MS SC644

Mississippi joins 12 other states in applying to Congress to call a constitutional convention under Article V for proposing amendments limited to fiscal restraints on the federal government and limitations on federal power and jurisdiction.

Mississippi delegates to the convention are expressly prohibited from supporting amendments on topics outside these purposes, including term limits for Congress members, and cannot consider any amendments affecting the Bill of Rights.

Congress's role is limited to the ministerial duty of calling the convention at a reasonable time and place only after two-thirds of state legislatures submit applications for substantially the same purpose.

States retain exclusive authority to name their own delegates, determine convention voting rules (one state, one vote), and set amendment procedures; Congress cannot set delegate numbers or establish convention governance rules.

The application remains in effect as a continuing request until two-thirds of state legislatures make similar applications or Mississippi withdraws it, with the Secretary of State directed to transmit copies to federal officials and other state legislatures.