We don’t know yet who the candidates for any state offices will be - that will be determined in an August primary. Nor do we know if there will be any other questions on the ballot.
But we know that we will be asked if we want to hold a new constitutional convention.
The people may well say yes - and if they do, the state needs to be ready to hold one.
And we’re not, thanks to the usual foot-dragging by our perpetually dysfunctional legislature. Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, one politician who does believe in being prepared, has proposed a plan. But neither her fellow Republicans in the state senate or the Democrats in the house have introduced legislation to permit her to get the ball rolling.
That may partly be because Speaker of the House Andy Dillon is too busy running for governor, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop is too busy running for attorney general.
True, they also have a few other things to worry about. But taking care of business regarding a potential con-con would be pretty easy. You set dates for the elections; figure out a convention site, make provision for support staff, etc. My guess is that the legislature is dragging their feet on this in part because, the mainstream politicians and interest groups are opposed to a con-con.
That‘s generally because they like the way things are now, or they are afraid a convention would be taken over by radicals, or both.
Some say we shouldn’t have a con-con because it would cost too much. But many of their estimates seem wildly inflated. Adjusted for inflation, the cost of Michigan’s last con-con, in 1961-62, was less than $15 million dollars. That’s not much, when you consider that we spend two billion every year on prisons.
The experts also don’t think it is likely that the voters will approve a con-con. But these are largely the same experts who thought America would never elect a black President and Massachusetts would never elect a Republican senator.
Today’s voters aren’t in a status quo mood.
If they do want a convention, the state would save a lot of money by planning for it now. By the way, since few understand how this would work, it is important to realize that having a convention doesn’t mean we would automatically have a new constitution.
If the voters say yes in November, then, next year we would elect one delegate from every state representative and senatorial district - 148 in all. There would be both a primary and a general election. Then, the delegates would meet and have a fixed amount of time to try to write a new constitution.
When they are done, we’d have a statewide vote on it. If we say yes, the new constitution goes into effect. If no, the old one stays in force. Now, I don’t know what the voters will decide to do in November, and right now I’d guess they don’t either.
But I do think our government should adopt the Girl Scout motto: Be prepared.
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