The Constitutional Convention Option

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Eli Blake posted a comment to Living in the State of Delusion: Special Election Edition that got me to thinking about what we can do to fix our broken government in Arizona. Our state Constitution has been corrupted in many ways by the abuse of the initiative and referendum process over the years.

Other constitutional provisions have been rendered almost meaningless by Arizona Supreme Court interpretations resulting from the "political question" doctrine and the separation of powers doctrine. For example, the constitutional provisions mandating that the Legislature pass a balanced budget by the start of the fiscal year on July 1 and to raise taxes if necessary to accomplish this task. Or other constitutional provisions mandating that the state provide a public education "as nearly free as possible." The Court is powerless to enforce these constitutional mandates, leading to abuses by the Legislature.

There is a "nuclear option" available in the Arizona Constitution, one fraught with the peril of mischief and special interests in this age of corporate funded think tanks and unlimited corporate political spending: the Constitutional Convention. This is considered a last resort for these cautionary reasons, and generally to be avoided.

The Arizona Constitution, Article 21, Section 2 provides:

2. Convention

Section 2. No Convention shall be called by the Legislature to propose alterations, revisions, or amendments to this Constitution, or to propose a new Constitution, unless laws providing for such Convention shall first be approved by the people on a Referendum vote at a regular or special election, and any amendments, alterations, revisions, or new Constitution proposed by such Convention shall be submitted to the electors of the State at a general or special election and be approved by the majority of the electors voting thereon before the same shall become effective.

There is already an organization in California collecting signatures to call for a Constitutional Convention in that state to fix a state constitution more broken than our own due to the mischief of initiatives and referendums over the years www.repaircalifornia.org. But see A California constitutional convention – Los Angeles Times

The Arizona Republic is running a series called "Arizona 2020" about reforming our state government that I find an interesting discussion. There are a growing number of organizations – including O'Connor House, Morrison Institute, Arizona Town Hall and the Center for Arizona's Future – stepping forward with ambitious proposals to change the way Arizona works.

The Arizona Republic published this editorial today As Arizona nears 100, government needs an overhaul (excerpt):

Arizona is approaching its second century with a creaking, corroded state government. Its machinery is partisan, opaque, rancorous and often simply stuck. You can almost hear the gears grind.

Patch jobs over the years have often made things worse, not better. It's time for a major overhaul.

* * *

Last year's endless Legislature, with special sessions spilling into December, was a picture of dysfunction. For the first time ever, Arizona failed the constitutional requirement to enter the fiscal year on July 1 with a balanced budget.

The Legislature plays fast and loose with its own rules, leaving the public and even its own members in the dark about what's happening. Average Arizonans get short shrift. Last month, a controversial bill to revive the payday-loan industry's exemption from interest-rate caps was yanked off the agenda at the last minute, despite a crowd of people who had taken time off from work and traveled to the Capitol to testify.

Well-intentioned reforms have gummed up the Legislature so much we should just undo them. Term limits are booting out experienced lawmakers just when the state needs their perspective and depth of knowledge. Clean Elections, with public financing for candidates, has such a skewed system of matching money that a judge overturned it.

* * *

No wonder frustrated voters are so receptive to initiatives. But what began as a grass-roots tool in the Progressive era has turned into an obstacle to good government. Special interests, often from out of state, pour millions of dollars into getting their pet ideas on the ballot. Signature gathering has become a business, commanding $5 and more per signature as the filing deadline approaches.

Still, many Arizonans see initiatives as a flawed but indispensable counterweight to the Legislature, a way to get things done that lawmakers won't tackle. It's time to fix some of the most glaring problems and continue looking for improvements.

In the long run, Arizonans should have a serious, wide-ranging discussion about the best way to run government in our second century, which begins in just two years. That discussion might consider an "open primary," in which voters pick from all the candidates regardless of party, and the top two vote-getters compete in the general election. Or a change as radical as a nonpartisan, unicameral legislature, like Nebraska has.

Arizona… will ultimately need to reinvent itself.

Before anyone runs off half-cocked demanding a Constitutional Convention, what is needed is a series of public discussion forums to collect various ideas for reform and to debate those ideas in a thoughtful process to come to some general consensus on the way forward. That process has already begun in Arizona. However, we are a long way from being ready for a Constitutional Convention.