(Radio Iowa) – A top Republican in the state legislature says the current situation in congress shows the federal government is broken and it’s time to make changes in the U-S Constitution. State Representative John Wills of Spirit Lake — the Speaker Pro Tem in the IOWA House — is a long-time advocate for a Constitutional Convention. “Congress can propose changes to the Constitution. I just don’t think the current congress is going to limit itself or change itself,” Wills says. “The other way is that the states can petition for a Constitutional Convention.”

Thirty-four states must pass resolutions calling for such a meeting. So far, 19 have done so, but Iowa has not. Wills says a balanced budget amendment to the U-S constitution is a priority for him — and a Constitutional Convention could propose one. “We’re $33 trillion in debt and if it continues to rise at the pace we’re going to have $100 trillion of debt over the next 20 years and that’s just unsustainable. We can’t continue that,” Wills says. “I don’t think the congress or the president — I don’t care which party they’re from — has any inkling that they’re going to control it.”

Critics of convening a Constitutional Convention say there are no limits to what delegates could propose and it could lead to major changes in our form of government. The U-S Constitution was written by a Constitutional Convention in 1787. It has 27 amendments, the last of which was passed in 1992.