Blow to Balanced-Budget Amendment;Alabama Rescinds Its Call for a Constitutional Convention

Alabama has become the first state to rescind a call for a constitutional convention to pass a balanced-budget amendment, overriding Gov. Guy Hunt after he vetoed the measure at the urging of the White House.

Alabama reversed its 1976 call for a constitutional convention last month following an intense lobbying campaign waged by an unlikely coalition that included Norman Lear's People for the American Way, labor unions, Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the John Birch Society.

Alabama was one of 32 states that had called for a…