OPPOSITION TO A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

Those now calling for a Constitutional Convention pose a serious threat to our representative democracy. Promoting the idea that we should amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget may serve the political needs of some elected officials, but it could have disastrous consequences. Even though 27 state legislatures have called for such a Convention (just 7 short of the 34 required), they could not have adequately considered either the political chaos a Convention might create, or the practical shortcomings of the balanced budget amendment they hope to enact. This movement must be stopped now. There are many reasons why.

Dangers to Our Representative Government

The power to balance the budget is within the powers of Congress. Turning this idea into a Constitutional issue would have the effect of weakening representative government by removing it from the arena of Congressional responsibility. It would discourage our elected representatives from coming up with solutions to economic problems. In fact, once such a Convention was called, there is no reason why it could not take up other issues-thus removing them from the representative arena as well, and with potentially devastating results.

The possibility of numerous Constitutional amendments being passed might hamstring the ability of Congress to act in emergency situations. Or, if exceptions were made for emergencies, amendments would lose both their strength and their meaning, as would the Constitution itself. Basically, such an amendment-or amendments-would inevitably limit the power of representative government to act. Such limits would con­strict the power of individual legislators as well, and ultimately bring an erosion of the power of the people who elect them.

Bad Economic Policy

Beneath the surface appeal of the mandated balanced budget idea is an economic policy that is ill-conceived and fraught with danger:

Balancing the federal budget could mean major cuts in the revenue supply to local governments. Local governments now get between 50 percent and 60 percent of their funds from the federal government. Federal aid of an estimated $89 billion to state governments would also be a likely target for the budget ax. The very states that are seeking the Constitutional amendment would be forced to raise their own taxes. Forcing a balanced budget would mean economic chaos for cities and states, a chaos that might well plunge us into an economic depression.

Hopes of arresting inflation by this method are groundless. Economists estimate that each $10 billion in fed­eral deficit increases inflation by only one tenth of one percent.

The balanced budget could not remain balanced for long, since cuts in jobs programs and aid to states and cities would immediately cause increases in unemployment, and hence in unemployment compensation and welfare costs.

Since only about one-fourth of the federal budget is subject to Congressional action each year, we could anticipate that cuts would be heaviest for social programs, defense, and enforcement. In fact, many supporters of the amendment hope to use it to cut expenditures for federal enforcement of laws protecting civil rights, labor standards, health and safety, consumers and education.

Constitutional Crisis

We do not know how far a Constitutional Convention could go to change the Constitution itself. In fact, we do not even know how to call a Constitutional Convention. There is nothing in the Constitution or in law to specify how many delegates each state would have or how delegates would be elected. Simply trying to resolve these questions would plunge us into a Constitutional crisis-even in advance of what the Convention itself might do.

Certainly now is not the time to face the above prospects. International uncertainty looms large. Domestic problems of inflation and unemployment combine with a tax revolt and economic instability at the international level to produce an atmosphere that requires thoughtful and sound policy initiatives, not desperate, politically expedient ones. We strongly oppose the call for a Constitutional Convention to balance the budget:

The AFT urges state legislatures to oppose resolutions calling for a Constitutional Convention.

The AFT calls upon state legislatures that have already passed such resolutions to withdraw any that have been transmitted to Congress.

The AFT urges all political leaders to consider the real consequences such a Convention might bring about, and not just the short-term political gains they might reap by calling for it.