded by Uber and other um rideshare companies. Um, Uber number one shareholder is a Japanese conglomerate that used invested with money from foreign governments, sovereign funds number two investors.

The Saudi Arabian government sovereign fund and so, and then they are on the board and in the driver's seat. So Uber's and other companies Global, often owned by shareholders share of foreign government interests are now influencing at a cost that no American citizen or frankly even wealthy Americans can compete with. And, and so it's a, it's a development that has occurred since the commission as have many other developments, including $600 million senate races that we saw in Georgia and we'll see again in 2022. That just really council in favor of continuing this commission making it3352 were able to work and address and serve you in the general court and the people of Massachusetts in this difficult but urgently necessary challenge in the constitutional.

a word finally about S 2402 and H 36583372 and the convention, my respected and and friends and colleagues and fellow supporters of this constitutional amendment of the league of Women voters and Common Cause have testified eloquently as always about the dangers and concerns that they feel a convention uh recall would reflect we had American promise3390 actually are focused on a congressional path and believe that congress3395 is the right path and will ratify, passed the proposed amendment to return it to the states for ratification. the proposed amendment to return it to the states for ratification.

But we also deeply respect and appreciate the work of Wolfpack and those who think that Congress needs to feel the pressure as Professor Lessig said. And others so many have said today and that this bill actually applies that pressure there will be time enough to ensure um wise conditions on the convention can be in place. Um, this bill does not move a convention uh, anywhere near to be ready to go by simply3427 pressing Congress in this way. And and we think there's plenty of time. We on the commission. The commission voted unanimously to support this bill for those reasons after hearing the pros and cons that it's a good it's a good tactic and pressure on Congress to move this forward. The concerns are valid in3444 the sense of3445 um nobody knows what a convention called um can do but the valid arguments on the other side that this should move forward carried the day because we thought those concerns could about the convention could actually be addressed even after this moves forward and that Massachusetts could do the country a great service in passing both of these bills. So thank you very much.

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[PAUL LOWENSTEIN (CONCERNED RESIDENT):] Good afternoon. My name is Paul Lowenstein. I'm a retired business owner from Sharon. On March 11, as the pandemic was beginning to make headlines, I took the train to Boston for the last time. It was my third trip to the state house to finish distributing flyers to all 200 legislative offices to announce the news The the Citizens Commission had voted to endorse the We The People act. Unfortunately, the 2019 2020 session ended3521 without Massachusetts, Legislature voting on the we the People Act despite a favorable report from this committee. It was the 3rd two year session in a row that the legislature failed3533 to pass this bill. Nevertheless, I decided to stay involved for a fourth 2 year session. I grew up in Illinois and I believe in Lincoln's cherished vision of government of by and for the people, it breaks my heart that America is no longer a beacon of democracy for the rest of the world.

We are now classified as a quote flawed democracy unquote in the annual democracy index. The corruption of big money politics legalized by the Supreme Court is so threatening our Children with a climate catastrophe. Just days after the recent Glasgow Climate Conference, our government opened up a record 80 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling. Surely such profit fueled madness does not reflect the will of the majority of average Americans. 10 years ago, Massachusetts became the seventh state to pass a resolution asking Congress to propose a constitutional amendment to overturn citizens United 22 states have now3595 done so as have over 800 cities and towns here in Massachusetts district by district ballot questions calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United passed by super majorities in every single one of the 185 cities and towns where they appeared on the ballot.

The founders gave us a tool to hold Congress accountable when it won't propose a needed amendment. It's called an amendment proposing convention. We've never had an amendment proposing convention, but when state legislatures apply for one, it puts pressure on Congress to propose the needed amendment. As Mr. Clements pointed out, Four of the past 11 amendments have involved states applying for such a convention. There is nothing to fear from an amendment proposing convention. It cannot change the constitution in any way. It can3652 only propose amendments for ratification by a minimum of 38 states. What's so scary about an amendment with enough bipartisan support to clear that high bar those who fear the article five amendment proposing convention process. Fear democracy itself. The constitution provides no other way for we the people to hold Congress accountable3676 for proposing needed amendments. Please pass the we the People act and show the rest of the country that democracy is not dead here in Massachusetts. Thank you very much.

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[ANN SHEA (CONCERNED RESIDENT):] [HB3657] My name is Anne Shea. And I'm from Cape Cod. I'm speaking in favour3716 of the pressing need for H 3657. The message that I'd like to convey to you today is how very much people want a constitutional amendment that will get big money out of politics and return to them the full power of their vote after I retired from teaching middle school english. I joined an organization called People govern not money. We circulated petitions for the creation of the Citizens Commission that would study the problem of money in politics. Write a constitutional amendment to reverse citizens united and promote the amendment until it is ratified. Over 70% of Massachusetts voters said Yes to forming the citizens commission And in 2019 the appointed members got right to work. So far, the members of the commission3767 have written two reports and two revisable drafts for amendments to continue their work. They need your support The bill that you're considering now, H 3657 concerning a constitutional amendment to secure government of the people would allow the commissioners to finish the work that Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly asked them to do.

The work so far will mean nothing if they don't receive your stamp of approval to promote the amendments that they wrote. I'm speaking today to you as a member of American Promise and as co3805 chair of Indivisible Mass Coalitions, Amending Campaign Spending Action Team. I'm here to share with you petitions signed by well over 100 Massachusetts voters Who want you to know that they very much want H 3657 to become law. Government representatives today are forced to spend too much valuable time raising money for expensive campaigns when they could be spending more time serving the people if we leave here today and do nothing, our grandchildren will still be struggling to solve the biggest problems our country is failing to address gun violence, opioid abuse and climate change will continue3845 to spiral out of control because so many of our representatives are influenced by ultra rich campaign donors.

Who would rather make more money then stop the damage they're doing. If we accomplish nothing today, our Children will grow up to be like so many Americans who feel that their vote is worth very little because the representatives won't listen to their concerns. Thank you very much.

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[SAM FIELDMAN3887 (WOLFPACK):] Thank you Mr Chairman and uh my congratulations to Senator Velis Uh My name is Sam Fieldman, I'm National Council for Wolfpack and I live in act in massachusetts. Um and you know, it's particularly uh I felt my heart today that to hear about the impending birth of Senator Velis child because I first started working on this issue because my wife was pregnant with my twins. About six weeks before they were born, that was the day Wolfpack started and I joined Wolfpack on that day and I did it because as a young lawyer, I understood how the constitution works. I had researched, I found the article five convention process through my studies and I wanted to have the world be someplace where they could3930 participate in democracy, where the government wasn't something in which they had no say, Well, two years ago when I came to testify before you, my kids3938 were with me, sitting there next to you and now, just a few3941 weeks ago they turned 10 years old.

Um, this process has been failing my children so far this, the legislature has been failing my Children. And it would be a national tragedy to see Senator Velis child born today, 10 years later asking him questions as well as that child, he or she becomes old enough to to watch the news and sees the corruption and ask, what have you done about it? How have you solved this problem? You would vote on the legislature and for any one of you, every single one of you, we have the power under the constitution to solve this problem. All of our Children are depending on us to do. So the last time that we the people act was3980 considered a number of legislators, legislators expressed concern. Um, Common Cause sent out a letter saying that there were a number of open questions that they had. Uh, and the number of people who they claimed, um, didn't supported who were scholars, uh, and they advocated for passing the Massachusetts Citizens Commission so that there could be further study. Well, that's exactly what happened with a vote of about three quarters of the of the Commonwealth across the political spectrum, all across the state.

Uh the people voted to study this issue further and that makes a lot of sense. I've been studying this for 10 years I'm one of the top national experts now, as is Professor Lessig, who you also heard from today. Um but it's not realistic to expect that every member of the legislature would be able to study it that thoroughly. It's not expected that every member of the legislature would see the primary sources that4032 are available at Wolf slash PAC dot com slash Tribe and Wolf dash dot com slash Scalia. That showed that the representation of them as being opposed to this process in this case are flat out false. Um And so that's why the commission met and met for well over a year to study this issue with, with scholars and leaders and activists appointed by the five constitutional officers of the state. And then unanimously at the end of that, in January of 20, sorry, in August of 2020, unanimously recommended a multipronged approach that explicitly endorsed and included the Article five Convention process specifically that we the People Act. that's before you today.

Uh that's why the Democratic Party of the commonwealth of Massachusetts just this past summer um on their platform and they were considering how to overturn Citizens United uh the amendment that adopted the recommendations of the Massachusetts Citizens Commission got the second most votes of any platform amendment that was proposed and the Massachusetts Democratic Party uh platform now specifically says quote Massachusetts democrats will fight for getting dark money out of elections by overturning the Citizens United ruling by adopting the multiple paths strategy Thoroughly studied and unanimously recommended by the August 2020 final report of the Massachusetts Citizens Commission. ah this amendment and the amendment adopting this recommendation, as I said, received Well over 90% of the vote and it's not4123 only the Democratic Party, it is also very powerfully favorable in the Republican Party as well. Um but the recommendation was not there to pick and choose between the different paths. The Massachusetts Citizens Commission specifically recommended quote leverage multiple paths.

That's because the volume of this problem, the scope of this problem requires that we do everything in order to overturn it. It requires the the congressional strategy that's being pushed by American Promise, it requires the convention strategy being pushed by Wolfpack. It requires the political strategy, which was another thing that the um that the Citizens4163 Commission advocated for with more awareness and that's why their work needed to continue. It's crucial that they did not say their work needed to continue and you've heard from four members of the commission so far and you can see it in the report as well.

Uh they did not say that their work needed to continue to further study The processes they did, that they understood the processes and they recommended them. What they need to do is what the 1901, a group of 1901 Pennsylvania legislators, legislators did, which was get together to spread awareness of how to amend the constitution around the country, to advocate for it uh in Congress and the state legislature through both processes, uh that's the kind of work that they need to do, and that's why I strongly support continuing the Massachusetts Citizens Commission proposal, um uh continuing the Massachusetts Citizens Commission, because that is important work that needs to be done. And it also strongly support, as does the Democratic Party and as do the vast majority of republicans, according to polls as well. Continuing the the other recommendations4226 in that proposal as well, including the we the People Act, I do not want to come back here in 10 years time and find that this baby being born today and congratulations. Um is now the age that my Children are 10 years4240 old. Looking back and asking what have you done? Thank you.

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