Rock Island Today

It has never happened in the history of the union, but a group calling for a convention of states to propose amendment changes to the U.S. Constitution believes it is making progress.

One Illinois man, first drawn to the politics of fiscal conservatism and limited federal government by the Tea Party movement, is working to gather signatures for a petition to call such a session.

Tom Martens of Rock Island is a district captain for the Convention of States and was out with his clipboard at the recent Quad Cities Gun Show. The campaign wants Illinois to join 15 other states (all from the South and Southwest) in calling for a convention.

Thirty-four states are needed to call a convention, with 38 needed then to ratify any constitutional amendments that are proposed. 

The Convention of States campaign is organized by Citizens for Self-Governance, led by Texas-based activist Mark Meckler, who came to prominence with the Tea Party movement in 2010.

Any convention will discuss amendments that, “limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, impose fiscal restraints and place term limits on federal officials," according to the campaign. 

Martens' political journey began with the Tea Party movement, largely propelled by opposition to President Barack Obama and his administration. The movement helped elect a slate of conservative members to Congress.

"We got our party elected, but nothing really changed," Martens told Rock Island Today, adding that he spent some years attempting then to connect with those who also believed in limited spending and were against what is described as federal overreach.

The Convention of States was a natural fit, he says, but he was not receiving much information on what it was trying to achieve. A gathering in late 2019, where Meckler was a speaker, led to Martens deciding to become more directly involved.

He took away the message that many of those who fought in the Revolutionary War did so not in response to the Stamp Act or the Boston Tea Party, but because, at core, they wanted to govern themselves.

"One thing about the country is we have always governed ourselves, and we fought for that idea," Martens said. "I was blown away."

This led to the Rock Island native becoming directly involved in building a petition to call for a Convention of the States, with the ultimate aim of imposing fiscal restraints on the federal government, and introducing term limits.

Most supporters believe those term limits should be two terms for U.S. senators and four terms for U.S. representatives. But there is also a belief in term limits for federal officials and even judges, with some arguing for elections to the federal bench.

As a district captain, Martens is charged with gathering signatures for a petition to be delivered to Illinois legislators.

Most recently, he was at the Quad Cities Gun Show in Rock Island, where he gathered more than 200 signatures, an estimated 70% of people he asked.

He had to, of course, reassure signers that the campaign strongly supports the Second Amendment, even raising the possibility that the convention could lead to all federal gun laws being declared unconstitutional.