Opinion
February 28, 2003
No sentient person can have lived in this state
for any time and not have heard of the need to reform state government
and thus put Alabama on its way to solving its myriad problems.
But what kind of reform? How would it change things?
The principal need is for constitutional reform. The
present constitution, adopted in 1901, vests almost unlimited power
in the hands of the Legislature and almost none in local government
and the people who elect local government.
The 1901 constitution protects powerful interests at
the expense of everyone else. In addition, its language serves as
a depressing reminder of Alabama's racist and discriminatory past.
Ask the average legislator and he or she will agree on
the need for constitutional reform. Ask advocates of reform and they
will answer enthusiastically in the affirmative. Ask Gov. Bob Riley;
he agrees, and he has named a special commission to examine the issue.
So what needs to be done? The racist language must be
eliminated. Alabama's counties must be given home rule. Alabama's
inadequate and distorted tax system must be changed. Normal powers
must be granted, subject to the customary limits. And the entire constitution,
which at 700-plus amendments and counting is the world's longest,
must be recompiled in a modern, streamlined form.
Easy, right? No, not so easy. For one thing, a few powerful
interests oppose reform. So do fringe groups whose baseless scare
tactics can alarm the uninformed. Then there's the natural effect
of inertia; it's easy to keep something you already have but much
harder to discard it for something else.
So while differences exist on what needs to be done,
serious differences also exist over how to do it. The Alabama Citizens
for Constitutional Reform supports a constitutional convention. So
do outspoken advocates. So do most the editorial pages of state newspapers.
On the other hand, Riley and others think a convention
is unlikely to be called. They prefer changing key elements of a constitution
one section at a time. That's what Riley's commission is working on
at the moment. That commission deserves a chance to do its work.
The governor believes the lack of home rule is one of
the document's major flaws. He supports tax reform, although he doesn't
think it should precede constitutional reform.
Riley seems serious, and yet his preferences for some
types of reform are problematic. He wants to give governors the line-item
veto over state spending. He wants to make the Legislature muster
a supermajority - 60 percent - to pass any tax increase.
Trouble is, the line-item veto power would belong to
any governor in the future, not just to Riley. As for the supermajority
requirement for a tax increase, that's unwise. Alabamians have the
lowest taxes in the country. It's not high taxation but the lack of
basic services that keeps the state out of the national mainstream.
And so it goes. For every party that proposes something,
another party rises to disagree. The simple fact is that no effective
change can please everybody. When differences emerge, as they will,
they must be sorted out by the Legislature or a constitutional convention.
In the past, the Legislature has not taken the lead to
do what needs to be changed. It remains to be seen whether the Legislature
will do so this time around. It also remains to be seen whether Riley,
who so far has moved in a positive direction, can keep his momentum
in the face of inevitable hurdles - and whether he will
challenge the views of the interest groups that backed his candidacy.
Most of all, the task rests with the people of Alabama.
They must inform themselves. Then they must demand that their elected
officials do what has to be done. After all, the victims of the constitution
of 1901 are not the politicians. The victims are the people of this
long-suffering state.
If a house is falling down, people may disagree as to
whether it ought to be repaired, replaced or relocated. Even so, they
realize that doing nothing is not a viable option.
Alabama needs leaders in the days ahead. But it also
needs followers. In the past, there haven't been enough of either.
Sunday: reform below the radar.
Return to: Constitutional Reform ~ In the
News
Return to: Editorial
Index
