(The Center Square) – A top California Democratic legislator called for the state to rescind all seven of the state’s open calls for a U.S. constitutional convention, citing risks to “Californians’ basic rights” and lack of controls for what a Republican-dominated convention might do.
Leading the charge is state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, who first abstained from then later voted against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest call for a constitutional convention to pass new gun control laws.
Wiener introduced the bill but was joined by two other top California Democrats co-authoring the measure – state Sens. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, and Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica.
“The damage a Constitutional Convention could do to Californians’ basic rights is off the charts,” Wiener said in a statement. “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.”
“California must do its part to prevent this chaos, and we must not allow our state’s previous calls for a Constitutional Convention to be co-opted by efforts to throw out the Constitution in pursuit of an extreme right-wing agenda,” continued Wiener.
The measure could be considered a rebuke of Newsom’s call for a constitutional convention, and points to a potential rift between Newsom – who emphasizes California’s role in national politics – and Democrats like Wiener who are pivoting to reducing the state’s cost of living as Republicans make electoral gains.
Two-thirds, or 34, state legislatures must call for a constitutional convention for one to commence, and three-quarters, or 38 states, would have to ratify any constitutional changes produced by a convention, suggesting any changes are unlikely, and would have to have overwhelming bipartisan support.
Republicans control 28 state legislatures, while Democrats control 19, and another two legislatures are divided, meaning it is not possible to pass any constitutional changes on a party-line vote.
