Texas last week joined ten other states now calling for a Convention of States to limit the federal government's power.
The Texas House on Thursday joined the Senate in voting to call for an Article V Convention of States. Senate Joint Resolution 2, which passed on a 94-51 vote, doesn’t require the governor’s signature.
Gov. Greg Abbott made the convention one of his top four priorities this legislative session. But Charles "Rocky" Rhodes, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, says this is still a long way from happening.
“So they have 23 states left to go to call this convention, then anything that got out of the convention would have to be ratified by three-fourths of the states, or 38 of the states,” says Rhodes.
And there have been calls for a Convention of States dating back more than 100 years.
“One concern that Congress has always had about this is if you call a convention of the states, they may come up with a totally new constitution, and if three-fourths of the states ratify that, in the end that's our new constitution,” says Rhodes.
If anything, Rhodes says it forces Congress to act on whatever the states are upset about.
“Sometimes when these Convention of States calls in the past have gotten enough momentum behind them, Congress has stepped in because they want to keep control of the process rather than open it up to a convention of the states where you're really not sure what's going to come out of that convention,” he says.
However, Rhodes points out there are currently 28 states on board for a convention to force the feds into passing a balanced budget.