Nearly six years after the Texas Legislature passed a resolution calling for a Convention of States, the Texas Senate has doubled down on the proposition.
Though the mechanism has never been used before, under Article V of the United States Constitution, two-thirds of states can call a Convention of States in order to propose constitutional amendments for states to ratify.
Texas passed a resolution in 2017 calling for an Article V Convention for the purpose of “proposing one or more amendments to the Constitution to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, to limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government and to limit the terms of office of federal officials and members of Congress.”
The original resolution expired after eight years. Senate Joint Resolution 52 by State Sen. Brian Birdwell (R–Granbury) extends that number to 16 years.
After short debate, the Senate gave initial approval to the proposal on a 19-12 party line vote.
So far, Texas is one of 19 states that have passed a resolution calling for a Convention of States.
The resolution must be voted on once more in the Senate before being sent over to the House.
