Thursday the Tennessee legislature became the first state in 2016 to approve an Article V application calling for a Convention of States to propose reform amendments to the Constitution that would reign in a run away federal government.

Tennessee’s actions come weeks after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott unveiled his Texas Plan to convince state legislatures around the country to join in the state based effort to fix the messes Washington DC has created.

The Article V movement has gained momentum in recent years following the publication of best selling author and nationally syndicated talk show host Mark Levin’s book The Liberty Amendments which spells out how and why state legislatures need to take advantage of the second means by which to amend the Constitution. It takes two-thirds of the state legislatures to call for a Convention under Article V. As with amendments proposed by two-thirds of the members of Congress, and amendment that came out of the Article V Convention would still require ratification by three-fourths of the states.

Tennessee joins Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Alaska in filing for an Article V convention specifically seeking to restore the system of checks and balances on the federal government, over the last 30 years about 20 other states have submitted Article V applications solely seeking to advance a balanced budget amendment.

In addition to Gov. Abbott, GOP presidential candidates Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Dr. Ben Carson, and the recently dropped out Mike Huckabee have all given the endorsement to the Article V process, Rubio being the most recent doing so in a major op-ed.