Guest Blog: Push for National Convention Would Put Constitution Up for Grabs and Lead to Major School Funding Cuts
Today's guest blog post comes from Michael Leachman,Director of State Fiscal Research,Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities.
As state legislative
sessions begin, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and related
groups are ramping up a nationwide campaign to
convene a constitutional
convention that would propose amendments stripping the federal government
of much of its power and leading to damaging funding cuts for the nation’s
schools and other priorities.
Here’s the
background. Under Article V of the Constitution, Congress must call
a convention to propose constitutional amendments if two-thirds of the states
formally request one. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, many states
passed resolutions calling for a convention to propose a federal balanced budget
amendment. At one point, 32 states had passed resolutions along these
lines, close to the 34 states required. But over the next 25 years, no
more states passed resolutions and half of the states that had passed
resolutions formally rescinded them, fearing that a convention would throw
open the Constitution to harmful changes.
The tide turned in 2010 as
ALEC and its allies began pushing
anew for state resolutions. Since then, 11 states have adopted new
resolutions calling for a convention to propose a balanced budget
amendment. Some proponents
claim that 27 states have “live” applications, including those passed in the
late ‘70s and early ‘80s but never rescinded. They’ve targeted
another 13 states for the coming year.
If they succeed in seven of these states – a real possibility – they
could claim to have met the 34-state threshold that forces Congress to call a
convention.
In the past
year, a separate but similar effort to use Article V to call a
constitutional convention also has gained momentum. It’s being pushed by
the Convention of
States Project, whose model
resolution calls for a convention to propose amendments “that
impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and
jurisdiction of the federal government and limit the terms of office for its
officials and for members of Congress.” Alabama, Alaska, Florida, and
Georgia passed this sort of resolution in the last two years, and the
Convention of States Project is targeting other states.
The movement has the vocal
support of some well-known
hard-core conservatives. ALEC claims that legislative leaders in some
30 states are committed to the effort.
These unfolding events are
highly alarming. The Constitution provides for no authority above that of
a convention, so once a convention is called it’s not clear that anyone could
stop it from proposing any number of drastic changes to our system of government.
Indeed, constitutional
experts from the late Chief Justice Warren Burger to Justice Antonin Scalia to
Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe have warned that
a constitutional convention would place the nation in uncharted territory,
putting the Constitution up for grabs. Delegates could even choose to
alter the rules for ratifying amendments — just as the 1787 convention that
drafted the Constitution did — such as by calling for ratification by national
referendum rather than approval by three-fourths of the states.
Further, no rules have been
established for conducting this sort of convention. How would delegates
be selected? Would each state get the same number of delegates? How
many votes would be needed to approve a proposed amendment? With so much
at stake, these issues would likely be fought out in a highly partisan
atmosphere heavily influenced by large political donors. And with
Congress and 31 state legislatures under full Republican control, the rules
could be set in a way that helps ALEC and its allies advance radical changes
they’d never get through normal legislative procedures.
At the very least, these
changes likely would include balanced budget
amendment, which alone would be a disaster for the nation's schools and
the economy more broadly. During a major
recession, this sort of amendment would likely lead to massive cuts in
federal support for schools and other public services delivered at the state
and local levels. Large cuts in federal
spending, in turn, would worsen job losses
during recessions, causing unnecessary pain for families across the country –
pain that would add to stress and other difficulties for children in school.
Even if the effort to call
for a convention fails, it could build momentum for Congress to propose a
balanced budget amendment or other harmful amendments directly to the states.
ALEC and its allies are
working hard to convince state lawmakers that a convention is safe and that
states can easily control it. That’s simply not the case, and a large
number of groups are gearing up to educate state lawmakers about the dangerous
realities of a constitutional convention.
With state legislatures in session over the next few months, now
is a good time to connect with others concerned about these resolutions in your
state. You can do so by contacting the group in your state belonging to
the State Priorities Partnership
(our network of state fiscal policy organizations) or the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities. There’s a great
deal at stake.