A recent townhall meeting hosted by the Convention of States project included impassioned testimony from both the Governor’s office and state lawmakers calling for Texas to join other states to limit the power of a runaway federal government.

At the onset of the Fort Worth gathering, a powerful and persuasive call to action was given by Gov. Greg Abbott’s Deputy Counsel, Andrew Oldham, who declared, “the rule of law [in America] is no more.”

“[Over] 90% of federal laws are not created, or voted on, by Congress,” Oldham said. “They are decreed by unelected bureaucrats wholly unaccountable to the American people.”

The Texas Plan, released in January 2016 by Abbott, recommended specific amendments to the U.S. Constitution be adopted, reforms aimed at restoring governing power back to state legislatures and their people.

It contained two recommendations targeting each federal branch – the Executive, Congress, and the Supreme Court – all three of which have abused their authority and trampled the civil and economic rights of Americans.

The event included speeches by State Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) and Rep. Matt Rinaldi (R-Irving) who attended the first-ever simulated Article V Convention held last week in Williamsburg, VA. Lawmakers from each of the fifty states attended the historic gathering.

Birdwell made a passionate plea for citizens to support the reform movement that he said would allow the states to check the federal government’s power.

“The federal government is incapable of fixing itself. The customer of the federal legislature [has become] itself, not the American people it’s elected to serve. The federal legislature treats the states as subcontractors [who exist] to execute its policies and perform the way it wants them to.”

Birdwell reiterated the simulated convention was not dominated by ideological conservatives, tea party-aligned lawmakers, or Republicans, but rather a broad and diverse group of lawmakers from across the political spectrum.

“Democrats from Rhode Island and Republicans from Texas differed on specific policy, but agreed the federal government is wildly out of control.”

Rinaldi addressed inquiries from the audience who questioned whether or not an Article V Convention of States would be effective in limiting a government who they feel has ignored the limits already outlined in the constitution.

In addition to comments made during the townhall, Rinaldi submitted the following statement to the Texas Scorecard addressing those concerns:

“The constitution has been amended by the Supreme Court with decades of jurisprudence that have inappropriately expanded the power of each federal branch. The constitution adhered to the federal government today is now over 4,000 pages long, and although it has been effectively – and unlawfully – changed, the framers gave the states a tool to undo what the SCOTUS has done, and what Congress continues to fail to do—unilaterally adopt amendments that limit the federal government’s power.”

The meeting also featured State Reps. Stephanie Klick (R-Fort Worth) and Jonathan Stickland (R-Bedford), both whose districts cover Tarrant County.

The Convention of States project claims to have thousands of volunteers in Texas, and over 1.45 million supports across the nation, with supporters in every single state legislative district.

Ross Kecseg

Ross Kecseg was the president of Texas Scorecard. He passed away in 2020. A native North Texan, he was raised in Denton County. Ross studied Economics at Arizona State University with an emphasis on Public Policy and U.S. Constitutional history. Ross was an avid golfer, automotive enthusiast, and movie/music junkie. He was a loving husband and father.