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As of 2015, twenty-seven states had passed applications to hold a national convention. These states are pushing for the opportunity to propose a constitutional amendment requiring the national government to balance its budget in the same way most states are mandated to do. For a national convention to be held, at least thirty-four states must submit applications. Thus, only seven states currently stand in the way of the first national convention in U.S. history.
Reid Wilson, “Conservative Lawmakers Weigh Bid to Call for Constitutional Convention,”
Washington Post , 4 April 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/conservative-lawmakers-weigh-bid-to-call-for-constitutional-convention/2015/04/04/b25d4f1e-db02-11e4-ba28-f2a685dc7f89_story.html.
Proponents see the convention as an opportunity to propose an amendment they argue is necessary to reduce federal spending and promote fiscal responsibility. Conservatives and Tea Party members believe reducing the deficit is important to maintaining the country’s future economic health and its competitive strength in global markets. They also believe the growing roster of states favoring a convention may encourage Congress to take action on its own.
Opponents feel a balanced budget amendment is not realistic given the need for emergency spending in the event of an economic recession. They also worry about the spending cuts and/or tax increases the federal government would have to impose to consistently balance the budget. Some states fear a balanced-budget requirement would limit the federal government’s ability to provide them with continued fiscal support. Finally, other opponents argue that states balance only their operating budgets, while themselves assuming massive amounts of debt for capital projects.
But perhaps the greatest fear is of the unknown. A national convention is unprecedented, and there is no limit to the number of amendments delegates to such a convention might propose. However, such changes would still need to be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures or state conventions before they could take effect.
What are the potential benefits of a national constitutional convention? What are the risks? Are the benefits worth the risks? Why or why not?
Despite the Constitution’s broad grants of state authority, one of the central goals of the Anti-Federalists, a group opposed to several components of the Constitution, was to preserve state government authority, protect the small states, and keep government power concentrated in the hands of the people. For this reason, the Tenth Amendment was included in the Bill of Rights to create a class of powers, known as reserved powers, exclusive to state governments. The amendment specifically reads, “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.” In essence, if the Constitution does not decree that an activity should be performed by the national government and does not restrict the state government from engaging in it, then the state is seen as having the power to perform the function. In other words, the power is reserved to the states.
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