Bill
SJR 1
California rescinds all prior applications for an Article V federal constitutional convention and directs transmission to federal leaders to exclude its calls from the tally.
Status and key dates
- Bill number: SJR 1 (Joint Resolution)
- Author / Principal sponsor: Senator Scott Wiener (and multiple coauthors)
- Introduced: August 15, 2025
- Status: Adopted by both houses; Enrolled and filed with the Secretary of State — September 10, 2025. Res. Chapter 174, Statutes of 2025.
- Fiscal committee review: None required (Fiscal Committee: NO)
Purpose / intent
- The resolution directs the California Legislature to rescind, nullify, and supersede all prior applications it has made to the United States Congress asking Congress to call a federal constitutional convention (an Article V “convention for proposing amendments” to the U.S. Constitution). The intent is to withdraw California’s prior calls for such a convention and communicate that withdrawal to federal officials.
Key provisions
- Rescission: Declares that every application previously made by the California Legislature requesting Congress to call an Article V constitutional convention is rescinded, nullified, and superseded.
- Transmission: Instructs the Secretary of the California Senate to transmit copies of this resolution to a set of federal officials: the President, the Vice President, the Speaker of the U.S. House, the House Minority Leader, the U.S. Senate Majority and Minority Leaders, and each U.S. Senator and Representative from California.
- Publication/request for tallying: Requests that the resolution be published in the Congressional Record and be listed in the official tally of state legislative applications for calling a constitutional convention.
Who is affected
- Directly: Prior applications made by the California State Legislature seeking an Article V convention.
- Indirectly: The count of states applying for a federal constitutional convention (the aggregate tally toward the 34‑state threshold required under Article V) — if Congress or the entity maintaining the tally recognizes California’s rescission. Federal lawmakers and administrators who receive the transmitted resolution are notified.
Procedural and legal notes
- This is a state joint resolution (not legislation changing state statute); it has no fiscal effects per committee notation.
- The resolution requests publication and inclusion in the “official tally,” but whether and how rescissions are treated is ultimately a question for Congress (and, historically, for the Archivist or other Congressional authorities). There is ongoing scholarly and political debate about the legal effect of state rescissions of Article V applications; this resolution is California’s formal statement of withdrawal.
Sponsors and related measures
- Listed primary sponsors include Wiener and multiple legislators. Related/companion measures noted: HJR 16 and SJR 49.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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