In Maine, an ALEC bill to support a rewrite the US Constitution

In yesterday's Portland Press Herald, I have another story involving a model text from the American Legislative Exchange Council making being introduced in the Maine legislature.

This one has national implications: a resolution to have Maine become the 13th state to call for a constitutional convention under Article V of the US Constitution, which would allow delegates to amend or theoretically completely rewrite the nation's fundamental document. It takes 34 states to make the effort binding.

Critics -- including the late Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia and Warren Burger -- have warned that since there are no rules laid out for how such a convention would function, absolutely anything could happen.

How did the text wind up in Maine? How is it up for a floor vote as early as tomorrow? Read on to find out.

I've written about ALEC in Maine three other times in the past month, including this article and a follow up  on a bill that would prevent towns from building high-speed broadband networks and this article on another that would prevent them from passing pesticide ordinances.