BOISE — Well, that was a resounding no.

After more than two hours of debate Wednesday and a 24-11 vote, the Idaho Senate firmly rejected a proposal aiming for a constitutional amendment to limit federal spending power.

Supporters of the measure, SCR 108, argue the federal government should be held to the same balanced budget requirements as states. Opponents point out a con-con could open any part of the U.S. Constitution to change, depending on the whims of those assembled.

It takes two-thirds of both houses of Congress or 34 states to call for an Article V constitutional amendment. SCR 108 backers hoped Idaho would be No. 30.

Thirty-eight states would then have to approve the amendments.

Rep. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, and Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, voted against the measure. Rep. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d'Alene, voted in favor.

"I believe that we have a serious problem with our debt. It's unsustainable," Souza said. 

"I'm not convinced Congress will take action on it because historically they have not.”

Souza said SCR 108 skeptics were concerned an amendment would lead to too much control or not enough.

"The process by which this was set up has so many sideboards," Souza added. "There are a lot of limits nailed down in this thing."

Vick, though, believes despite the nation’s $20 trillion debt, a convention could be a slippery slope.

"The risk is just too high,” he told The Press. “There's too much uncertainty in what a convention might look like and what it might be able to do.

“I don't believe we have a problem with the Constitution. We have a problem with how judges have interpreted it."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.