CHARLESTON - Senator Ryan Ferns, R-Ohio, has invited Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich to Charleston to help strategize on ways the West Virginia Legislature can pass a resolution calling for an Article V Convention to write a federal balanced budget amendment.
Senator Ferns is the lead sponsor of Senate Concurrent Resolution 13, Senator Daniel Hall, R-Wyoming, and Senator Dave Sypolt, R-Preston, are co-sponsors. The resolution is currently pending in the Senate Finance Committee.
Kasich will speak at 3:45 p.m. Thursday, February 19, in the Governor's Press Conference Room at the State Capitol. He will meet earlier in the day with several lawmakers to discuss the proposal.
"I am glad that Gov. Kasich is coming to West Virginia to highlight the growing deficit in Washington and how that affects our state's families and families across the country," Ferns said. "The spending path that federal government is on is not sustainable, and I hope Gov. Kasich's efforts help our Congressional delegation focus on a solution."
Kasich's visit to West Virginia follows trips to seven western states over the past few months, including Arizona, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho. Many of those states are now moving forward with legislative consideration of a resolution, with Wyoming and South Dakota having already won passage in their respective House of Representatives.