For decades Article V Convention promoters have long held that all of the applications applying for a convention have to be the same or worded very similar, in order for Congress to call a convention intended for that purpose. This means that there is one track or list for a specific convention. No single track has reached the required number of states, 34, for Congress to call a convention. This has made some longtime convention promoters very impatient, and they want to dispense with tradition.
At the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)’s 2020 annual summit, former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker unveiled a plan. It would have states to sue Congress in order to utilize outdated state applications and unrelated Con-Con applications all for the express purpose of Congress calling a constitutional convention to propose a Balanced Budget Amendment.
David Biddulph, the co-founder of Let Us Vote for a BBA (Balanced Budget Amendment), also promoted the same scheme at the 2020 ALEC gathering. Biddulph proposed taking the then-28 active state resolutions seeking a Balanced Budget Amendment and combining them with six non-BBA Con-Con applications.
These extremely old Article V Convention applications, include:
- New York’s 1789 convention application for a Bill of Rights;
- New Jersey’s 1861 application for a convention to prevent the American Civil War
- Kentucky’s 1861 Con-Con application to prevent the Civil War;
- Illinois’s 1861 Con-Con application to prevent the Civil War;
- Oregon’s 1901 Con-Con application for the direct election of U.S. senators; and
- Washington state’s 1901 general Con-Con application, which was also motivated by a desire for a constitutional amendment for the direct election of senators.
Biddulph also recommended litigation to force Congress to call a convention. His plan proposes recruiting state attorneys general to file lawsuits demanding that Congress recognize that such a convention is long overdue, based on this dubious aggregation of different Con-Con applications. He stated,
“We think that the shortest path to actually getting a date for an Article V convention is through the Supreme Court,” he said. “That is definitely not through Congress.”
On March 14, 2023, Representative Jodey Arrington of Texas introduced House Concurrent Resolution 24 (of the 118th Congress). In which “Congress hereby calls a Convention for proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States for a date and place to be determined on calling the Convention.”
These convention advocates claim the minimum number of states required for Congress to call a constitutional convention was already met.
According to the bill, “congressional and State records of plenary applications for amendments on any subject and applications for the single subject of Inflation-fighting Fiscal Responsibility Amendments compiled by the Article V Library counts Nevada’s “continuing” application, reported February 8, 1979, in the Congressional Record, as the 34th thus achieving the “two thirds” congressional mandate to call the Convention for proposing amendments; congressional records reported 39 applications by the end of 1979, 40 in 1983, and 42 total applications over time.”
Once again, they are inflating the numbers with unrelated/non-BBA Con-Con applications. Applications intended for a specific purpose ought not to be combined with applications for a general convention or unrelated purpose.
It’s imperative that we recognize these deceptive schemes and warn others about them in order to protect our Constitution and keep our Republic!
Learn more about Article V and the amendment process by visiting JBS.org.