HB2299 would set forth guidelines to regulate the conduct of delegates to a “convention for proposing amendments” held under Article V of the U.S. Constitution.

The House passed HB2299 on March 25, 2025, by a vote of 51 to 37. We have assigned pluses to the nays because efforts to call an Article V convention must be resisted. A constitutional convention (Con-Con) would have the power to make major changes to the U.S. Constitution, or even completely rewrite it. Instead of risking the danger of a “runaway convention,” which could act as a “Trojan horse” to destroy many of the Constitution’s limitations on government power, state legislators should uphold their oath of office. In other words, the problem is not the Constitution, but lawmakers’ failure to follow it. Article VI requires that all state legislators “shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution.” Article V, however, was designed to correct potential errors or defects in the Constitution, not to “misconstrue or abuse its powers.” State legislators use Article VI to enforce the Constitution, rather than use Article V to alter or abolish it.