Georgia Senate Committee Passes Resolution Calling for a Convention of States

ATLANTA, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Peach State is making history. Lawmakers passed a preliminary measure Friday that puts pressure on Washington to get its act together. The resolution calls for a convention of states where leaders will have the power to change the US Constitution.

Friday marked the first of many hurdles for Senate Resolution 736. State lawmakers believe Washington is too big, too power, and spends too much money. They are hoping this resolution will give power back to the states.

Fifteen-year-old Amelia Boland is concerned about the country’s future.

“Right now, it’s like we’re on iron rails and unless we do something, then we’re going down path,” Boland said.

That is why she and her family drove up to the Gold Dome from Macon to join dozens of other people from across the state who support SR 736. State Senator Cecil Staton filed it last week. It calls for a convention of states under Article Five of the US Constitution.

“People are concerned about the federal government, runaway expenses, a bloated government, bureaucracy, too many federal regulations,” Staton told 41NBC.

Thirty-four states must pass similar resolutions. A convention of states would be called where delegates can propose amendments to change the constitution. Then those amendments would have to be passed by three-fourths of the state legislatures to become part of the consitution.

“It’s a long process, but this is the method the constitution gives the states to try to reign in the federal government,” Staton said.

Michael Farris, the director of the Convention of States Project, says Georgia is on its way to becoming the first state to ever consider it.

“It was intended for the purpose of when the federal government is out of control,” Farris said. “Today’s the day the founders intended for us to use this process.”

But not everyone in the hearing was for the resolution.

“Let’s do some amending of the constitution, but let’s do it a safe way, which is the way it’s always been,” Sue Ella Deadwyler of Stone Moutain said. “We’ve done it 27 times without calling a convention.”

The Senate Rules Committee voted in favor of Staton’s resolution. Supporters say this will keep the ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happinesss alive for generations to come.

“It gives me a future and it gives me hope to hold onto,” Boland said. “I know that if the Convention of States goes through then our country isn’t completely gone.”

Senator Staton hopes the resolution will be brought to the Senate floor sometime next week. If passed, it will be brought to the House of Representatives.

Staton adds 20 states are in the process of passing similar resolutions, but it could take years for anything to happen. Farris tells 41NBC there has never been a Convention of States under Article Five of the US Constitution in US history.