Research Guides: State Constitutions: M

Maine

Amendment Process
- Constitutional Provision – Article X, Additional Provisions, Section 4

Pending Amendments
- Bill Tracking and Text Search
  - Select the session you would like to search
  - Then from the option list on the left, select Major Subject, and from the associated drop-down menu, select Constitution of Maine, then hit search (you don’t have to fill in any other fields)
Historical Amendments Considered
- Enacted Constitutional Amendments, 1834-
  - Maine amendments (enacted only), 1834-2011
- Proposed Constitutional Amendments, 1820-
  - Maine amendments, proposed and enacted, 1820-2011
Resources, Artifacts and Documents
- Maine Law and Legislation Digital Library

Pending Amendments
- On the "Legislation by Session" page of the Maryland General Assembly website, use the "Narrow Subjects" filter to focus on "Constitutional Amendments" and retrieve Constitutional amendments dating back to the 1996 Regular Session.
Historical Amendments Considered
- Prior Session Information
  - This page will allow you to access a listing of proposed amendments from 1996 to 2011; in order to access these, you will click on the check mark in the row labeled Subject Indexes and in the column of the year you wish to examine. This will take you to the subject index for that year – scroll the subject listing until you get to Constitutional Amendments, then click Search. You will be directed to a list of proposed amendments, which will tell you who proposed it and what the ultimate disposition was. By clicking on the bill number, you can see a more detailed legislative history of the proposed amendment.

Resources, Artifacts and Documents
- Archives of Maryland Online, Constitutional Records
  - Provides electronic access to several helpful resources, such as past versions of the constitution and Maryland constitutional conventions, as well as articles written about the state constitution

Pending Amendments
- Proposal for Constitutional Amendment
  - Search resulting from searching ‘constitution AND amend’ limited by document type to Proposal for Constitutional Amendment
Historical Amendments Considered
- Proposed amendments at the 1821 state constitutional convention
Resources, Artifacts and Documents
- John Adams and the Massachusetts Constitution (from MA Supreme Judicial Court)

Amendment Process (Article XII)
- Citizen’s Research Council, No. 360-03, March 2010, CRC Special Report: Michigan Constitutional Issues, “Amending the Michigan Constitution: Trends and Issues”
  - In addition to explaining the two ways constitutional amendments can be proposed in Michigan, this report also provides an historical analysis of attempted constitutional amendments and highlights constitutional provisions often targeted for amendment. The report also provides charts of the number of amendment attempts, both successful and unsuccessful.

Pending Amendments
- Joint Resolutions Search
  - By selecting a session of either the House or the Senate (from the 1995/96 session to the present session), you can browse the proposed amendments of that session. If you select a specific joint resolution to look at you will be directed to a PDF of the resolution in its current form and a table that shows the resolution’s history and status in the legislature.

Pending Amendments
- “Hot List”
  - List of proposed laws on popular topics; amendments listed under Constitutional Amendment

Resources, Artifacts and Documents
- Original constitution of Minnesota, provided by Minnesota Historical Society

Pending Amendments
- Mississippi Legislative Bill Status System Global Text Search
  - Search interface; select a session (1999 to present); from right-hand side of screen that appears, select “all legislation” and play around with search terms (‘amend constitution’ appears to be quite successful)
  - The downside to this interface is that it is difficult to tell the status of the proposed amendment; the search results may bring up different drafts of the same proposal, which can be helpful in your research, but will require your understanding of the language they use to identify the various stages of a bill, which is not immediately clear.

Resources, Artifacts and Documents
- Enabling Act of Colorado
- Sturm College of Law (Denver), Research Guide: Researching Pending [Colorado] Legislation
  - Although this is more focused on statutory legislative history, this resource does provide helpful advice for navigating and searching the pending legislation portion of the Colorado General Assembly website.

Pending Amendments
- Senate
  - Topical Index: select “C” and scroll down to/click on Constitutional Amendment
- House of Representatives
  - Subject Index: select “C” and scroll down to/click on Constitutional Amendments
Historical Amendments Considered
- Past Session Archives
  - Past session archives – select a session (1995 to present), then select Subject Index for that session and look under C for Constitutional Amendments

Resources, Artifacts and Documents
- University of Missouri Digital Library, “Missouri Constitutions & Related Documents”

Historical Amendments Considered
- Legislative BIll Search
  - 1999 to present – after selecting a session to search, the process follows that listed under “Pending Amendments
- Constitutional Amendments Introduced in the Legislative Assembly, 1889-1969
Resources, Artifacts and Documents
- From Montana Courts Library site, Constitutional and State Law Resources
  - Contains links to past versions of the state constitution, as well as proceedings and rules of the constitutional convention