Big picture…
Our Constitution was intended to last, and to that end, it was also designed to be amended. Fortunately, that amendment process was made very difficult. Any proposed amendment has to be passed (ratified) by three-fourths of the states before it becomes part of the Constitution. Question is – where does the text for those amendments come from?
As outlined in Article V of the Constitution itself, Congress may propose an amendment by passing the identical text with a two-thirds majority in BOTH the House and the Senate. Not impossible, as it has happened 27 times, but a pretty high bar. But why haven’t we seen any amendments for a balanced budget or term limits on representatives? Both of these ideas are very popular with the American people. Well, you know why. Congress doesn’t want to propose amendments that would limit its power.
The Founding Fathers knew, and discussed in Philadelphia, that Congress would never propose amendments curtailing federal power – only the states would do that. So, they created a second path to drafting the text for a proposed amendment: a Convention of States (COS). Often called an Article V Convention, this is simply a way of drafting amendments that does not involve Congress. Once the convention is called for by two-thirds of the states and the proposed amendment is crafted, it still must follow the path of ratification by three-fourths of the states.
So far, every amendment we have in the Constitution has been created by Congress. But here is something you probably don’t know. Back around 1911, the people wanted to be able to elect their Senators and started the process of convening a COS to draft the amendment. They reached 30 states (the magic number being two-thirds of states, or 34), and Congress realized they would lose control of the language. So what did Congress do? They quickly passed their own version of the text of what would become the 17th Amendment and sent it out for ratification. (NOTE: The 17th amendment proved to be a bad idea, but we can discuss that at another time).
There have been (and are currently) a lot of groups trying to call an Article V Convention. So far, none have succeeded, but as in 1913, some have come close. The most radical (rescinding the 2nd amendment, for instance) would need the approval of 34 states to even call the convention and then 34 states to vote to pass the amendment out of the convention. Since every state only gets one vote, all it would take is 13 states to walk out, and the whole process dies right there. This is why almost every radically liberal, progressive group in America has joined the fight against a COS. They know that any amendments from such a convention will not favor their anti-American ideology.
Georgia was one of the first states to call for an Article V convention way back in 2014, and I am proud to say that I was the State Legislative Liason for that effort, driven by the Convention of States Project. Now Georgia has three pieces of legislation to join other Convention of States projects. All are Resolutions, meaning they do not need to pass both chambers or be signed by the Governor.
HR 258 – A Convention only for proposing an amendment to term limit Congress.
SR 23 – Companion bill to HR 258. Has a LOT of Senators as sponsors, will probably pass.
SR 262 – Calls for a convention to develop a Balanced Budget Amendment. If this passes, Georgia would join similar resolutions from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, NewHampshire, NewJersey, NewYork, NorthCarolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Utah, WestVirginia, Wyoming, and Wisconsin.
Want to read more from some smart people? Here are a few resources…
Convention of States Citizens Pocket Guide
Overcoming Common Objections to an Article V Convention
The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic – Mark Levin