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Opinion January 8, 2002 If it weren’t so sad, it would be funny. The very thought that the Legislature could competently rewrite the decrepit Alabama Constitution may be a dream that some lawmakers have, but it’s a dream based nowhere in reality. A few lawmakers even sound downright delusional when they talk about the prospects of a new constitution. Normally a common-sense, well-grounded legislator, state Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, sounds like he’s lost it completely when discussing whether there should be a citizens’ convention to rewrite the state constitution. “I’m afraid special interests will overshadow the average citizen,” Smitherman offered in an Associated Press story. “We’re the ones voted on by the people.” If lawmakers are afraid to give citizens a chance to rewrite their own constitution because they don’t want to share power, they should simply say so. But to concoct a reason like Smitherman offered is disingenuous at best. Special interests overshadow no group in Alabama more than the state Legislature. There are about 550 lobbyists for the 135 lawmakers in Montgomery. Legislators hardly make a move without checking with the teachers’ union or the trial lawyers or the business interests or Alfa. They’re so dominated by special interests that much of the legislation they debate is actually written by the special interests. They’re wined and dined by lobbyists to the tune of up to $250 per day without lobbyists having to report it and lawmakers are worried about the “average citizen” being overshadowed by special interests? In fact, history has shown the Legislature to be completely inept at rewriting the constitution. Time and again, efforts to rewrite the constitution have been presented to the Legislature. Key proposals home rule, streamlining government, tax reform get nowhere. The Legislature can’t even pass noncontroversial reforms to the constitution. Over the past three years, lawmakers have proposed rewrites of a few sections, but these have failed again and again. Smitherman’s Senate has been the holdup, even on the easy stuff, yet he is worried about the “average citizen” being overshadowed by special interests. Lawmakers may not want a constitutional convention, but polls clearly show that the people do. They don’t trust the Legislature because they know who the special interests control in Alabama. The lousy constitution we live under allows the special interests to focus their efforts in one place Montgomery. A citizens’ convention will be no more dominated by special interests than the Legislature is now. A great advantage to a citizens convention is the media spotlight that will be focused on the meetings. Any particular special interest will have a public price to pay if it tries to derail an honest effort to rewrite the constitution. But such domination can be hidden in the Legislature, where a bloated bureaucracy and cumbersome committee system make it easy to bury worthy proposals without any legislative debate at all. The Legislature has had 100 years to rewrite Alabama’s deeply flawed document. It’s time to give the people a shot. Return to: Editorial Index |
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Citizens for Constitutional Reform Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 34 Montgomery, Alabama 36101-0034 E-mail: accr@constitutionalreform.org |
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