The 27th Amendment requires that no change in compensation for a Representative or a Senator “shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened.”
The amendment was originally proposed in 1789 by James Madison, as part of his list of twelve amendments to the Constitution. Ten of those were adopted to become the Bill of Rights. Needing the votes of ten states at the time, the amendment received only six. It finally passed in 1992, following a letter writing campaign to state legislators by a University of Texas student, Gregory Watson. Maryland was the first state to ratify the amendment in 1789; Illinois the last in 1992. The 27th Amendment is the latest amendment to be ratified.
Two notable proposed amendments that failed ratification due to the expiration of the ratification period specified by Congress are the Equal Rights Amendment, proposed in 1972, and the Washington D.C. Voting Rights Amendment, proposed in 1978. Click here for an explanation of the ratification process.
Reblogged this on lisaleaks and commented:
Two notable proposed amendments that failed ratification due to the expiration of the ratification period specified by Congress are the Equal Rights Amendment, proposed in 1972, and the Washington D.C. Voting Rights Amendment, proposed in 1978. Click here for an explanation of the ratification process.
its great and all, but why was it important for the pay rises to take effect after the coming election
It was needed so that no person could vote themselves a raise without the opportunity for the public to object. If the congress members voted themselves a million-dollar raise (or a one-dollar raise) and we objected we could vote them out of office and they would never get the money. They can only vote a raise for those we vote into office in the next election.
note: Senators could still vote themselves a raise since it only states “election of representatives shall have intervened.” So a Senator could still get the million dollars for possibly 2 or 4 years depending on their term expiration unless the very next Congress voted to rescind the raise before those Senators actually got any of the money.
In regards to those two proposes amendments failing because of the expiration of the ratification period specified by Congress, it is an open question if congress is allowed under the Constitution to set an expiration date.
Precedent is that legislatures cannot rescind ratification as shown by the acceptance of a number of amendments even though some states tried to rescind ratifications.
The wording of the Constitution Article 5 says “after ratification” and does not say anything like – when 3/4 of states have current ratifications.
And precedence is that amendments can be ratified up to 203 years after proposal as shown by the 1st proposed amendment in the original bill of rights legislation as written by Madison being ratified as the 27th amendment 203 years later.
The wording of Article 5 is Congress “shall propose amendments” and says nothing about Congress being able to un-propose amendments.
This question wil have to be tested in the Supreme Court and will likely be so tested now that the ERA has been ratified by the 38th state.