Earlier this month, West Virginia became the 18th state to join the Convention of States movement when both the house and the senate of its legislature agreed to the Article V resolution within a single hour!
Oftentimes there is back and forth or delays or a failure of one chamber of a legislature to launch said resolution. This case with West Virginia stands out on two fronts: (1) it demonstrated a more-than-eager representative class to get the motion passed and (2) being the 18th to officially join the cause is a record number in U.S. history.
Article V of the Constitution of the United States clearly states, in part,
...on the Application of two thirds of the Legislatures of the several States, [Congress] shall call a Convention for proposing amendments.
Only one way to amend the Constitution has been used thus far: having a threshold be met by the Legislature in Washington D.C. This second process, called a Convention of States (just outlined) calls for a threshold of the various states' legislatures to be met to get the same job done.
Proponents of an Article V Convention of States believe that Washington's way of doing it isn't working and that the second option provided by the Constitution (like placing term limits via a Convention) is the only way to succeed in reforming D.C.
To see how you can participate in the COS movement, go to our Projects Page and learn more!