Nationally syndicated talk radio host Phil Valentine will be moderating a legislative forum in Nashville Monday on the calling of a constitutional convention to rein in federal government growth and spending.
The event, hosted by Convention of the States, is being held with the goal of getting a Senate Joint Resolution passed by the Tennessee House in the coming session.
Convention of the States is a project launched by Citizens for Self-Governance with “the purpose of stopping the runaway power of the federal government,” according to the group’s Web page.
SJR0067, which is co-sponsored by Republican senators Mark Green of Clarksville and Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro, passed the Senate during the 2015 legislative session by a vote of 23-5.
The purpose of the measure is to call an Article V Convention of States that will be “limited to proposing amendments to the United States Constitution 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.”
This push for a Convention of States has been active the past couple of years, and has had its resolution introduced in 41 states since 2014. The measure also has passed its first committee vote in 21 state legislatures, passed its first floor vote in 15 states and has been fully approved by the legislature in four states, said Norman Bobo, Tennessee Convention of States’ deputy state director.
The four states that have fully approved the measure are (continue reading)