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Opinion September 8, 2002 In the first gubernatorial debate, neither candidate mentioned it. Neither U.S. Rep. Bob Riley's nor Gov. Don Siegelman's television commercials focus on it. A July meeting for citizens to learn more about it was overshadowed by President Bush's visit to the state the same day. Is the constitution reform movement in Alabama losing steam? Hardly. In fact, the effort to rewrite the state's grievously flawed fundamental charter is as strong as ever. Both candidates for governor say they strongly support rewriting the century-old document, although they have different ways of going about it. When is the last time in a gubernatorial campaign that constitution reform was even a major issue? Siegelman, after ignoring the need for reform for more than half his term, finally "got" it or at least his poll numbers told him he needed to "get" it because the issue was getting more popular with voters. He jumped aboard the already moving reform train in March 2001 and this year pushed to get a bill through the Legislature that would have allowed voters to decide in November whether they wanted a citizens' convention to rewrite the document. Although that effort failed in the Legislature, grass-roots support for a new constitution has continued to grow. There will be a day, soon, when lawmakers vote against constitution reform at their own risk. Last week, Riley told the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham that the progress he envisions for Alabama hinges on reforming the constitution. "Until you have some basic constitutional reform, you can accomplish none of what I just talked about," he said. That's heartening, because Riley over the past year has shifted his position, from full-fledged reform to bare-bones reform to something a little more meaty. Now, he wants a constitutional commission to suggest specific changes to the constitution. Its focus would be to strip the document of racist and unconstitutional provisions, and alter it to give counties limited self-government and to free tax revenue that has been earmarked in the constitution for specific uses. While this editorial page favors involving citizens in a complete rewrite of the constitution, the fact that both candidates are on board for substantial reform bodes well. A governor's leadership is just about a must to accomplish this difficult task. The other necessary ingredient is citizen support. There, the Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform has been growing support at the grass-roots level that would make a sod farm proud. Monday, it continues its efforts to educate and involve the public, with a meeting of the Alabama Citizens' Commission for Constitutional Reform at the Linn-Henley Research Library in downtown at 8:30 a.m. The meeting is the second of four planned around the state to consider changes to the constitution. (For more information, call ACCR at 334-834-5495 or e-mail the group at accr@constitutionalreform.org.) Interested citizens should attend. They will see why constitution reform isn't going away until the constitution is reformed. . 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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