A state House committee opened hearings Thursday on measures that would add Michigan to the list of states formally calling for a national convention to draft a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution.
We have more from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta.
The effort in Michigan was stalled until last week when Governor Rick Snyder endorsed the idea in his State of the State address.
William Fruth of the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force, a national group, says Michigan would be the 21st state out of 34 needed to call a convention.
“We are advancing nationally and there is a very real possibility we will be successful in this,” he says.
If a convention is convened, it would draft an amendment that would be returned to the states for ratification.
A committee vote on resolutions could come as soon as next week. Many Democrats say the amendment idea is a gimmick that won’t really fix the nation’s fiscal troubles.