Winston Salem Times

As the North Carolina Legislature gears up for the start of its May legislative session, supporters of the Convention of States movement are actively making their voices heard. 

Currently pending before the state Senate, House Joint Resolution (HJR) 233 would add North Carolina to the growing list of states calling for an Article V Convention of the States for the purpose of proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Supporters have been calling on their representatives to pass the resolution, which they think is necessary to help rein in the federal government.  

"The N.C. Senate needs to pass HJR 233 because I want my kids and grandkids to live in a free country with the same freedoms I had growing up," Gary Norris, regional captain of Convention of States Action North Carolina (COSA-NC), told the Winston Salem Times. "They need to do what they went to Raleigh to do, protect and serve the people they represent."

HJR 233, which is also known as the Convention of States resolution, is making its way through the North Carolina Legislature. It was successfully passed by the House of Representatives in May 2021 and has been pending before the Senate since that time. Supporters of a Convention of States have been lobbying state senators for months.

Old North News ran an opinion piece by Bob Luddy in August of last year calling on the Senate to pass HJR 233. Luddy noted broad support among North Carolina residents for the proposal, as well as a need to "impose real, meaningful restraints on D.C. with a constitutional amendment."  

Nineteen states have already passed the resolution, which is more than halfway toward the necessary 34 to call a convention, a recent release on ConventionofStates.com said. State legislators in Nebraska, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin were the most recent to get on board, with all four of those states passing the measure earlier this year. 

The resolution only permits a future Convention of States to consider constitutional amendments that would bring actions such as putting restraints on the "power and jurisdiction" of the federal government, impose fiscal restraints on federal spending, or institute term limits for federal officials.   

The goal of Convention of States Action (COSA) is to hold an amending convention, not a constitutional convention; the organization said. While a constitutional convention works to completely rewrite the framework of government and produce a new constitution, an amending convention merely offers amendments to the existing constitution. Any proposed amendment would have to be ratified by 38 states before becoming an official part of the Constitution.