NAACP Reaffirms its Opposition to a So-called “Balanced Budget Amendment” to the US Constitution and Calls on States to Repeal Legislation Calling for a Constitutional Convention

WHEREAS, in 1979 and again in 1994, the NAACP established a clear policy in opposition to a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, citing the resulting dangerous, draconian, deleterious, and disastrous cuts to the federal budget and to vital programs upon which so many Americans depend should such an amendment go forward; and

WHEREAS, a national effort is again underway to pass state resolutions calling for a constitutional convention to include a harmful Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; and

WHEREAS, proponents now claim they have 28 of the 34 states needed to compel Congress to call a constitutional ("Article V") convention to consider a Balanced Budget Amendment; and

WHEREAS, legal scholars and others who have studied the Constitution, representing the most progressive and the most conservative thinkers among us, all agree that there is no way to effectively control for or limit the issues that a constitutional convention could consider once called; and

WHEREAS, therefore, perhaps even more alarming than the damage which would be inflicted on the American people, families, communities, and the nation as a whole if a Balanced Budget Amendment were adopted, if a convention were called, the entirety of the Constitution would be up for grabs; and

WHEREAS, if the entire U.S. Constitution were to be opened up for re-write, our cherished rights and protections would be at risk, including the protections called for in the Reconstruction Amendments, (13th, 14th & 15th); voting rights; religious freedoms; and some of our most important civil rights.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NAACP reaffirms its opposition to a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NAACP opposes any effort which would lead to the U.S. Constitution being compromised by extremists in whole or in part; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the NAACP will work at the national, state, and local levels to advocate that state lawmakers pass no more resolutions calling for a constitutional convention that could be used to amend the Constitution with a Balanced Budget Amendment and calling for lawmakers in states which have already passed such resolutions to rescind or repeal them immediately.