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David White News staff writer February 1, 2003 MONTGOMERY Leaders of Gov. Bob Riley's 34-member constitutional reform commission said Friday that they plan to give him by March 28 written proposals to correct problems that Riley has targeted in the Alabama Constitution. The commission of lawyers, lobbyists, business owners, politicians and others met for the first time Friday. Riley created the commission last week and appointed all 34 members. "Stay focused on two or three things," Riley told them. "Let's go ahead and take care of those, because they are of critical importance to this state, and we have to do something about them quickly." Riley said the group could come back later to study ways to fix other problems in the constitution. But for now, he urged the group to propose changes, or amendments, to the constitution on: • Earmarking. About 90 percent of state taxes are reserved, or earmarked, for specific uses such as building roads and paying teachers. Riley thinks some taxes not reserved for education should be unearmarked to give the governor and lawmakers more freedom to spend money where they think it's most needed. • Home rule. County governments have limited power to govern. Riley has asked the commission to propose the best way to give counties more power over zoning, economic development and fire and police protection. But Riley said any plan on home rule must give local voters the power to accept or reject taxes proposed by a county commission. • Line-item veto. Governors in many states can reject specific spending items in a state budget but still approve the rest of the budget. Riley asked the commission to study whether Alabama's governor should have that power. Riley said those three areas were his biggest priorities, but he also asked the commission to suggest whether the constitution should be: • Rewritten to require more than a simple majority of the Senate or House of Representatives to approve any increase in state taxes. Some states require approval by majorities of 60 percent, two-thirds or 75 percent. • Reorganized by topic to make it easier to use. Former Secretary of State Jim Bennett, who chairs the commission, predicted members would meet the March 28 deadline, partly because groups such as the Alabama Law Institute and the non-profit, non-partisan Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform already have studied problems targeted by Riley. "A lot of the work has already been done," Bennett said. Riley's commission includes seven ACCR board members. Bennett said the commission plans to give Riley drafts of proposed laws to rewrite parts of the constitution. He said Riley then could tinker with the proposals and present them to the Legislature, where lawmakers could rewrite them further. Any proposed amendment must by approved by at least 63 of the 105 House members and 21 of the 35 state senators. It also must be approved by a majority of Alabama voters to take effect. Bennett said a statewide vote on proposed amendments could come as soon as the June 2004 primary elections. Holding a special statewide election any sooner would cost an extra $3 million, he said. Commission member and Alabama Supreme Court Justice Gorman Houston said he looked forward to the challenge. "Now the tough part starts, but I think the commission is certainly up to it," he said. Return to: Constitutional Reform ~ In the News Return to: Editorial Index |
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| Alabama Citizens for
Constitutional Reform Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 34 Montgomery, Alabama 36101-0034 E-mail: accr@constitutionalreform.org |
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