SALT LAKE CITY — A proposal calling for a convention of states to amend the Constitution failed on the Senate floor Thursday.

HJR3, sponsored by Rep. Merrill Nelson, R-Grantsville, represented Utah's contribution to an effort by several states to invoke Article V of the Constitution to call to order an amendment convention.

"If we don’t try, we fail to do. And if we don’t do, why are we here on this Earth?" asked Sen. Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, the resolution's Senate sponsor. "Should I take action to change this course? For me, the answer is yes."

Vickers said the Constitution originally vested 20 percent of the power in the federal government and 80 percent in the states. Over the course of history, he said, that ratio has reversed, with the federal government holding the majority of the power.

Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, said the threshold to pass any constitutional amendment — 75 percent of the states must agree — would be a high enough barrier to prevent widely disliked proposals.

"No matter how liberal or how conservative the idea, if it is not a consensus, common-sense idea, it will have no chance of passing," Thatcher said.

HJR3 failed on a 12-16 vote. The resolution previously passed in the House, 45-29.