Texas Governor Wants to Add Nine New Amendments to the Constitution

Thomson ReutersTexas governor Greg Abbott speaks during an interview on the floor of the New York Stock ExchangeTexas Governor Greg Abbott called for a conference of the states to add new nine amendments to the U.S. Constitution, saying the U.S. Congress, the President and U.S. Supreme Court are eroding the rule of law in the country. Thirty-four states would have to agree for a national convention to occur. For starters, the USA has never actually had a constitutional convention. His policy paper argues the Constitution “leaves it to the states to limit the scope of the convention”.

The Constitution has been amended 27 times, most recently in 1992.

Nonetheless, if the group’s amendments appealed only to conservatives, it would be a hard task.

Among other ideas, he would prohibit administrative agencies from pre-empting state law. Republicans don’t have full control of numerous state houses they lead, meaning Democrats may be able to block proposals, and several of the GOP governors are in blue states that could switch hands in upcoming elections.

As laid out in Article V of the document itself, one is for Congress to propose an amendment that has been approved by two- thirds of the members in both chambers of Congress. The other is for two thirds of all state legislatures to call for a constitutional convention to propose amendments.

His proposed amendments range from requiring Congress to pass a balanced budget to allowing states to overrule Supreme Court decisions.

“5. Allow a two-thirds majority of the States to override a U.S. Supreme Court decision”.

By law, if 34 states ask for a constitutional convention, they may meet to consider changes.

Critics of the convention approach say the constitutional rules governing a meeting of the states could allow for a “runaway convention”, in which an unlimited number of amendments could be offered, potentially creating drastic changes to the U.S. Constitution.

“Restore the balance of power between the federal and state governments by limiting the former to the powers expressly delegated to it in the Constitution”.

Give state officials the power to sue in federal court when federal officials overstep their bounds. According to the Houston Chronicle, Abbott is not calling for a special session of the current Texas legislature, meaning the issue will have to wait for 2017 to be considered by lawmakers in the state.