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(MADISON) – Today Representative Gary Hebl (D- Sun Prairie) denounced the passage of Assembly Joint Resolution 21, which calls for a Constitutional Convention of the States to craft a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution.

“The call for a convention of the states is irresponsible,” Hebl said. “Despite calling for a convention for a specific purpose- in this case, a balanced budget amendment- the delegates to the convention are under no limitations for the amendments they bring forward.”

Hebl said that he is worried that the convention will go far beyond the scope that states set for it. He said that there could conceivably be amendments that would repeal the right to free expression, or a woman’s right to vote.

“I am skeptical that there will be proposals to repeal current Constitutional amendments. But it goes to show that everything is on the table at this kind of convention,” Hebl continued. “There is no government entity in this country that can prevent a constitutional convention from going off the rails-not even the courts. The convention can take up any issue they want, up to and including scrapping the entire US Constitution.”

“The only other time in American history that a convention like this was called was in 1787 to fix the Articles of Confederation and a broken federal government. Luckily, out of that came the United States Constitution. The US Constitution is not broken. Having a convention is a recipe for potential disaster. It could upend all that we hold dear about the laws of our country, and it is a travesty that this is going forward.”

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