Push for 'Convention of States' makes some Ohioans feel edgy and suspicious | Opinion

A long-time family friend contacted me, puzzled and concerned after a recent meeting of her local township trustees.

Turtlecreek Township is a rural/residential area of some 18,000 people in Warren County. Not a place that gets much attention. But a couple weeks ago, three men showed up at the regularly scheduled township meeting to promote a "Convention of States" to amend the U.S. Constitution.

Their presentations left our friend feeling "edgy and suspicious."

They said such a convention is outlined in Article V of the Constitution and holding one would be a way to restrain federal government with the goals including mandated congressional term limits and mandatory balanced budgets. They advocated for "self-governance."

After they spoke, a Turtlecreek trustee asked what the speakers wanted of them. The small group’s leader replied, to sign their petition (available at the national group’s online site conventionofstates.com ) and to urge their state legislators to support making Ohio the 20 ^th state to approve the initiative.

Had to admit, I wasn’t familiar with this effort, but told her I’d look into it.

Turns out the movement has been around for at least a decade, with apparently heightened interest in the past few years, some added fuel coming from dissatisfaction with government mandates during the pandemic and with the Joe Biden administration’s use of federal power.

Article V says legislatures of two-thirds of the states can petition for a convention for proposing constitutional amendments, then to be ratified in three-fourths of the states. To this point, constitutional amendments have come from Congress, where two-thirds must approve, followed by ratification by three-fourths of the states.

Not a matter of if, but when a Convention of States will happen

While it’s been in the Constitution all these years, there’s never been such a states’ convention.

One of the best-known advocates is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had been a contender for the Republican presidential nomination for this year.

"Washington’s never going to reform itself," DeSantis said in a January news conference. "It’s going to require us working in our individual states using the tools that the Founding Fathers gave us to be able to take power away from D.C. and return it back to the American people."

Florida is among 19 states that have called for a convention of states, with 34 needed. There is pending legislation in Ohio to add it to the list.

Nicole Rardin, a COS spokeswoman, says it has more than 9,000 activists in Ohio, where more than 114,000 people have signed the petition for holding a convention, and advocates have been working across the state. They’ve been at county fairs, gun shows, Memorial Day and Fourth of July parades and in other municipalities, she said.

William Scott of Dayton, director of the Ohio effort, spoke June 25 before the Ohio House Government Oversight Committee in support of the legislation providing a framework for the state’s participation in the convention. He said polling shows overwhelming bipartisan support for reining in federal government power and called it a "We the People" issue.

"An Article V convention is coming," Scott said. "It’s not a matter of if but when."

Leaders of the movement say the convention would be restricted to amendments that impose limits on federal power and jurisdiction, fiscal restraints and term limits.

However, legal scholars have pointed out that since there’s never been such a convention, there are many questions about how it would actually work and whether it could get out of control in trying to change the Constitution.

Seitz, Ramaswamy among Ohio supporters of convention

Advocates such as state Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, say opponents are using "misguided fear" tactics to warn of a "runaway convention," but that the convention would be restricted to the measures aimed at mandating fiscal discipline, reining in the administrative "deep state" and federal term limits.

"I strongly support a constitutional convention to impose fiscal discipline and a balanced budget given that our national debt has topped $32 trillion (in 2023) and is going up several trillion each year, which in my judgment is quite unsustainable," Seitz said by email.

Among other Ohio supporters is Vivek Ramaswamy, also a former Republican presidential candidate.

He is quoted on the COS site that it would result in a healthy national conversation on "the first principles about what it actually means to be American and the Constitution.

"The framers of the Constitution, they had a great forethought for periods just like this one," Ramaswamy said.

But let’s think about what kind of "period" we are in. The first presidential debate on June 27 was disastrous for Biden, which raises the potential for former President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

A second Trump term looms as a lurch toward a more authoritarian presidency. Detailed guidance has been prepared in a voluminous Project 2025 plan for a sweeping conservative policy agenda and an overhauled federal government loaded with right-wing personnel. It was put together by the Heritage Foundation − a group that supports the Convention of States.

Speaking of the Heritage Foundation, here’s what’s on its leader’s mind these days: Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said recently on a conservative media outlet that this country is in the process of a "second American Revolution which will remain bloodless, if the left allows it to be."

On July 1, the U.S. Supreme Court majority’s presidential immunity opinion gave broad protection from prosecution to the president. Critics included dissenting Justice Sonia Sotomayer, who said the ruling means in use of official power, "the president is now king above the law."

Not comforting when you consider the subject of the case, Trump, in 2020 rejected the results of the presidential election and rallied protesters who launched a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

An unprecedented Convention of States might be a good idea if it were designed to preserve the democracy conceived by the Founding Fathers and to avoid the imperial presidency they were determined to stop.

But the kind of convention that’s being planned now doesn’t sound like that. And it’s understandable why it makes some people feel "edgy and suspicious."

EXTRA POINT

Gone Fishin’

Actually, you’ll be more likely to find me at Reds’ or a grandson’s baseball game, but I am taking a summer hiatus from the wide world of politics.

Plan to be back after Labor Day as the 2024 campaigns kick into high gear. Enjoy your summers, too!

Dan Sewell is a regular Opinion contributor. Contact: dsewellrojos@gmail.com

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Push for 'Convention of States' makes some Ohioans feel edgy and suspicious | Opinion