Tennessee calls for convention of states to adopt balanced budget amendment

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Saying they can avoid a “runaway” convention for “crazy or radical ideas,” Republican state legislators are filing legislation calling for a convention of states in Nashville to adopt a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

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Lawmakers contend Congress isn’t addressing the matter even though Republican President-elect Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton called the national debt a major issue during the 2016 campaign.

With that in mind, Kelsey and state Rep. Dennis Powers, a Jacksboro Republican, want to set up a planning convention in Nashville for July 11 to set the rules for an Article V Convention to amend the Constitution and recommend to Congress a date and location for state delegates to meet.

Legislatures would choose seven delegates and seven alternates to attend a convention, and each state would have one vote.

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Congress has amended the U.S. Constitution 28 times, but no convention of states has been held since 1861 when an effort was made to avert the Civil War, Kelsey said.

Twenty-eight of the 34 states needed to hold a convention of states have passed resolutions calling for a balanced budget amendment, and Kelsey said Tennessee legislators are targeting nine more states to take action this year.

The planning convention would address the possibility of a “runaway convention,” a situation in which some people fear states would push for amendments outside the scope of a balanced budget measure. The planning convention, which would be presided over by Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, would set the issue to be discussed at the national convention.

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