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January 22. 2003

   Gov. Bob Riley and the Legislature have in their hands a document for change, one that calls for a major rethinking of how government works in Alabama.

   The Alabama Citizens’ Commission on Constitutional Reform published the document last week. Riley agrees at least in principle with many of its recommendations. We hope he will ask the commission he appoints to study rewriting the state’s 1901 constitution to use it as a blueprint, for many of the state’s problems begin with the 102-year-old document.

   What needs to be changed? Here are some of the major recommendations from the privately funded citizens’ commission, headed by former Secretary of State Jim Bennett:

   Home rule. The report says counties, cities and towns need authority to decide local matters without going to the Legislature for approval. It could help speed up things we have long needed in our own community like a comprehensive plan to protect the water quality in Lake Tuscaloosa.

   The home rule powers would extend to tax authority, and that worries some residents. But the commission recommends a safeguard by requiring a majority of local voters to approve any taxes affecting them imposed by a local government.

   Tax structure. The report says the multiple restrictions and limits on taxes should be removed from the constitution and placed in a unified tax code ó one that is adequate, coherent and morally acceptable.

   Such a tax code would lift the burden of some of the heaviest sales taxes in the country from the poor. At the same time, it would adjust the state’s lowest-in-the-nation property taxes to a level that would allow for good schools and cover the cost of government services.

   Earmarking. In looking at taxation changes, the commission recommends ending earmarking tax dollars for specific spending, not just for non-education items, as Riley proposes, but for all revenue. In theory, this is a sound provision, assuming that there is adequate money to fund all the needs of schools and government.

   These are important recommendations. Most state leaders say they recognize that it is past time to give/slocal governments home rule. And the bankruptcy of Alabama’s tax system will hit home this year as the state suffers through its biggest money crisis since the Great Depression.

   That said, the citizens’ commission report is far from perfect. We are not convinced, for example, that it would always be a good thing to require a governor and lieutenant governor to run as a team, like a president and vice president in a national election.

   Moreover, the report’s recommendations to retain some form of the notorious “lid bill" and current use provisions, which have kept taxes on much of the state land artificially low, are just plain off target.
Even so, the document is the best and most comprehensive plan yet to address the many problems that afflict our state. Building on its many strengths, Riley’s commission has an excellent opportunity to set the stage for the comprehensive reforms that we must bring about to bring progress and prosperity to our state.

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