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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 370 FILED ON: 1/13/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2463
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
James B. Eldridge
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying
resolution:
Resolutions for a United States Constitutional Amendment and a limited amendment proposing
convention.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and WorcesterMichael J. BarrettThird Middlesex2/11/2025 1 of 4
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 370 FILED ON: 1/13/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2463
By Mr. Eldridge, a petition (accompanied by resolutions, Senate, No. 2463) of James B. Eldridge
and Michael J. Barrett for the adoption of resolutions for a United States Constitutional
Amendment and a limited amendment proposing convention. Veterans and Federal Affairs.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 2319 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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Resolutions for a United States Constitutional Amendment and a limited amendment proposing
convention.
1 WHEREAS, the 1st President of the United States George Washington stated, “The basis
2of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of
3Government."; and
4 WHEREAS, it was the stated intention of the framers of the Constitution of the United
5States of America that the Congress of the United States of America should be "dependent on the
6people alone." (James Madison, Federalist 52); and
7 WHEREAS, that dependency has evolved from a dependency on the people alone to a
8dependency on those who spend excessively in elections, through campaigns or third-party
9groups; and 2 of 4
10 WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal
11Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010) removed restrictions on amounts of independent
12political spending; and
13 WHEREAS, the removal of those restrictions has resulted in the unjust influence of
14powerful economic forces, which have supplanted the will of the people by undermining our
15ability to choose our political leadership, write our own laws, and determine the fate of our state;
16and
17 WHEREAS, corporations are artificial entities that governments create and, as such, do
18not possess the same unalienable rights of natural persons protected by the Constitution; and
19 WHEREAS, corporations have used a claim to the rights enumerated in the US
20Constitution, including under the 1st, 4th, 5th and 14th Amendments, to challenge and overturn
21democratically enacted laws protecting the public interest; and
22 WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution requires the United States
23Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments upon application of two-thirds of the
24legislatures of the several states for the purpose of proposing amendments to the United States
25Constitution; and
26 WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts sees the need for a convention to
27propose amendments in order to address concerns about the integrity of our elections and about
28the ability of the people to participate in effective self-government, specifically those concerns
29arising from the United States Supreme Court’s rulings limiting the ability of the legislature to
30regulate the raising and spending of money in elections and granting constitutional rights to
31corporations; and desires that said convention should be so limited; and 3 of 4
32 WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts desires that the delegates to said
33convention shall be comprised equally from individuals currently elected to state and local
34office, or be selected by election in each Congressional district for the purpose of serving as
35delegates, though all individuals elected or appointed to federal office, now or in the past, be
36prohibited from serving as delegates to the Convention, and intends to retain the ability to restrict
37or expand the power of its delegates within the limits expressed above; and
38 WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts intends that this application shall
39constitute a continuing application, considered together with applications on this subject such as
40those passed in the 2013-2014 Vermont legislature as R454, the 2013-2014 California legislature
41as Resolution Chapter 77, the 98th Illinois General Assembly as SJR 42, the 2014-2015 New
42Jersey legislature as SCR 132, the 2015-2016 Rhode Island legislature as HR 7670 and SR 2589,
43and all other passed, pending, and future applications, the aforementioned concerns of
44Massachusetts notwithstanding until such time as two-thirds of the Several States have applied
45for a Convention and said Convention is convened by Congress;
46 Therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the Commonwealth of
47Massachusetts that it calls on Congress to propose an amendment to the Constitution that would
48affirm that (a) the rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of
49natural persons, i.e. human individuals, only and (b) Congress and the states shall place limits on
50political contributions and expenditures to ensure that all citizens have access to the political
51process, and the spending of money to influence elections is not protected free speech under the
52First Amendment; and 4 of 4
53 Be it further Resolved, that if Congress does not propose this constitutional amendment
54within 6 months of the passage of this bill, then this bill constitutes a petition by the
55Commonwealth of Massachusetts, speaking through its legislature, and pursuant to Article V of
56the United States Constitution, to the Congress to call a limited Convention for the exclusive
57purpose of proposing Amendments, as prescribed previously herein, to the Constitution of the
58United States of America addressing, inter alia, concerns raised by Citizens United v. FEC,
59McCutcheon v. FEC and related decisions, as soon as two-thirds of the several States have
60applied for a Convention; and
61 Be it further Resolved, that this petition shall not be considered by the U.S. Congress
62until 33 other states submit petitions for the same purpose as proposed by Massachusetts in this
63resolution and unless the Congress determines that the scope of amendments to the Constitution
64of the United States considered by the convention shall be limited to the same purpose requested
65by Massachusetts; and
66 Be it further Resolved, that the Clerk of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and
67Clerk of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the
68United States and addressed to him at the legislative office which he maintains in Suite No. S-
69212 of the United States Capitol Building, the Speaker of the United States House of
70Representatives, the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, the
71President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, to each Senator and Representative from
72Massachusetts in the Congress of the United States, to the Governor of each State, and to the
73presiding officers of each legislative body of each of the several States, requesting the
74cooperation of the several States in issuing an application compelling Congress to call a
75convention for proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution.