EDITORIAL: Proposal 1 for a constitutional convention will not solve Michigan's problems
A convention to revise the state constitution, as suggested by Proposal 1 on the election ballot Nov. 2, is not the answer to the state’s problems at this time.
While there are major issues that need changing in Michigan government, and indeed in the constitution, it should only be rewritten when there is a dire need to retool the logical basis at the core of the document.
The major problems with governing this state do not rest in the core of the document, but with the politicians determining the law and the direction it needs to go in. The air of partisan tension is thick to a breaking point in Lansing and there is a regular and unflinching refusal for legislators to step across the aisle and work together.
The partisan rift is what has kept the state budget from being completed on time multiple years in the recent past and has heavily affected the efficiency of legislators’ ability to approve important bills.
If Proposal 1 is adopted and there is a constitutional convention, these are the people who will be a part of it. These are the people who will potentially consume $50 million and three years, which state Rep. Bill Caul, R-Mount Pleasant, estimates the convention would take up.
Before Michigan makes a more drastic move like revising the constitution, voters in the state should focus on electing officials who are less partisan and more willing to work toward the collective prosperity of the entire state and not any individual, party or special interest group.
With Michigan in the state it currently is, the players in the state government are more integral than the rulebook they are playing with.
One of the primary arguments of those in favor of Proposal 1 is that the current constitution, written in 1963, was created while the state was in a much different economic state than it is now, in the middle of the boom of automotive manufacturing. While that is true, a new constitution is not a giant red “fix it” button that will bolster any kind of industry or job growth in the state.
There are changes that need to be made within the Michigan Constitution, but currently tackling them piece-by-piece through amendments and legislature will create change in the document much quicker than rewriting the constitution from the bottom up.
