Piece 15 of 15
Model legislation
A real bill you can put in a legislator's hands, in three sizes.
There is a moment when organizing stops being a movement and becomes a political fact, and it is the day a real instrument gets filed in your statehouse with your state's name on it. This is that instrument, in three sizes. You do not have to draft anything from scratch. You adapt what is here to your state and put it in a legislator's hands.
Where the right comes from
Your state constitution almost certainly says it already: all political power is inherent in the people, who have the right to alter, reform, or abolish their government as they think expedient. That clause, usually near the front of your state's Bill of Rights, is the ground every one of these stands on. The vote is not asking permission to decide. It is the people deciding.
The vote is not a request for permission. It is the people exercising a right they already hold.
Three rungs. File the one that fits your state.
- A self-determination resolution: Non-binding. It affirms the people's right to decide their own future. The easiest thing on the list to say yes to, and it puts your legislators on the record.
- A study commission: Directs the state to study, officially, the costs and benefits of independence. Hard to vote against, because a no vote is a vote against finding out. If it passes, it produces official state numbers.
- A self-determination referendum: The big one. It puts the question to the voters, modeled on the Texas Independence Referendum Act, which has been filed three times. On a yes, the people have decided, and the state is directed to secure it by lawful and peaceful means.
Most states are not ready for the referendum on day one. The resolution and the study commission are the on-ramps. And if your state lets citizens put measures on the ballot directly, that petition may be a stronger path than any bill. Start where your state actually is.
Model self-determination resolution
Rung one. Non-binding. Affirms the people's right to decide.
Download the PDFModel independence study commission act
Rung two. Directs an official study, and produces real numbers.
Download the PDFModel self-determination referendum act
Rung three. Puts the question to the voters. The Texas Independence Referendum Act analog.
Download the PDFBefore anyone files it
These are models, not finished bills. Every state's constitution and rules are different, so adapt the text to yours, cite your state's own clause, and have a lawyer in your state review it before it is filed. We supply the template and the know-how. You and your legislator file it and carry it. What you build is yours.
One last thing, and it matters. The filing is the win. The Texas bill was filed three times and never got a hearing, and it moved the entire conversation. Do not promise a victory next session. Promise a bill with your state's name on it, a public conversation on your terms, and every legislator on the record. That is how it starts.