More than 40 years ago, Barry Goldwater correctly understood both the corrosive effect of money in politics and the vital importance of state sovereignty in our system. He warned:

“Our nation is facing a crisis of liberty if we do not control campaign expenditures. We must prove that elective office is not for sale. We must convince the public that elected officials are what James Madison intended us to be, agents of the sovereign people, not the hired hands of rich givers.”

With Sept. 17 being Constitution Day, the primary elections behind us, the nation turns its eyes to Arizona. We are one of only a handful of states whose voters may determine the balance of power in the halls of Congress. That distinction also means an onslaught of out-of-state and international money pouring in attempting to influence our voters. National organizations will plough untraceable money into our state, picking winners and losers without regard for what our communities or constituents need–whether our focus is water, affordability, or economic growth.

To quote Goldwater again, “Unlimited campaign spending eats at the heart of the process of self-government.”

States are meant to be the laboratories of democracy and state officials were designed to be closest to the people. As James Madison explained in Federalist 45: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite.” The Tenth Amendment is even more clear: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution… are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

The Founders entrusted to us a framework dynamic enough to carry a complex and complicated country forward 250 years and beyond. Our Constitution is ingeniously constructed to ensure that structure maintains primacy over transient politics.

As my colleague, Rep. Lisa Fink, R-27, reminded us last year, “Constitution Day is a reminder that America’s strength lies not in power concentrated in Washington, but in power shared among fifty states, thousands of communities and her citizens. Preserving that design is how we safeguard liberty for all— and how we keep faith with the Constitution.”

This Constitution Day, I want to remind the people of the great state of Arizona that your Legislature is intent on making decisions at the state level on your behalf. We are best equipped to do that when we, as your elected representatives, have the power to act. Over the last 50 years — in the same window of time when Goldwater warned of the corrosive influence of money in politics — court rulings have increasingly placed federal judges in the role of  policymakers rather than neutral arbiters when it comes to money in politics. The most effective path to restore balance over campaign finance policy and let Arizonans decide is through the constitutional amendment process provided by the Framers.

Not only can we act in Arizona — by moving resolutions such as Rep. Fink’s HCM2003 — but our federal partners are ready to act. Congressman Tom Barrett (R-MI) recently introduced H.J. Res. 191 in the 119th Congress, proposing an amendment that would restore the authority of Congress and the states to reasonably regulate campaign spending.

Amending the U.S. Constitution requires meeting a high threshold by design, but the Framers provided “We the People” with the mechanisms to reclaim self-governance when the system falls out of balance. Rep. Barrett’s amendment, consistent with Rep. Fink’s proposal this past year, opens with an intentional declaration of that sovereign authority, reaffirming that the power to protect our electoral process belongs to the citizens — not federal judges. This Constitution Day serves as a reminder that preserving the republic is ultimately the work of “We the People,” and the power to act remains in our hands.

Rep. Walt Blackman represents Legislative District 7 in the Arizona House of Representatives.