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Opinion
October 17, 2002

ANOTHER ALABAMA election season is in full swing without many candidates talking enough about one particular crucial issue. The hidden issue is that of reforming the state's sclerotic, inefficient, economically damaging constitution.

   The good news, though, is that south Alabamians have the chance to help raise the issue's profile, and to learn more about it, at forums Sunday and Monday at the Alabama School of Math and Science. The Sunday meeting will run from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the ASMS Debakey Theatre. The Monday event will start at 8:30 a.m. at the ASMS Auditorium, with citizen input in a "town hall" format beginning at 1:15 p.m.

   The forums are sponsored by the Alabama Citizens Commission on Constitutional Reform, a group consisting of citizen-volunteers from throughout the state and led by retiring Secretary of State Jim Bennett.
  
The purposes are both informational and motivational: to explain why the existing constitution is fatally flawed, and to inspire citizens to convince legislators that a new constitution is needed.

   In this case, the reformers are entirely correct. The state's constitution is a mess. It's always been a mess, ever since it was adopted through corrupt means back in 1901, and it's getting worse. Amendments pile up on amendments (now more than 700 of them), all in efforts to make end-runs around high roadblocks the document puts in the way of efficient local governance.

   Particularly hard hit by the current system are efforts at local economic development, which most county governments have no power to undertake without going through an unwieldy process in the Legislature. Local zoning, too, is hamstrung by the existing constitution.

   The counterproductive, unfair nature of the state's tax system is also an outgrowth of constitutional deficiencies. For instance, income taxes in Alabama can begin being collected on a worker's earnings before the worker has amassed even $5,000 -- well below the poverty line. Simply put, that's an outrage.

   The best way to fix all the constitution's problems is to tear it up and start again from scratch. The goal is to replace the whole unwieldy edifice with a government that makes Alabama more competitive with other states.

   The best way to do that, and to guarantee that citizens themselves control the process, is through a state constitutional convention with delegates elected by the people and any final product subject to an up-or-down popular vote.

   "Special interests" would have a difficult time controlling such an open process. The Sunday session at ASMS will delve into the details of how such a convention could be organized and how it would operate. The Monday morning session will feature testimony from experts on individual rights, education and economic development.

   The Register urges civic-minded south Alabamians to attend. It's a chance to get in on the ground floor of a new, more solid structure for Alabama government.

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