BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A proposal calling for a constitutional amendment to limit the federal government’s spending power is headed to the Idaho Senate floor despite attracting strong opposition from citizens who have flooded lawmakers’ inboxes and flocked to the Capitol to warn against the measure’s consequences.
The Senate State Affairs spent more than two hours on Friday listening to public testimony on a proposal calling for a convention of states to propose a federal balanced budget requirement. The panel eventually voted 5-4 after little debate, sparking hissing and shouts of “shame” from the audience.
“We can’t continue to go down this road, we have to send a message to Washington D.C. that they have to curtail their spending,” said Republican Sen. Marv Hagedorn, of Meridian, who is sponsoring the legislation. “We are addicted to our federal programs and we are living beyond our means.”
Supporters of the resolution said that every state except Vermont has some sort of balanced budget requirement and that the federal government should be held to the same standard.
Former Idaho U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, who pushed for a balanced budget amendment during his nearly 30 years in public office, said that there is no appetite in Congress to reign itself in.
“We are now there at a fiscal crisis, I do believe,” said Craig, who resigned from office following a sex scandal. “Will it happen in our lifetime? What if it does? I believe it will. I believe there will come a day when we can no longer honor our debt at the rate that we are currently honoring it.”
Yet, critics counter that there’s no guarantee that a convention wouldn’t veer off into hot-button social issues - such as banning abortion or gay marriage - even though there is no current talk of people doing so.
Idaho’s legislative leaders have previously stymied attempts to call for a constitutional amendment. However, Friday’s vote marked a key shift on a committee made up of the Senate’s most powerful lawmakers with President Pro Tem Brent Hill of Idaho Falls and Senate Majority Caucus Chairman Todd Lakey of Nampa voting aye on the measure. Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis of Idaho Falls and Senate Assistant Majority Leader Chuck Winder of Boise voted with Democratic leaders in opposition.
“This was a tough vote, I didn’t know how I was going to vote this morning,” Hill said. “But in the end I think this is something we should pursue.”
The U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was ratified in 1788, and its Article V spells out two ways to propose amendments. By a two-thirds vote of each chamber, the U.S. House and Senate can refer an amendment to the states. Or two-thirds of the state legislatures can request that Congress call a convention of the states.
“Hyperpolarization is at all levels,” said Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett, of Ketchum. “A convention would be chaos not compromise.”
Twenty-eight state legislatures have already approved similar measures as of the beginning of this year. Idaho is now the latest target of the nonprofit Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force to get to the two-thirds threshold.
Either 34 states or two-thirds of both houses of Congress can call for a constitutional amendment. Thirty-eight states have to approve amendments.
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