Advertiser supports convention bill
It isn’t that they endorsed a convention. They endorsed allowing a vote on a convention.
There is room for disagreement as to whether a constitutional convention is the best way to develop a new state constitution to replace Alabama’s flawed 1901 document. However, it is hard to argue against allowing Alabamians to decide whether a convention is what they want.
To me, the issue really isn’t whether or not we should hold a convention. At least not yet. The issue to me is whether or not the state legislature should be able to make that decision. I think not. The convention bill being debated in the legislature requires that a majority of voters approve that a convention even be held. So before anything happens, the voters in 2010 will be asked a simple question:
Do you favor the holding of a constitutional convention for the purpose of revising the Constitution of Alabama of 1901?
Only if a majority of voters approve will the convention process begin. But that’s not all. After the convention produces a document, the voters will again be asked if they want to ratify it. So if the convention produces a bill that would, say, magically raise taxes, Alabama voters can reject the document. Do you really think Alabama voters would approve a new constitution that would raise their taxes?
Opponents of the bill say that it’s just a bunch of special interests who want this bill to pass and that they’re just trying to re-write our tax code. They fail, however, to admit that in the current bill the voters will pass the legislation and that the voters would approve any new tax code a new constitution would allow.
So what’s the deal? Do they believe their personal opinion about a convention is more important than a majority of voters? Do they believe that the people of Alabama will be duped by “special interests” into approving a bad constitution? Do they believe that the legislature is more immune to “special interests” than the Alabama legislature? Or are they themselves a “special interest” with something to lose if a new constitution is even considered? I don’t see many other options.
I will, however, freely admit that I have a few problems with the delegate election process.
