Updated at 5:45 p.m.: Revised to include statement from Gov. Greg Abbott.

AUSTIN — Texas on Tuesday took the first step in joining a growing national movement to amend the U.S. Constitution to wrest power from the federal government and give it back to the states.

The Senate approved a package of bills that would put Texas among a small group of states calling for a convention of states to amend the U.S. Constitution.

"This convention that we're trying to call is about rebalancing state authority," said Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, author of two of the bills.

One measure would repeal all but one of the 14 existing resolutions Texas lawmakers have approved since the 1899 that also called for a convention of the states. Another measure outlines how delegates to such a convention would be chosen and the rules they would operate under.

The third measure would allow Texas to become one of 34 states needed to force Congress to initiate a convention of states to modify the U.S. Constitution.

Gov. Greg Abbott has made the Convention of States an emergency item for the current legislative session. He has been promoting the idea of a convention since 2016. The states, he says, must rein in a federal government that has run amok. He praised the Senate on Tuesday.

"Our nation is succumbing to the caprice of man that our Founders fought to escape and I am encouraged that the Texas Senate has taken the first step in joining other states from around the county in reversing that trend," Abbott said in a prea

Last year, Abbott released a detailed plan for a convention, outlining nine proposed constitutional amendments that he said would unravel the federal government's decades-long power grab and restore authority over economic regulation and other matters to the states. Among the amendments Abbott suggested are requiring Congress to balance the budget, prohibiting Congress from regulating state activities and allowing a two-thirds majority of the states to override U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Under the measure the Senate approved Tuesday, Texas delegates to a convention would only be allowed to discuss changes to the Constitution that would implement fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power of the federal government and institute term limits for members of Congress.

A convention is one of two ways that the U.S. Constitution can be amended, and it's described in Article V. One way is that Congress can propose amendments approved by two-thirds of the members of both chambers. The other method allows two-thirds of the state legislatures to call for a convention to propose amendments. Republicans who back the idea are confident that because they control state government in a majority of states, their ideas would prevail.

In both cases, the amendments become effective only if ratified by 38 states.

So far, the U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times. None of those were amendments generated by a convention of states. Efforts to change the Constitution, initiated by both conservative and liberal advocates, have bounced in and out of political popularity since the 1970s. None, however, have met with success.

But the elections last year swept 33 Republican governors into office across the nation, which supporters see as a hopeful sign for the movement to amend the Constitution. Supporters also point to President Donald Trump, who has said he supports congressional term limits, a key issue for conventioners.

Lawmakers in Texas tried in 2015 to pass a measure calling for a convention of states. The bill passed in the House, but failed in the Senate.

Because such a convention has never happened, and the Constitution has few rules to govern the procedure, opponents of the effort worry that it could easily spiral out of control. They are concerned that the agenda could grow from a limited number of subject items to a massive number of constitutional changes that could undermine the foundations of American government.

"You might create one big mess for this state and this nation," said Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston.

To address those concerns, Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, proposed a change to the bill that would impose criminal penalties that could mean thousands in fines and years in jail for delegates who failed to abide by the limits lawmakers approved on subjects for the convention. By a vote of 19-11, the penalties were added to the bill.

The measures require a second vote in the Senate before moving to the House for consideration.