Across the country, the public is realizing that governors are overreaching in shutting down the state economies. Clearly, the costs in terms of human suffering and economic carnage are outweighing the benefits.
Closing down the economy and limiting travel and mass gatherings were likely needed early in the pandemic. But these measures were only meant to slow the spread of the virus, not eliminate the risk entirely. Hospitals are not being overwhelmed. So why not immediately ease restrictions?
The goalposts for opening the economy has changed. Governor Cooper recently said that “…we need working North Carolinians to trust they feel safe…” If we wait for that, there will be no local economy left to open.
And where is the North Carolina legislature in all of this?
The legislature went into session on April 28. With much fanfare, they passed a $1.57 billion relief package to disperse federal funds. Legislators are trumpeting on social media about their success in spending money. 
But what are they doing to challenge Governor Cooper and get the economy open?
Not much, really. At the recent rally sponsored by Reopen NC to protest the restrictions, a total of three out of 170 state legislators participated.
When challenged, they throw up their hands and say they can do nothing. That is not true. They can prevent any governor from having this much power in the future.
Governor Cooper is using the Emergency Powers Act 116A-19 to justify his actions. The legislature could enact legislation in accordance with Article I, Section 7 of the North Carolina Constitution that would automatically call an emergency/special session of the General Assembly to debate and authorize any actions taken using the Emergency Powers Act.
Likely Governor Cooper would veto the legislation. But that would highlight his abuses in a very public way.
This proposed resolution by former U.S. House of Representative candidate Allen Chesser details the abuses by Governor Copper of both the U.S. and North Carolina constitutions.
Whether you agree or not that we need to start opening the economy, the real issue is whether Governor Cooper is abusing his power.
The Convention of States issued a recent call to action to encourage voters in North Carolina to contact their state legislators and ask them to address the Governor’s actions. If you believe in our basic freedoms, contact your legislators.
Furthermore, if you are concerned with government overreach at the state level, then you should also be concerned with how the federal government continues to grow in size, abusing their power every day.
The federal government is spending trillions of dollars in response to this crisis. All this spending will only add to the existing $24 trillion in debt. We are currently at a debt/GDP ratio of over 100 percent. That has not been the case since World War II.
Career politicians in both parties pander to a large percentage of the public convinced that big government can solve all their problems.
But doesn’t the 10th Amendment protect us from federal overreach? The problem is the 10th Amendment establishes a principle but not a process to protect the reserved powers from federal overreach (see this article).
Over the last 100 years or so, the courts have been happy to interpret the General Welfare Clause, the Interstate Commerce Clause, and the Due Process Clause broadly. This has allowed the federal government to amass $24 trillion in debt and grow in size beyond what the Founders intended.
The only way to restrain the growth of the federal government and restore the spirit of the 10th Amendment is by supporting and becoming engaged with the Convention of States Project. 
Convention of States is a non-partisan project based on the premise that the federal government is out of control, and career politicians of both parties are responsible. They are drunk on power and money and will never restrain their own power.
The COS Project is an ambitious plan to use Article V of the U.S. Constitution to call a convention of states to propose amendments that Congress will never do on their own. Those amendments would fall into three categories: term limits on federal officials, fiscal restraints, and amendments to restrict the power and scope of the federal government.
Our Founders knew this day would come and provided us the means in Article V to reset the power structure between the federal government and the states.
The process requires two-thirds (34) of the states to pass a resolution in their state legislatures calling on Congress to call a convention of states per Article V. Fifteen states have done so but not North Carolina. The resolution currently in the NC House is H390.
We need your help. Please go online and sign the petition. Please volunteer to help. Complaining will not fix the problem. You must take action before it is too late. If not you, who will do it? That is what our Founders expected of us all.
Jeff Groh resides in western North Carolina and is a small business owner. He is also a Regional Captain for the Convention of States Project, a non-partisan effort to rein in the expanding role of the federal government. Want to contact Jeff? Email him or connect with him on LinkedIn or Facebook.
