Torrent of Constitutional Amendments are exclamation marks on dreadful session

Published June 27, 2018

By Rob Schofield

by Rob Schofield, NC Policy Watch and NC SPIN panelist, June 27, 2018.

A short-timer. In the military (and many civilian workplaces too) a short-timer is someone who is nearing the end of his or her term of service. Often, the term is used pejoratively to describe individuals who shirk new or difficult tasks as they cruise toward the exit door.

In the political realm, however, there are occasions in which short-timers pursue an opposite tack. Sometimes, when faced with the prospect of defeat in an upcoming election or, at least, a significant loss of power or status, short-timer politicians aim to enact as many new law and policy changes as they possibly can in the limited time they have remaining.

As the 2018 state legislative session careens this week toward what looks to be a wild and woolly conclusion, it’s hard not to see this latter scenario at work in Raleigh.

Simply put, if the predictions of most pollsters and pundits come true this fall, it’s extremely likely that Republicans will lose their supermajority control of the General Assembly in at least one, and quite possibly both, houses. If this happens, of course, their power to override gubernatorial vetoes and amend the constitution (both of which require 3/5 votes) will be dramatically reduced, along with their power to enact laws opposed by Democrats.

And so it is that North Carolinians find themselves in the last week of June trying to get some kind of a handle on a veritable torrent of proposals cascading through the legislature to amend the state constitution. The list of fundamental changes to state law that Republicans would permanently enshrine is stunning – both in terms of its length and breadth.

The list includes:

  • An extraordinarily vague proposal to permanently require all in-person voters in North Carolina to produce photo identification in order to cast their ballot;
  • A proposal to permanently cap the state income tax;
  • A proposal to transfer the authority to control the filling of judicial vacancies from the governor to the legislature;
  • An amendment to remove the governor’s power to appoint the state Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement and vest it in the General Assembly;
  • A lengthy series of changes to state criminal law that purport to bolster “victims’ rights”; and
  • A proposal to assure that North Carolinians have the right to use “traditional methods” to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife,

The list of problems with each of these proposals is long and significant.

In addition to its vagueness – a reality that’s sure to give rise to lots more extended litigation – the voter ID amendment is an expensive, wasteful and utterly unnecessary proposal that clearly constitutes yet another effort to make voting harder for poor people and voters of color, who tend to lack photo ID.

The income tax proposal would lock in the state’s regressive tax structure, badly hamstring state officials in their efforts to fund core services and, inevitably, lead to hikes in sales and property taxes that disproportionately impact poor and middle class North Carolinians.

The changes to filling judicial vacancies and appointments to the Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement have little, if anything, to do with good government and are clearly just the latest in a long and growing line of blatant power grabs by legislative leaders.

“Marsy’s Law” – the name given to the proposal on victims’ rights, likely contains a mixture of helpful and potentially problematic provisions, but as Policy Watch recently reported, it’s being advanced with little, if any, attention being devoted to its potential cost to the state budget – something that could be significant.

Meanwhile, the hunting and fishing amendment is an embarrassingly transparent attempt to rouse conservative and rural voters that constitutes the proverbial “solution in search of a problem.” Add to this the vagueness of the proposal – no one can even say for sure what “traditional methods” of hunting and fishing are – and the whole proposal becomes that much more ridiculous.

But, of course, what makes this spasm of constitution-altering legislation truly pernicious is the way it’s coming about. The list would still be objectionable even if each proposal had been the subject of extended testimony from (and cross-examination of) multiple experts over many weeks or months that featured multiple opportunities for members of the public to weigh in at venues around the state.

That it was, rather (as seems always to be the case with the General Assembly in recent years), produced largely in secret and, in many instances, cut from whole cloth and sprung on lawmakers and an unsuspecting public during the final hours of a hectic and contentious session is, quite simply, an outrage.

The bottom line: A harried and hurried end-of-session blitz is simply no way to set the stage for enshrining permanent changes in the state constitution. Let’s hope voters take this into account when and if they’re asked to pass judgment on the list come November.

http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2018/06/26/torrent-of-constitutional-amendments-provide-exclamation-points-on-a-dreadful-legislative-session/

June 27, 2018 at 1:37 pm
Norm Kelly says:

'as seems always to be the case with the General Assembly in recent years'. So long as 'recent years' consists of years since the turn of the century (that's over 17 years ago for left-coast readers), when libs ruled in Raleigh, then Yes, it's recent. But if by 'recent years' you mean since libs lost control of Raleigh, then No, it's not recent years. Is it important that we all ignore the way libs ruled Raleigh in order to chastise and belittle the current group of Legislators? It appears from the losing lib side, the answer is yes. From the perspective of 'business as usual for many many years', then NO, this is not new. It seems that libs are mostly upset by business being done this way simply because it's not them doing it. But when libs ruled this way, how many of you lib-lovers came out to whine? I'll need proof of your whining during those decades before I believe that you even considered doing it.

As for the voter ID requirement: why is it that this is considered racist? Why is it that libs believe blacks are incapable of identifying themselves? Isn't this a slap in the face of blacks (yes!), and shouldn't they be upset with libs who think so little of them? Of course blacks should be upset with libs! As for whether it prevents blacks from voting, isn't it important to look at states where voter ID exists and compare our black stats with black stats from those states? Of course, which is why libs refuse to do it. Comparing actual facts & figures is contrary to lib speak because facts & figures constantly show the lie of lib speak! Then also consider the district in Pennsylvania (wasn't it?) where more blacks voted than there are registered voters. With voter ID, this could not have happened. Which is why libs want to eliminate or prevent voter ID. When more people vote than live in the district, would libs consider this voter fraud, or just another bogus example of conservatives making up stuff? Obviously, based on the way libs whine about voter ID, this is simply to be ignored, called a lie, and those who profess this truth must be publicly berated. But truth is truth. Unless you are a card-carrying lib.

Then there's the lib lie about early voting changes being racist. Why is it that lib-run states HAVE ZERO EARLY VOTING DAYS and yet they are not considered racist? Is it only because those states are ruled by libs? Of course! Libs aren't racist, only conservatives and Republicans. No matter how many times lib claim that blacks are incapable, libs are never considered racist. Libs are considered compassionate, caring, loving, looking out for those who can't look out for themselves. Yet every time some conservative/Republican comes out with a proposal or statement that PROVES blacks are capable, not only do libs come out of the woodwork to use the tired/overused/pointless claim of racism, but so do black 'leaders'. Why is it that some big-hearted lib can make derogatory statements about blacks and it's not just accepted but supported and applauded, but when conservatives DEMONSTRATE that they KNOW blacks are not 'less than', its conservatives that are called racist? Simple answer: when libs have NO argument, they claim racism. When libs have no facts to support their whining, they claim racism. (and it's important to note that libs rarely have facts to bolster their whining. facts are antithetical to liberalism and MUST be ignore or disputed in order to maintain your membership in lib-land!)

Then again, why is it that blacks choose to ignore that it's libs that tried to prevent Equal Rights Amendment back in the sixties? Why is it that libs want this information scrubbed from history? Why is it that blacks so easily believe the lies of libs, when it's libs that tried to prevent them from even having the vote. And it's libs that do everything possible to trap blacks in failing schools and failing neighborhoods. It's libs that want to trap blacks on government subsistence programs, not find ways to get blacks off subsistence on onto independence! So, blacks, why are you so close minded to truth? We know why libs are opposed to truth - cuz it proves the lie of liberalism.