Last week, lawmakers in Colorado took the important action of rescinding all of Colorado’s previous calls for an Article V constitutional convention. This crucial legislation removes Colorado from the dangerous equation many state legislatures have fallen prey to by wealthy special interests looking to start a constitutional convention when they hit the 34 state threshold needed. 

The Article V rescission, HJR-1006, was passed unanimously with a voice vote in the Colorado House of Representatives and was passed with a bipartisan vote of 29-3 in the Colorado Senate. This is a huge win for the rights of Coloradans, and through their efforts, Colorado lawmakers are ensuring that the United States takes a much needed step away from a convention. 

Before this rescission in Colorado, state legislatures were just 6 states away from calling a convention – putting all of our constitutional rights and civil liberties at risk. Additionally, this move by Colorado could be the blow to the entire movement to call a constitutional convention. 

Previously, proponents such as the Convention of States and the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force campaigns have tried to combine their resolutions (showing how easily it would be for a runaway convention to take hold if one were to actually convene) with plenary applications to get to the required 34 state threshold. However, with this rescission, those combinations now don’t add up to 34, making it difficult for them to make a case for a convention. 

Thank you to the legislators in Colorado for shepherding this critical rescission effort through to safeguard the rights and liberties of their constituents and those of the American people. 

Read more about the dangers of an Article V convention in this recently released HuffPost article.