Charleston Daily Mail – A resolution calling for a constitutional convention to tackle the nation’s budget issues is one step closer to passage in the West Virginia Senate. Read
The Senate Finance Committee on Monday took up Senate Concurrent Resolution 13, sponsored by Sen. Ryan Ferns, R-Ohio. If passed, West Virginia could become the 27th state to call a convention of the states to draft a balanced budget amendment, requiring the federal government to only appropriate as much money as it brings in each year. More than two dozen states already have passed similar resolutions in their legislatures while others, like West Virginia, are still considering the measure. It takes 34 states to pass a resolution agreeing on the subject matter, in this case a balanced budget amendment, for a convention to be called.
Bill Fruth, an economist who volunteers his time with the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force, told committee members that threshold may be met soon.
“It’s quite possible we can reach 34 states by July of this year,” Fruth said. “We have friends in congress, many in Congress who want us to be successful because they know they can’t pose an amendment. They want the convention to do it. We’re confident Congress will … promptly set the time and place so the convention can occur in June or July of 2016.”
