Texas Governor Greg Abbott earlier this year called for a “Convention of States,” keeping in line with one of the ballot propositions asserting Texas’s 10th Amendment rights.
On March 1, Texas voters overwhelmingly passed four propositions, including Proposition 4, which states:
Texas and its citizens should strongly assert 10th Amendment Rights guaranteed by the US Constitution which states “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
Voter support to enforce the U.S. Constitution follows Abbott’s announcement for the need to hold a Convention of States. Abbott asserted earlier this year:
THE INCREASINGLY FREQUENT DEPARTURES FROM CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES ARE DESTROYING THE RULE OF LAW FOUNDATION ON WHICH THIS COUNTRY WAS BUILT. WE ARE SUCCUMBING TO THE CAPRICE OF MAN THAT OUR FOUNDERS FOUGHT TO ESCAPE. THE CURE TO THESE PROBLEMS WILL NOT COME FROM WASHINGTON D.C. INSTEAD, THE STATES MUST LEAD THE WAY. TO DO THAT I AM ADDING ANOTHER ITEM TO THE AGENDA NEXT SESSION. I WANT LEGISLATION AUTHORIZING TEXAS TO JOIN OTHER STATES IN CALLING FOR A CONVENTION OF STATES TO FIX THE CRACKS IN OUR CONSTITUTION.”
He also told Fox News:
THE SUPREME COURT IS A CO-CONSPIRATOR IN ABANDONING THE CONSTITUTION. INSTEAD OF APPLYING LAWS AS WRITTEN, IT EMBARRASSINGLY STRAINS TO REWRITE LAWS LIKE OBAMACARE.”
The Convention is based on Article V of the United States Constitution, which became law on September 17, 1787. Twelve states represented by 39 signers declared the Constitution as the foundation for their new rule of government. Bound by Oath or Affirmation, they chose to support and defend what would become known as the most revolutionary legal document to exist since the Magna Carta.
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution,or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states,or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
If a convention is convened, it will be the first time since 1787. But first, it would require 34 states to convene, and another 38 state to pass an amendment.
In addition to calling for a convention, Abbott proposed that nine amendments to the Constitution be considered and voted on by the states. They are:
- Prohibit Congress from regulating activity that occurs wholly within one State.
- Require Congress to balance its budget.
- Prohibit administrative agencies—and the unelected bureaucrats that staff them—from creating federal law.
- Prohibit administrative agencies—and the unelected bureaucrats that staff them—from preempting state law.
- Allow a two-thirds majority of the States to override a U.S. Supreme Court decision.
- Require a seven-justice super-majority vote for U.S. Supreme Court decisions that invalidate a democratically enacted law.
- Restore the balance of power between the federal and state governments by limiting the former to the powers expressly delegated to it in the Constitution.
- Give state officials the power to sue in federal court when federal officials overstep their bounds.
- Allow a two-thirds majority of the States.
Although Abbott’s plan was denounced by several liberal groups, support for the convention has grown nationally.
In 2014, Alaska, Florida, and Georgia, passed resolutions calling for a convention to restrain federal government overreach. Later, Arizona, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming also introduced resolutions supporting a convention to ensure fiscal restraint and limit the federal government’s power.
States continue to vote for or against participating in a convention. Most recently, the Kansas Legislature voted against it. Newsmax reported that 34 states support a convention, but this is inaccurate due to a difference among state resolutions that are not identical, and between those that passed balanced budget amendments or resolutions calling for a Convention of States.
Texas voters asserting their 10th Amendment rights, follows failed attempts made within the Republican Party to include a proposition on the March 1 ballot asking voters to affirm/reject Texas’s right to succeed.
March 10, 2016