Idaho Senate kills call to amend US Constitution

The Idaho Senate has killed a proposal calling for a constitutional amendment to limit federal government spending power.

Supporters had hoped Idaho would become the 30th state to call for a convention of states to propose a federal balanced budget requirement. Either 34 states or two-thirds of both houses of Congress can call for a constitutional amendment. Thirty-eight states have to approve amendments.

Backers of the resolution argue that every state except Vermont has some sort of balanced budget requirement and that the federal government should be held to the same standard.

Senators spent nearly three hours debating the topic Wednesday, taking turns urging the need to rein in the growing federal debt while others countered there’s no guarantee that a convention wouldn’t veer off into hot-button social issues.

The Senate eventually voted 24-11 to kill the bill.