A rally was held last week at the Statehouse in Des Moines to draw attention and gather support for something that’s never happened in the history of the United States. 

District 24 Senator Jesse Green says last Tuesday lawmakers and others started the process for Iowa to join 16 other states to call for a Convention of the States. Green tells Raccoon Valley Radio the Convention of the States allows for state delegates to discuss amendments to the U.S. Constitution and that those changes need to be ratified by 38 states to be added to the Constitution. Green was one of the speakers at the rally and says his main issue is the constant over spending by the federal government, which goes back to the previous administration.

“What happened? We elected people that promised fiscal responsibility. We elected Donald Trump (as President) and a large Republican trifecta and what happened? They added over $8 trillion in new debt in four years. That shows to me that this is not a Democrat problem, it’s not a Republican problem, but a politically connected battle between Main Street and politically connected in Washington, (D.C.).”

However, Green’s comments may have been overshadowed as another legislator, Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton also made remarks but then “flipped off” the crowd to make his point that federal overreach has to end. Green says he respects Kaufmann, but does not support what he did last Tuesday.

“I was definitely surprised by his gesture. It turned out that there was kind of a squabble between him and Bob Vander Plaats from the Family Leader. It’s really disheartening to see infighting like this when there’s so many other issues to be talking about. So I hope we can move past this pretty soon, get back together on the same team and finish strong this session.”    

Green adds the Iowa House passed a resolution in 2017 calling for a Convention of the States, but it stalled in the Senate. He believes this year the Iowa Legislature will move forward with the resolution.