Press Room

(BOSTON—11/17/2025) Today, Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Stone Creem (D-Newton) and House Assistant Majority Leader Alice Hanlon Peisch (D-Wellesley) issued the following statement regarding their joint resolutions to rescind all prior Massachusetts calls for a federal Constitutional Convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution. The resolutions (H.4692/S.2684) were favorably reported by the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs. 

“Today, we are proud to see our joint resolutions receive a favorable report from the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs – a critical step in rescinding every outdated Article V convention call Massachusetts has ever placed before Congress. 

Currently, there is reignited momentum from conservative groups attempting to count several long-forgotten resolutions from Massachusetts toward a national push to call for a constitutional convention. Our resolutions ensure that conservative special-interest groups and the Trump Administration cannot use these outdated petitions to edge closer to the 34-state threshold required to trigger a convention.

By fully rescinding all prior calls, Massachusetts is poised to become the pivotal 17th state with zero active Article V resolutions on file, further strengthening the firewall against efforts to revise the U.S. Constitution through a process lacking safeguards, transparency, or clear democratic protections. 

We are sending a clear and unequivocal message: Massachusetts will defend constitutional stability, protect fundamental rights, and stand strong for our democracy. 

We would like to thank Senate President Spilka and Speaker Mariano for their support and efforts to help bring this to a vote in our respective chambers this week.” 

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Background 

An Article V convention is a mechanism in the U.S. Constitution that allows states to propose amendments if two-thirds (34) of state legislatures call for it. Because no rules exist outlining how such a convention would operate – including how delegates would be chosen, what issues could be raised, or how outside influence would be prevented – legal experts warn that it could open the entire Constitution to unpredictable and sweeping changes affecting fundamental rights. Recent conservative efforts have sought to “add up” all active resolutions ever passed by states, regardless of when or why they were filed, in an attempt to claim the 34-state threshold has been met. 

Massachusetts still has several outdated Article V resolutions technically pending before Congress, including petitions from 1977, 1931, and earlier. These dormant calls have been cited in national legal strategies pushing for a convention and are still considered active unless formally rescinded. Sixteen states have already taken action to rescind all of their previous calls; with the passage of this resolution, Massachusetts would become the pivotal seventeenth state with zero active Article V petitions on record – strengthening the nationwide firewall against these efforts to open the Constitution to revisions without clear safeguards or democratic protections.