Texas Con Con

For the biennial session beginning January 2017, pre-filed bills for the Convention of States were filed as follows:

House Joint Resolution 39 and Senate Joint Resolution 2 by State Representative Rick Miller (R-Sugarland) and Sen. Birdwell, formally call for a convention of states under Article V. The specific focus, they say, is putting fiscal restraints on the federal government, limiting its power and jurisdiction, and calling for term limits for federal officials and members of Congress.

House Bill 506 and Senate Bill 21 by State Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford) and Sen. Birdwell are known as the “delegate responsibility bills.” They specify what the Legislature would be responsible for during a convention of states. This includes how delegates to the convention are chosen, and “ensur[es] their fidelity to Texas citizens through the direction of the legislature.”

The latter bills, House Bill 506 and Senate Bill 21, are complete hoaxes because they do nothing to bind a majority of the delegates, and are probably unenforceable against even Texas delegates. For a debunking of this attempt to bind a delegate, see this analysis by Publius Huldah.