North Carolina Senate Calls for Amendments to Rein in Federal Government

Published May 31, 2017

North Carolina may become the fifth state in 2017 and 13th overall to petition Congress to convene an amendments convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution.

Senate Joint Resolution 36 applies “to Congress for an Article V Convention of the States with the purpose of proposing amendments to the United States Constitution,” the resolution states. Delegates to the convention would consider amendments setting term limits for members of Congress and limiting the federal government’s spending, power, and jurisdiction.

No Democrat Support

The North Carolina Senate approved SJR 36 by a 29–20 vote on April 26. No Democrats voted in favor of the resolution, which the Republican-controlled House is considering in its Committee on Rules, Calendar, and Operations.

Similar resolutions passed in Arizona, Missouri, North Dakota, and Texas earlier in 2017. Eight other states had passed matching resolutions by the end of 2016. Versions of the same resolution are under consideration in 14 other state legislatures.

Under Article V of the Constitution, at least two-thirds of the states, currently 34, must submit matching applications for Congress to call a convention of states. Any amendment approved by a majority of convention delegates would then have to be ratified by at least three-fourths of all states, or 38, to be added to the Constitution.

Thirty states have passed a resolution petitioning Congress to call a convention of states for the purpose of proposing a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget. Three of the 30 states passed rescission resolutions, leaving 27 state legislatures with active resolutions in favor of a convention to propose a balanced budget amendment (BBA). South Carolina and Wisconsin are currently considering BBA resolutions.

Demand for Devolution

North Carolina state Rep. Bert Jones (R-Reidsville) says it’s urgent the states pass amendments reining in the national government.

“I agree with many Americans that the federal government has overreached its constitutional role in so many areas,” Jones said. “An Article V Convention of the States is the necessary and constitutional remedy to address this problem.”

The proposed amendments could limit the federal government’s intrusion into health care and insurance markets, Jones says.

“If the federal government is restored to its proper constitutional role, the movement toward more government-controlled health care will most certainly be curtailed,” Jones said.

Arianna Wilkerson ([email protected]) is a marketing coordinator at The Heartland Institute.

Internet Info:

Arianna Wilkerson, “Missouri Calls for Amendments to Rein in Federal Government,” Health Care News, The Heartland Institute, June 2017: https://heartland.org/news-opinion/news/missouri-senate-calls-for-amendments-to-rein-in-federal-government

Arianna Wilkerson, “States Approach Threshold Required for Article V Convention,” Health Care News, The Heartland Institute, May 2017: https://heartland.org/news-opinion/news/states-approach-threshold-required-for-article-v-convention

Michael T. Hamilton, “Article V Convention of States Remains Important Under Trump,” Health Care News, February 2017: https://heartland.org/news-opinion/news/article-v-convention-of-states-remains-important-under-trump

Official Connection:

Rep. Bert Jones (R-Reidsville): http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/members/membersByDistrict.pl?sChamber=H&nDistrict=65

Image via Thinkstock