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By Eric Fleischauer Decatur Daily Staff Writer eric@decaturdaily.com • (334) 340-2435 April 18, 2003 If there is truth to the judge's quip that a good compromise is one that neither side likes, then the divided reaction to a constitutional reform proposal supported by Gov. Bob Riley bodes well. Three of the 34 members appointed by Riley to the state Citizens' Constitution Commission spoke to about 50 people in Decatur on Thursday night. The members spoke in favor of a series of limited constitutional amendments that they said would improve the efficiency and fairness of a 102-year-old patchwork document that the state has amended 742 times. Public comment was largely of the soapbox variety, with some advocating the tax fairness and local control expected to result from reform, and others saying the reform process is nothing more than an effort to increase taxes. One of the commission members, Will-iam Stewart, a professor emeritus at The University of Alabama, said the racist origins of the constitution result in a document that still is successful in disenfranchising the state's citizens. "The delegates' agenda was primarily racially oriented. The reason they assembled was to ensure whites only would govern. We reject that today," Stewart said. He said North Alabama residents were not keen on the document even in 1901 because they correctly "thought it was a plot to disenfranchise small farmers. ... The delegates were trying to keep people from taking a part in governing themselves." Samford University President Tom Corts, a member of the panel and president of Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform, said the complexity of the document gives license to those politicians seeking to operate without public oversight. "The more obfuscation and confusion, the easier it is for you to be flimflammed as a citizen. When all this is hidden from John Q. Citizen, danger lurks," Corts said. He targeted the extensive earmarking of funds in the Constitution, arguing that the threat of losing the next election is a more efficient tool for preventing improper expenditures. Commission member Karen Stanley, vice president of Huntsville's Stanley Construction Co., focused on the need for tax reform. "People say, 'Are you talking about tax reform or constitutional reform?' We're talking about both," Stanley said. In his first executive order, Riley created the Citizens' Constitution Commission and instructed it to draft revisions to: • Increase home rule, which would empower cities and counties to govern themselves more fully. • Reduce earmarking in the state budget. • Give line-item veto power to the governor. • Require a legislative supermajority to impose new taxes. • Recompile the Constitution to eliminate duplication and items that are unconstitutional. For the revisions to take effect, both houses of the Legislature would have to approve them, after which the Legislature would submit them to the people in a statewide election. The only revision that has universal support is recompilation, a task that may be possible without a popular vote. Currently before the state Supreme Court is a request to determine whether the Legislature can order recompilation without submitting the issue as a constitutional amendment. Several people made comments, one of which triggered applause. "I have three young children," said Sandra Jenkins-Souder of Morgan County. "I am here because I want this state to be better for them than it was for me. I don't understand all the arguments, but I know this is the right thing to do." Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform, the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce and THE DAILY sponsored the forum. Mayor Lynn Fowler opened the meeting by saying constitutional reform "is long overdue. It's past time that we do something about rewriting our constitution." John Seymour, president of the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce, said his organization supports reform because it will help improve school funding and increase the efficiency of local government. "Why should we be voting on Dothan's school bond issues? We don't know anything about that. It makes no sense," Seymour said after the meeting. Some attack Riley's proposed revisions as too modest, while others say they are too extreme. Not enough Alabama Arise policy analyst Mary Weidler did not attend the meeting, but her organization, an advocacy group for the poor, has consistently pushed for a constitutional convention and complete re-write of the document. "Without redoing the entire thing, you can't get rid of the underlying assumptions and racism," Weidler said. Weidler is particularly adamant that constitutional limitations on local government results in a regressive tax system. "As a result of imposing these limits on counties and cities in Alabama, what happened was that the only kind of taxes that they were able to levy on their own without having to get permission from the Legislature were very regressive taxes like sales taxes and various kinds of business taxes on small businesses," Weidler said. Decatur City Council collided with this problem in 2001 when it tried to modify the regressive impact of an increased sales tax by excluding grocery purchases. It kept the sales-tax hike, but eliminated the exclusion when officials learned that only the state Legislature could authorize a Decatur exclusion, and it was not inclined to do so. Weidler opposes only one of Riley's proposals, the requirement that a three-fifths majority of the Legislature approve new taxes. "If the purpose of unearmarking is to give the Legislature more flexibility in deciding how the money should be spent, then imposing a supermajority is contradictory," Weidler said. Too much Another group, Alliance for Citizens' Rights, opposes Riley's proposal because it goes too far. Its chairman, Ken Freeman, did not attend the meeting, but several other members of his group did. Freeman said the only backing for a new constitution is the Alabama Education Association, and its only interest is to increase taxes. Freeman said state taxes are already too high. "The only break we get is on local property taxes, and I think that's what a lot of this is about. The bureaucrats can't stand that they can't get their hands on the property tax," he said. Home rule, according to Freeman, is an effort to circumvent the current constitutional requirement that property taxes can only be increased by a vote of the people. "The people have consistently voted against tax increases. The will of the people is being expressed. Home rule is supposed to give the people a voice in tax increases — well the people have a voice, and they've consistently turned it down," Freeman said. 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