by Craig Ruff
July 16, 2009

Over the next few months I will propose far-reaching (a polite way of saying far-fetched) proposals to revamp state government.

The calls will include: (a) a unicameral legislature; (b) two-member legislative districts; (c) a parliamentary system; (d) appointment of judges; and (e) restricting spending and taxing to a current state fiscal year. Readers will elate me if they agree with me on a couple or three ideas. If, paraphrasing Ed Koch, you agree with me on all, you need to see a psychiatrist.

A call for a state constitutional convention prompts this and following columns. The Michigan Constitution itself mandates that every 16 years a plurality of voters at a general election have the right to convene, or not, a convention. That next occurs in November 2010.

In 1978, by a margin of 2,112,549 to 640,286, voters rejected the idea. By a margin of 2,008,070 to 777,779, voters in 1994 rejected it. At this rate of increasing interest in calling a convention, I will be roughly 500 years old when the successor to the 1961-62 convention occurs.

A few pros and cons are in order.

A Few Pros
The people of Michigan may gain from a convention looking over a document nearly 50 years old and amended 32 times since 1963.

Compare the history of the U.S. Constitution to Michigan’s constitution:

• The U.S. Constitution has been amended fewer times, even though the national document is 218 years old and the state constitution is 46 years old. Since 1789 and with the exception of the first 10 (the Bill of Rights) coming right off the bat in 1789-1791, the U.S. Constitution has been amended 17 times in 218 years, compared to the state constitution being amended 32 times in its 46 years.
• Since Michigan adopted its current constitution and adopted 32 amendments, we have added four amendments to the U.S. Constitution (Amendment 24 prohibiting poll taxes; the 25th prescribing presidential succession; the 26th setting 18 as the voting age; and the 27th requiring that the compensation to federal legislators be set after the election of new House members — this guy had been sitting on the “proposed and to be resolved” desk since 1792!).
• The state constitution’s length dwarfs by thousands of words that of the nation’s. Put the two in the same font size on a scale. If you weighed what the state constitution does, you’d call an 800 number for a weight-loss pill or 911.

Bogged down in excruciating detail, the state constitution is less a template for how government governs and how we balance the rights of individuals and the powers of government than a laundry list of this is how you should do that details.

How detailed is the Michigan Constitution? Allowing for space, I must deflate fonts to give three examples.

• For the retirement of notes and bonds issued under Section 26 of Article X of the 1908 constitution there is hereby appropriated from the general fund each year during their life a sum equal to the amount of principal and interest payments due and payable in each year.
• The legislature may authorize lotteries and permit the sale of lottery tickets in the manner provided by law. No law enacted after January 1, 2004, that authorizes any form of gambling shall be effective, nor after January 1, 2004, shall any new state lottery games utilizing table games or player operated mechanical or electronic devices be established, without the approval of a majority of electors voting in a statewide general election and a majority of electors voting in the township or city where gambling will take place. This section will not apply to gambling in up to three casinos in the City of Detroit or to Indian tribal gaming.
• State Police Troopers and Sergeants shall, through their elected representative designated by 50% of such troopers and sergeants, have the right to bargain collectively with their employer concerning conditions of their employment, compensation, hours, working conditions, retirement, pensions, and other aspects of employment except promotions which will be determined by competitive examination and performance on the basis or merit, efficiency and fitness, and they shall have the right 30 days after commencement of such bargaining to submit any unresolved disputes to binding arbitration for the resolution thereof the same as now provided by law for Public Police and Fire Departments.

Dorothy Parker inscribed her tombstone and gave us good advice: If you can read this, you’re standing too close.

A Few Cons
Many fear that opposing special interests will take over a convention. To just the above three provisions, Spanish American War veterans mobilize (perhaps too animated a word) to seek equal protection. The State Lottery Bureau gives its something for nothing habituates twofers to vote for certain delegates to get language to prevent gambling in Detroit (a la the bumper strip: Don’t steal. Government doesn’t like competition.). State troopers want to lower from 50 percent to 30 percent the threshold for bargaining collectively. In exchange for their letting you off easy, troopers ask that you hand over your absentee ballot.

Lansing has evolved into a soup kitchen for special interests. You can only imagine how hungry the famished are to write something or other into the state constitution, as opposed to spending $100K annually to tinker with this or that state law or appropriation. In one fell swoop at a constitutional convention, your interest could save a million bucks every decade in hiring lobbyists. Opponents of a convention wisely counsel that very special interests could bastardize the document.

Legit, too, are the arguments among opponents of a new state constitutional convention who fret that really sweeping policy changes could cause instantaneous mayhem. Ideologues could muster funds to elect delegates who, if in the majority, would permit a graduated income tax, public funding for private schools, or capital punishment…or prohibit any business taxes, K-12 schools of choice or charters, or abortions.

For every flaw anyone may find in the state constitution, it’s easier to conjure up a bigger flaw. The terror of the unknown or worst-case scenario propels most special interests, theorists, and the public to accept the hand that they’re dealt. Lots of people play the state Lottery games. The shrewd fly to Vegas and at least get some sun and fun for the opportunity to get something for nothing, with better odds.

Choices
A tried-and-true maxim of politics, as I recall coined by American political scientist James Burnham, is that if there is not a problem there is no solution.

In less than 18 months, voters in Michigan will opt for one of the three choices. Yes, Michigan has a governmental problem (or more than one) and we need to rewrite the constitution. No, we have no governmental problem and don’t bother me for another 16 years. Or, we have one or more governmental problems but we fear that constitutional change will make matters worse.

I only beg that whether fer or agin, voters will look to a state constitution as a really big deal that is (a) not subjected to amendment through biennial plebiscites spawned by du jour single interests (i.e., difficult to amend between conventions); (b) concentrated on the roles and powers of state/local government and their officials and the rights of individuals; (c) parsimonious and profound; (d) short and sweet; and (e) enduring.

Craig Ruff is, among many things, a senior policy fellow and former president of Lansing-based Public Sector Consultants.