SCR1611 applies Kansas to an Article V Convention to propose amendments to limit federal power. This vote was to send SCR1611 back to committee. This legislation followed the wording of Mark Meckler’s Convention of States Project, or COS Project, application, urging Congress to call a convention to propose amendments “that impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government and limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress.
The Kansas State Senate passed SCR1611 on May 5, 2021 by a vote of 21 to 19. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because the motion was to send SCR1611 back to committee, which essentially kills the bill. A so-called “Convention of the States” would not be of “limited” purpose. The vague and contradictory text contained in this joint resolution dangerously permits what Article V of the U.S. Constitution describes as a “Convention for proposing Amendments” or second constitutional convention. Notably, Article V of the U.S. Constitution was designed to correct structural deficiencies in the federal government, not the behavior of its elected officials.