State Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, honored the legacy of former United States Sen. Tom Coburn with the passage of Senate Joint Resolution 41, which calls for an Article V Convention of States to amend the U.S. Constitution.

Coburn is a staunch advocate for a convention and has said it is the only way to halt the overreach of power by the federal government.

SJR 41 would call for Constitutional amendments that impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the terms of office for its officials and members of Congress.

“There are two ways amendments to the Constitution are proposed – through a two-thirds majority of Congress or a two-thirds majority of the states,” Standridge said. “Our founders provided this right as a means to correct any imbalance of power between the states and the federal government, and to attempt to solve problems that Congress could not or would not address.”

He said the only way to reign in the federal government is through a convention of states, and he outlined the changes needed to restore power to the states and the people in SJR 41.