A Ballot Question on Whether to Convene a Constitutional Convention

APPROVED BY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
APRIL 26, 2007

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce recommends a “No” vote on the question of whether the state should convene a new constitutional convention (Con-Con) that will appear on the November 2, 2010 election ballot.

The Michigan Chamber strongly supported the adoption of a new constitution for the state in 1963. We believe that the constitution of 1963 has served Michigan citizens well.

The costs to Michigan society, both in the actual costs of the convention (estimated at $28 – $31 million) and the special election of Con-Con delegates, are not merited. A process is provided for amending the present constitution. The Michigan Chamber believes that amendments, where deemed appropriate by the electors, can best be achieved on an issue-by-issue basis rather than through a complete revision.

Furthermore, the Michigan Chamber will act as the catalyst to form a coalition of organizations opposed to a call for a new constitutional convention in 2010 as it did in 1978 and 1994.

Background

On November 2, 2010, as Michigan voters go to the polls to elect a new Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General, as well as the entire State Legislature, the electorate will also be asked to decide whether to call a new constitutional convention for the State of Michigan.

The ballot proposal will be on the statewide ballot not by the action of the current Legislature or as a result of any petition drive; rather the state’s constitution requires that this question be placed before state voters every 16 years.

Since this proposal automatically goes on the ballot, the constitutional convention question (Con-Con) will be Proposal 10-1 on the November 2, 2010 ballot.

If voters defeat this proposal in 2010, the question will automatically reappear in 2026 and, if defeated, again in 2042 and every 16 years thereafter – 2058, 2079 and 2090.

The people of Michigan have adopted over the years four state constitutions in 1835, 1850, 1908 and most recently in 1963. In contrast, the United States has had only one constitution over the past 220 years.

Michigan’s first constitutional convention was held while Michigan was still a territory. Congress, before granting statehood after accepting that constitution, required Michigan to recognize the loss of Toledo to Ohio in return for the western portion of the Upper Peninsula.

Michigan’s first constitution provided for a strong governor whose power of appointment even included the Attorney General, Secretary of State and Supreme Court Justices.

The undoing of the 1835 constitution were provisions granting the Legislature the authority to spend and borrow state money for internal improvements such as roads and canals. The Legislature proceeded to spend the state into fiscal crisis.

Pressure mounted to replace the 1835 constitution with a new document restricting the spending and borrowing power of the Legislature and extending “Jacksonian Democracy” by electing most of Michigan state-level public officials rather than having them appointed by the governor. The Legislature placed the question of a new constitutional convention on the ballot in 1849, which was approved. In 1850, Michigan held a second constitutional convention which wrote a document twice as long as the 1835 constitution full of legislative detail and created an infamous “long ballot” to elect seven statewide officials. Also included in the 1850 constitution was a requirement that in 1866 and every 16 years thereafter the question on whether to call a new constitutional convention be placed on the ballot. That constitutional requirement has continued ever since.

In 1866 when the question first appeared, Michigan voters agreed to call a new constitutional convention. However, in 1867, the new constitution that the convention had spent months drafting was rejected by the voters. In 1874, similar attempts to revise the constitution were rejected by the voters.

There were four more elections on whether to call a new constitutional convention in 1882, 1892, 1898 and 1904. The last three of those elections the Con-Con question received a majority of those voting on the question but not a majority of those voting in the election as was required.

Finally, in 1906, Michigan voters agreed to hold a new constitutional convention, which was held in Lansing in 1907-1908.

Every constitutional convention reflects the issues of the times. The 1908 constitution provided for such progressive reforms as municipal home rule, line item veto, initiative and referendum and women and child labor restrictions, but it retained the “long ballot” and most features of the 1850 constitution including the requirement that every 16 years the question to call a constitutional convention be placed on the ballot.

In 1926, 1942, 1948 and 1958, the Con-Con question was on the statewide ballot. In 1948 and 1958, voters cast more yes votes than no votes, but did not obtain a majority of those voting in the election. In 1960, the League of Women Voters, the Michigan Jaycees and a group headed by auto executive George Romney, called Citizens for Michigan, launched a petition drive to amend the requirements for calling a new constitutional convention. Their “Gateway Amendment” would no longer require a majority voting in the election, but merely a majority voting on the question.

Their proposal provided that delegates to a constitutional convention be elected from each State House and Senate district rather than three from each Senate district whose district lines had not been redistricted since 1925. The proposal also provided that the question to call a new constitutional convention be placed on the April 1961 ballot and every 16 years thereafter.

In November 1960, while Michigan voters were electing John F. Kennedy president, the “Gateway Amendment” was approved.

Five months later, Michigan voters narrowly approved the call for a new constitutional convention. The question lost in 79 counties but the vote margin in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties, where it carried, were enough to give the question a 23,000 vote margin.

In the summer of 1961, delegates were nominated and elected in partisan elections and the convention convened in Lansing in October 1961.

The 1961-62 Constitutional Convention produced a new generation of leadership. George Romney was elected a delegate and went on in 1962 to be elected governor. Other Con-Con delegates who left their mark on Michigan politics were Secretary of State Richard Austin, Detroit Mayor Coleman Young and Congressmen Bill Ford, Ed Hutchinson and Garry Brown. The convention also produced five State Senators, 14 State Representatives and two Appellate Judges.

Ironically, the 1963 Michigan constitution almost suffered the same fate as the 1867 and 1873 constitutional drafts. The constitution was adopted by less than 7,500 votes and had to survive a statewide recount.

Since 1963, our current Michigan constitution has been amended 30 times; 37 proposed amendments have been rejected. Only nine of the 30 amendments were a result of petition drives. Twenty-one of the 37 proposed amendments rejected by the voters were placed on the ballot by petition.

In 1978, the automatic question to call a new constitutional convention went before state voters for the first time since the adoption of the 1963 constitution. Michigan voters defeated the call by a 70% to 30% margin and again in 1994 by a 72% to 28% margin. The Michigan Chamber managed the opposition to a call for a constitutional convention in both campaigns.

If voters approve the call for a new constitutional convention in 2010, delegates would be elected within six months. The elections would be partisan, requiring a primary election and a general election to be held no later than May 3, 2011. One-hundred-forty-eight delegates would be elected, one each from every State House and Senate district. These 148 delegates would convene in Lansing not later than October 4, 2011. The convention could be expected to last at least until July 2012. Constitutional conventions in Michigan are unlimited in scope – they can propose a completely new constitution or offer specific amendments. Any proposed constitution or amendment approved by a majority of the delegates must be submitted to the voters not less than 90 days following the adjournment of the convention.

If voters approve Proposal 10-1 on the November 2, 2010 statewide ballot, issues may include:

State legislative and congressional district reapportionment – how to do it.
Direct gubernatorial appointment of all department directors eliminating commission or board appointment of directors of DNR, Agriculture, Education, Civil Rights and Civil Service.
An elected or an appointed judiciary.
Election or appointment of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University Governing Boards.
Abortion rights.
Term limits/Unicameral Legislature.
Repeal of the State Officers Compensation Commission.
Removal of the prohibition on the death penalty.
Revisit the cap on the sales tax and the prohibition of a graduated income tax.
Headlee tax limits and prohibition on new state mandates without state funding.
Eliminate the elected posts of Secretary of State and Attorney General and provide for direct gubernatorial appointment.
Public school district consolidation.
Elimination of township government.
Restore affirmative action programs by state government and public universities.
Remove ban on same sex marriage.
Permit a physician-assisted suicide.
Provide for drug legalization.
Remove the prohibition on public aid to non public education.
School funding and equity.

On December 12, 2006, the organization, Citizens for Michigan, completed a four-year review of the 1963 constitution. Citizens for Michigan, in addition to making 62 specific recommendations to change the constitution, urged approval of the call for a constitutional convention in 2010. The alternative is to be supportive of constitutional reform and modernization without agreeing to a constitutional free-for-all at a convention. Constitutional change can come about amendment by amendment. Although the present constitution is not perfect, it contains no fatal flaw.