Originally Posted: March 21, 2017
The following is from the March 21, 2017, edition of KUT public radio of Austin. SMU Political Science Professor Cal Jillson provided expertise for this story.
Gov. Greg Abbott spent more than a year speaking and writing about the need to pass a series of amendments to the U.S. Constitution, in order limit the power of the federal government. His chosen vehicle: invoking Article V of the Constitution to call a “convention of states.”
So when Abbott took the stage to deliver his State of the State message in January, there was every reason to expect he would spotlight the issue. But Abbott went one step further, designating it as one of his top four priorities for the legislative session.
“Senator Birdwell and Representative Phil King, you know as well as I do that the future of America cannot wait for tomorrow,” he said. “So I am declaring this an emergency item today.”
The two men Abbott singled out had already filed bills and supporting resolutions for a convention. They want to pass amendments to the U.S. Constitution that, among other things, would require a balanced federal budget and impose term limits on members of Congress.
Which got listener Jessica Larson thinking: that seems like a pretty tall order. So she asked us, “What would this require? How likely is it?”
A native of Chicago, Larson now works as a statistician for an Austin-based biotech company. She says, for most of her life, the country has been more or less balanced between Republicans and Democrats. Today, Republicans dominate the national government and almost two-thirds of the state governments.
“The idea that we would have a new constitution just because the Republicans seem to hold the majority of power nationwide was a bit shocking to me,” Larson says.
Professor Cal Jillson says he thinks that’s exactly why supporters of such a convention are acting now. Jillson, who teaches political science at Southern Methodist University, says some Republicans see this as the perfect time to lock in key conservative preferences, “because they may not, will not always control as much of government in the United States as they do today.” READ MORE OR LISTEN