HCR5027 applies to the Congress of the United States to call a convention of the states. 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 House of Representatives rejected HCR5027 on March 9, 2022 by a vote of 76 to 43. To pass, the House needed to pass HCR5027 with a 2/3 majority. We have assigned pluses to the nays because 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. HCR5027 should be opposed in favor of less risky, more precise, and immediate solutions that would restore power back to the states and to the people, such as clear-cut proposals in Congress to repeal bad amendments or state nullification of specific unauthorized federal laws.