The director of Indiana’s efforts to propose constitutional amendments through a convention of states spoke Wednesday to a handful of people at American Legion Post 49, Warsaw. Diane Gomez said Indiana plans to send two delegates to the convention if it’s ever held, which would require 34 states’ legislatures to approve an application. Any proposed amendments would then have to be approved by 38 states. So far, the measure has passed both houses in Georgia, Alaska, Florida and Alabama, and one house in another 10 states, she said. It has a sponsor in 37 states. “Passing amendments is really, really hard,” she said. “Voting them down is easy.” The process is described in Article V of the constitution and states have attempted to initiate it several times over the years, never successfully. The current drive would focus solely on limiting the federal government, Gomez said. Proposed amendments she listed could include a balanced budget requirement; term limits on congress and the judiciary; repealing the 17th amendment; limits on the upper level of taxation; “protecting the vote”; and overriding Supreme Court decisions. Also Wednesday, Adrian Messer presented on HR-25/S-155, called the “fair tax” proposal, which would set a 23 percent national retail sales tax and repeal a host of other taxes, including payroll and taxes on businesses. A better alternative than a flat tax, he said, the sales tax would account for 92.12 percent of federal receipts and be revenue neutral. It would also end the need for the IRS by having the states collect all taxes, and increase wages and jobs while decreasing poverty and unemployment, he claimed.
