Posted by At the start of this session, Demetrius Newton introduced HJR54 which if passed by both Houses, result in a convention to draw up a new state constitution.
Today the resolution was first put on the table then by voice vote carried over. Meaning its not dead it just wants to take a little walk. For those interested, a link to the roll call vote to table. A Yes vote meant table, No bring up for action. Seems to be a bipartisan effort to put the resolution on the cart.
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Please don’t even pretend that this will ever pass.
I never want to see the likes of Roger Bedford and Hank Sanders writing a constitution.
Dead.
Ironic that on the same day this came back before the House, a new movie from the Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform was screened at the Department of Archives and History.
http://www.theworldaroundyou.com/2010/02/23/open-secret-continues-push-for-constitutional-reform/
What’s dead without a new state constitution is the opportunity to have taxpayers put number 1. The votes to table HJR54 show who is in the legislature to get re-elected. The votes against tabling HJR54 show the legislators who want the people to decide the issue.
I believe many of the crucial reforms Alabama needs will never occur unless we have a new constitution. Unfortunately, watching this whole bingo fiasco unfurl makes it clear that we never will re-write the old one. Think about it, if we can’t agree on something as simple as bingo (which would be just one of thousands of things we would have to hammer out in a new constitution), how are we ever going to deal with crafting a new constitution. the new draft would be DOA and voted down, no doubt. I used to be an idealist and think we could get it done, but now I realize what an incredible waste of time it is to argue we should have another convention. I guess I should have known from the beginning. After all, our state motto doesn’t actually translate to “We Dare Defend Our Rights”, as many people have misinterpreted it over the years (including the folks who put up the state’s webpage). Nope, pursuant to the Alabama Code, it is clear that it means “We Dare Maintain Our Rights”. So, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll keep letting Montgomery maintain our rights (or actually, our lack thereof).
I guess the sad irony of this whole thing is that there is at least one thing our leaders can agree on enough to make a bipartisan effort…