HJ49 rescinds prior applications for an Article V constitutional convention to propose amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

The Connecticut House of Representatives passed HJ49 on April 28, 2025 by a vote of 145 to 0. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because this legislation rescinds Connecticut’s previous applications to Congress to “call a convention” under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, including one from 1949 that would propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution authorizing the federal government to participate in a "world federal government.” Connecticut’s Senate Joint Resolution 15 of 1949, in particular, highlights the dangers of an Article V convention. It would have the ability to make major changes to the Constitution, or even completely rewrite it. A convention could not only be used to promote goals contrary and subversive to our nation’s republican form of government and independence, but lead to a runaway convention that would, no matter how well intentioned, reverse many of the Constitution’s limitations on government power. Instead, the Connecticut General Assembly should consider Article VI and nullify unconstitutional laws. Article V was designed to correct potential errors or defects in the Constitution, not to “misconstrue or abuse its powers.”