Barb Berggoetz

barb.berggoetz@indystar.com

What are the chances that delegates from two-thirds of the states can come together to agree on amending the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced budget?

It’s a long shot, acknowledged Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, a key leader behind the national move to hold a first-ever constitutional amendment convention.

He says it’s not a “goofy idea,” though that’s how House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, has described it. And it’s not something to appease tea party members, some of whom are weary of the idea, Long said.

The Republican lawmaker from Fort Wayne says of his efforts, which involve organizing a pre-convention meeting June 12-13 in Indianapolis:

“This may be our best chance to control this tsunami of debt. The politics of Washington is so broken, we are not likely to find a resolution to the fiscal crisis that our federal government has created. Anything innovative these days comes from the states.”

It’s not certain this route will be successful in forcing the government to pass balanced budgets.

Pelath doesn’t buy it.

“Smart men can have goofy ideas,” Pelath said. “It’s nothing more than a bunch of right-wingers sitting around in a room showing off with right-wing rhetoric.

“And it’s a way to show off for people on the extreme right, who make up a small portion of the Republican Party, but a vocal portion.”

Not so, Long said.

He said he has spoken to groups, including the tea party, that oppose this idea. Groups such as the Eagle Forum and the John Birch Society also oppose a convention, he said.

“I’m not doing this to appease anyone,” he said. Instead, he said, he is championing a constitutional amendment forcing a balanced budget “out of my own concern and realization that nothing is going to change in D.C., no matter who is in control.”

He said the effort is bipartisan, and he doesn’t think fiscal responsibility is a partisan issue. Some Democratic lawmakers from states such as Georgia, Nevada and Rhode Island are on the steering committee.

Count Emery McClendon, the Indiana coordinator for the Georgia-based Tea Party Patriots, as a skeptic. But he said he’s willing to give it a chance if Long’s plan to limit the convention’s scope is successful.

“If you open up the Constitution, anything can happen,” he said. “It all depends on what delegates go and if they follow the process. It might get out of hand and become one of the worst nightmares we’ve ever seen.”

The step is unprecedented in U.S. history.

The U.S. Constitution allows the states to propose amendments by bypassing Congress and setting up what is called an Article V constitutional amendments convention.

Under this method, a minimum of 34 states need to meet and agree to call for a proposed amendment. Then the amendment must be ratified by three-fourths, or 38, of the states before becoming a part of the Constitution.

Under the traditional method, two-thirds of both houses of Congress must approve an amendment, then three-fourths of the states must ratify it. This is how amendments on ending Prohibition, granting women’s suffrage and lowering the voting age to 18 were approved.

June’s meeting of The Mount Vernon Assembly at the Statehouse is the second of three preliminary meetings to start setting up a blueprint for organizing a convention. The chairman is Chris Kapenga, a Republican state representative from Wisconsin.

Three legislators from each state are eligible to attend the June session. The majority party leader of each legislative chamber can appoint one member, and the minority party names another delegate.

Besides Long, Indiana’s delegation will include Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, who was appointed by House Speaker Brian Bosma. Long said he is searching for a Democrat to appoint.

“We’re actually trying to put together the structure of how it would be run, how many delegates per state and what the rules would be,” Long said.

He hopes each state will have one vote and can send six delegates to the convention. After the June meeting, he expects committees of delegates will meet to propose final rules that can be adopted in December.

Greg Fettig, a tea party activist from Hamilton County who co-founded the group that worked to defeat U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, doesn’t think the constitutional convention is necessarily a bad idea.

But he also worries about it getting out of control and delegates passing amendments that would weaken the Constitution.

“If it’s to force an amendment to require a balanced budget, I’m all for that,” he said. “But I don’t believe Senator Long is a very conservative politician, so there is a lot of distrust in the tea party on having a convention.”

He likens the move to a “Hail Mary pass.”

To that, Long said, the Founding Fathers didn’t intend for this process to be easy. It will be hard, he said, to get a consensus.

Still, he’s hopeful.

Although he couldn’t say how many states would be represented in June, more than 100 people from 33 states attended a meeting last December. Lawmakers discussed term limits on congressional members and certain limits on federal taxation and spending as possible amendments. Indiana is on record, with a 1979 resolution passed by the legislature, calling for a convention to consider a balanced budget amendment.

Long said the key to controlling the convention is keeping the delegates under control.

Indiana’s resolution said the delegates must follow the express direction of the state legislature and vote only on specific issues, and if they fail to do so, they could be replaced and found guilty of a felony.

Although he knows some people don’t think this is a serious effort, that isn’t stopping him.

“I’m concerned about how kids and grandkids are being saddled with unbelievable amounts of debt,” Long said. “The more people hear about this, the more they realize it’s a serious discussion. I think the states can rally and find consensus.”

Call Star reporter Barb Berggoetz at (317) 444-6294. Follow her on Twitter: @barbberg.