California lawmaker warns of the dangers of a constitutional convention. How likely is one?

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CALIFORNIA LAWMAKER WARNS OF THE DANGERS OF A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

Next year, conservatives will have a lock on the White House, Congress and a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court. Next step, the U.S. Constitution?

California State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, is sounding the alarm for a possible attempt by conservatives to force a constitutional convention, wherein a new foundational legal document could be produced.

Sound far-fetched? Maybe not as much as you think.

Article V of the Constitution provides that if two-thirds of the country’s state legislatures (that’s 34 states) pass a resolution calling for a convention, a convention must happen. Right now, 28 states (including California) are on the record calling for one. In the event a new constitution was approved by such a convention, it would have to be ratified by 38 states to become effective.

California itself has on seven different occasions called for a convention.

The oldest resolution dates back to 1911, the most recent resolution was in 2023. The resolutions demanded constitutional reform on a variety of topics, ranging from prohibiting tax-exempt securities (1935), participating in a “world federal government” (1949), campaign finance reform (2014) and gun control (2023).

Several Republicans have gone on the record as saying they also support the call for a convention, including Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, who chairs the House Budget Committee, and former Sen. Rick Santorum, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2012 and 2016.

“I hope my colleagues will join me in encouraging states to exercise their constitutional right to put a check on the unbridled spending of the federal government,” Arrington said in a statement introducing legislation to call for a convention in 2023.

According to the Associated Press, Santorum has traveled the country pushing for a convention.

“Washington is never going to fix itself,” Santorum said during a visit with North Carolina GOP state lawmakers, according to the AP. “There is only one mechanism available in the Constitution — and I would say anywhere — to stop this problem from getting to the point of breaking and that rests in the power of the men and women behind me.”

The call for a convention isn’t limited to current and former members of Congress — President-elect Donald Trump has opened the door to such a possibility by calling for an end to birthright citizenship (the bedrock constitutional principle that if you’re born in the U.S., you’re a U.S. citizen) that is enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment.

“Well, we’re going to have to get it changed. We’ll maybe have to go back to the people. But we have to end it. We’re the only country that has it, you know,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News.

That is false, by the way. Thirty-two other countries also have birthright citizenship, as The Hill found in a fact check.

Wiener has introduced SJR 1 to withdraw all seven of California’s open calls for a constitutional convention.

In a statement introducing the resolution, Wiener warned that a convention could do “off the charts” damage to Californians’ civil rights.

“There are no guardrails once a constitutional convention has been triggered: Once it begins, extremists could easily hijack it and drive the Convention to strip protections for women, LGBTQ people, workers, immigrants, or any number of other groups, while undermining democracy and locking in the power of the largest corporations on the planet,” Wiener said.

The senator added that California “must do its part to prevent this chaos” by withdrawing its calls for a convention.

The resolution has several backing groups, including California Common Cause, Indivisible CA: State Strong and the League of Women Voters of California.

“This is not a partisan issue — lawmakers from both parties in a number of states have rejected calls for an Article V convention due to its uncontrollable risks. And Justice Antonin Scalia has likewise warned of its unpredictability. A constitutional convention could be used to upend our democracy in a variety of ways that we would live to regret,” said Dora Rose, deputy director for the league.

It’s unclear how the resolution will fare. While Democrats have a super-majority lock on the Legislature and governor’s mansion, that’s not a guarantee that lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom will support Wiener’s effort, especially when Newsom was the driving force behind the most recent resolution.

The bill does have two Senate co-authors, though: Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, and Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Thirty years ago, a defining moment of Latino politicization created the first multi-generational Latino voting bloc and it’s come to an end — by Latino voters themselves.”

- California GOP strategist Mike Madrid, discussing the end of the “Proposition 187 Era,” a reference to the 1994 ballot measure to deny taxpayer funding for most government services for undocumented immigrants, via Bluesky.

Best of The Bee:

• Gavin Newsom’s climate record under attack in ads from environmental group, via Lia Russell.

• Gavin Newsom’s chief of staff departs, former Kamala Harris aide named replacement, via Nicole Nixon.

• California Latinas were behind a surge in small businesses during the pandemic. Here’s why, via Mathew Miranda.

• Yuba County supervisor faces censure amid ‘workplace misconduct’ accusations, via Jake Goodrick.

• Sacramento Bee’s lawyers demand Sac State release full CapRadio audit, condemning ‘secrecy,’ via Ishani Desai.

Correction: This newsletter incorrectly reported Monday who had raised $20.3 million for his California U. S. Senate campaign. Republican Steve Garvey raised that amount.