The North Carolina House has passed a resolution calling for a convention of the states to amend the US Constitution to address growing issues in the federal government, including an unsustainable $37 trillion national debt.
The resolution, HJR 379, utilizes Article V of the US Constitution to call for a 50-state convention to propose constitutional amendments for federal term limits, fiscal restraints, and other power-limiting measures. The meeting can only take place if 34 states first pass resolutions that call for the convention.
The Convention of States resolution has passed in 19 states so far, and proponents are hoping North Carolina can become the 20th state to join the movement. While the resolution passed the House in a 62-51 vote, it will still need to go through the state Senate before North Carolina can officially become another state calling for the convention.
“There has to be a restraint upon spending from the federal government,” said bill sponsor Rep. Dennis Riddell, R-Alamance. “Now this is a bipartisan issue. This is not a Democrat issue. It’s not a Republican issue. This is a bipartisan American issue. Do we spend ourselves stupid? Do we spend ourselves into such a monstrous debt that our children are left to pay it off?”
Riddell pointed to the nation’s current $37 trillion debt, which has grown by $1 trillion roughly every 100 days in recent years. The federal government has added $13 trillion to the national debt since 2020, when it stood at $24 trillion. For perspective, Riddell noted that one trillion seconds is equivalent to about 32,000 years.
“That is unsustainable,” Riddell said. “Well, the charge we have as state legislators in Article V is to call the Convention of States to propose amendments to impose fiscal restraint upon the federal government, because they obviously are not going to do it themselves. But we have that power; we have that authority granted in Article V of the original Constitution to do that Convention of States.”
While Republicans overwhelmingly approved the effort, six stood in opposition, including Rep. Keith Kidwell, R-Beaufort. He expressed concerns that “lame duck” legislators unable to seek reelection would hinder progress and feared a runaway convention, despite the Convention of States leaders disputing such concerns.
“You want to stop the spending problem? Stop sending people to elected office who want to do nothing but spend your money,” said Kidwell. “Send people who are going to vote no against tax increases and additional spending.”
Rep. Mike Schietzel, R-Wake, countered Kidwell by saying there is no denying the challenges the nation faces. He said Congress and the federal government have shown no appetite to reform themselves over the last half century, though the world and circumstances have changed.
“I don’t fear a runaway convention. I think a little bit more highly of my fellow man, I guess,” Schietzel said. “We’re no longer spending our tax dollars. Our federal government is spending the tax dollars of our children, our children’s children, our children’s children’s children, and that is not a sustainable path. I may be opposed to whatever would come out of a convention of states, but I’m at least willing to have the conversation to see if we can do something to correct the ship before it’s too late.”
The resolution previously passed the House during the 2023 session as well, though the Senate did not take up a vote on the matter. A different resolution that solely calls for an Article V convention to impose term limits on members of Congress in Washington, DC, officially passed the North Carolina General Assembly at the end of 2024.
The House also passed the Faithful Article V Commissioner Act on Wednesday, which provides additional guidelines for a convention by outlining rules, commissioner qualifications, and an oath to prevent anyone from going astray.
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