On Tuesday, February 28th, 2017, members of the Texas Senate voted to approve several legislative items tied to the Convention of States resolution, which would ultimately allow states to propose and pass amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

It's commonly known that the U.S. Congress can propose amendments to the Constitution. But as outlined in Article V of the Constitution, the states themselves can also pass amendments to the Constitution and bypass Congress entirely.

Thirty-four states are required to pass the Convention of States resolution before a national convention could be called. At the convention, delegates from each state would gather to propose amendments to the Constitution. Each amendment proposed would require the vote of three-fourths of the states at the convention to pass.

Ten states have already passed a Convention of States resolution. Earlier in the year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott outlined the resolution as one of his four emergency legislative items.

That resolution has finally found its way to the House floor. One bill up for debate today is Senate Bill 21, which outlines the qualifications, duties and limits of Texas delegates if a convention were called.

Senate Joint Resolution 2 calls for a constitutional amendment that makes members of the House of Representatives ineligible for re-election after three two-year terms have been served. Members of the senate would be restricted to serving only two six-year terms. There is currently no limit to how many times a senator or representative can be re-elected.

An official house vote for Senate Bill 21 will be Wednesday, May 5th, with a vote for SJ2 scheduled for Thursday, May 4, 2017.

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