ALLIANCE
FOR CITIZENS RIGHTS
ALLIANCE
FOR CITIZENS RIGHTS
SPEECH
to the Governor's Commission on Constitutional Reform
by Ken Freeman
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. My name is Kenneth Freeman. I live in North Alabama near Huntsville.
First I would like to express my thanks to Governor Riley for structuring these hearings so that we could be afforded an opportunity to speak.
Governor Riley has apparently decided against a constitutional convention. For that wise decision I am grateful. He has also decided against an attempt at total rewrite. Again, I am grateful for such wisdom, for I believe both those options are very dangerous and would lead only to disaster for our citizens and our state.
As I understand the parameters outlined by the Governor, you ladies and gentlemen are to address only five issues and make recommendations to the governor.
I will quickly express my views on the first four of these issues and then spend a little more time on the last item.
(1). Line item veto: Pork is pork-if an issue is not strong enough to stand on its own and be voted in by the people of Alabama, it should not be tacked onto a good bill. The governor, be he Republican or Democrat, should have the ability to cut it from the budget and use that money for a more useful purpose.
(2). Recompilation of the 1901 Constitution: I commend the governor for bringing this issue back out into the light. The work was done in 2001 to recompile- all that is required is to vote it in and correctly implement it. The only reason it hasn’t been done is that it would remove an arguing point for the complete rewrite of our constitution.
(3). Unarmarking funds: The AEA won’t let it happen.
(4). Three-fifths vote on taxation: A very good idea, but we already have that ability under the present constitution. I fear that this is a smoke screen to actually reduce voter oversight of taxation. This issue must be very carefully controlled.
(5). Home Rule: The last item is home rule- in my mind, by far the most important, because it is by far the most dangerous. Home rule is all about taxes and land use regulations, money and power: our money, and government’s grab for political power through zoning.
We have gone full circle now. The 1901 Constitution was written the way it was because of the abuses of home rule, because local politicians had bankrupted their home counties. In 1901 every county in the state was broke. County officials came to the state government begging for financial help. The state said, "Yes we will help you, but you have been so irresponsible that every penny you spend must be approved by a vote of the people." The resulting constitution is the most democratic constitution in the nation. The question now is, "What does a rewrite offer us?" We already have the ability to vote on taxes. We do not want to lose that protection.
We also have the ability to get home rule if we want it. Any county in the state can have home rule right now. All you have to do is get the people to vote it in. The problem is, most of the voters don’t want it. Dekalb county tried home rule about ten or fifteen years ago. The first thing that happened is that the taxes skyrocketed and zoning was instituted. They had a taxpayer revolt. The next year Dekalb county said to the legislature, "Take this evil thing back; we don’t want it," and voted it out.
Jefferson County recently voted it in. The first thing the commission did was try for a twelve-mill tax increase. It was defeated. Now they are trying for a nine-mill increase. It will probably be defeated too. But those commissioners won’t give up until the voters throw them out.
Our citizen’s do not want any more taxes. But special interest groups want every county in the state to have home rule forced upon them with no way out. These rewrite people want un-elected boards and commissioners to set fees and taxes. The last thing these folks really want is for our citizens to have the vote. What home rule really means is that the government will rule your home. Voters have everything to lose and very little to gain.
There are some advantages to limited home rule, but the devil is in the details. What exactly does "limited" mean? The people’s control of taxation should never be limited. The people should vote on every single issue concerning taxes.
The people’s control of zoning should never be limited. Every land use or zoning decision should be voted on, but only by those people living on the land affected.
Government’s ability to deprive citizens of their property, their money, or their rights should be severely limited. We need to use the framework already established by the 1901 Constitution, making only those changes necessary to allow local governments to function more smoothly, but without depriving citizen’s of their rights.
Prior to the War Between the States, there was another movement to rewrite a constitution. Apparently a group of Northern citizens was so angered by the slavery issue that they wanted to destroy our U.S. Constitution and secede from the Union. Now that’s an interesting thought- a bunch of Yankees seceding from the Union. They were a pretty radical bunch and they didn’t last long. People called them the "barn burners." This name was derived from an Old Dutch legend about a farmer who was so enraged about the rats eating his grain that he burned down his own barn to kill the rats.
Now we’ve got some problems in Montgomery, but we just need to get rid of the rats -- we don’t need to burn down our constitution.
Kenneth Freeman
Chairman, Alliance For Citizens Rights
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