Calls for Constitutional Conventions

Report Outline
Budget and Abortion Issues
Constitution's Amending Process
Barriers to Another Convention
Special Focus

Budget and Abortion Issues

Drive to Require Balanced Federal Budget

Article V of the U.S. Constitution sets out the provisions for proposing amendments to the document. Amendments may be proposed either by a two-thirds vote in Congress or by a convention called at the request of two-thirds (34) of the state legislatures. The second method has not been used to amend the Constitution since the document was drawn up in 1787. But 1979 could possibly be the year the clause is invoked for the first time. Twenty-eight state legislatures have made some kind of formal call for a convention to make a balanced federal budget a constitutional imperative, and 14 have adopted resolutions calling for a convention to write an anti-abortion amendment. The budget-balancing drive, with its stronger show of legislative support, has received the most attention in Washington.

Jason Boe, president of the Oregon Senate and president of the National Conference of State Legislatures, said Jan. 15 that there is a “strong possibility” that the required total of 34 legislatures will approve such a measure by this summer. Some observers agree with Boe's prediction, but the momentum from the states appears to be slackening after a rapid thrust in the first two months of this year, when all but two of the 50 state legislatures were in session.

One reason for the slowdown, aside from fewer legislatures being in session, is the largely negative reaction from Congress. Several leading members of both parties say a constitutional amendment would tie Congress's hands, making its job more difficult, and cause the nation economic problems. The son of the House Speaker, Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Thomas P. O'Neill III, heads a newly formed national coalition of amendment foes, which held its first meeting March 9. It is likely that Congress will pass some form of budget-balancing legislation itself or propose a less-rigid constitutional amendment in an attempt to sidetrack the drive for a convention — and perhaps placate the voters back home. Regardless of the way in which any amendment is proposed — by a convention or by Congress — three-fourths (38) of the state legislatures must ratify it before it becomes part of the Constitution.