Amendment Of Constitution Procedure In Pennsylvania
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Amendments Proposed by Congress Passage by Congress. Proposed amendment language must be approved by a two-thirds vote of both houses. Notification of the states. Ratification by three-fourths of the states. Tracking state actions. Announcement.
The amendment process is very difficult and time consuming: A proposed amendment must be passed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress, then ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states.
The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures.
Most of the states (36 of 49) require legislatures to approve the amendments during one legislative session. An additional four states require amendments to be passed during one or two successive legislative sessions, depending on whether the amendment receives a simple majority or supermajority.
The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures.
An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, or, if two-thirds of the States request one, by a convention called for that purpose. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each State for ratification.
Article V states the amendment process. The first ten amendments could be subject to change, modification or repeal, just like any other part of the constitution.
Congress must call a convention for proposing amendments upon application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the states (i.e., 34 of 50 states). Amendments proposed by Congress or convention become valid only when ratified by the legislatures of, or conventions in, three-fourths of the states (i.e., 38 of 50 states).
