Buried in Governor Cuomo’s $154 billion state budget plan is an appropriation of $1 million to establish a commission to consider the possibility of a state constitutional convention. The governor’s commission, if approved, would be charged with developing a blueprint for the process of running a constitutional convention, if one is called by the voters in 2017.
New Yorkers get an opportunity every 20 years to decide whether they wish to convene a constitutional convention. The goal of a convention would be to make changes to the state’s current constitution. The next vote to decide whether to convene a convention is in November 2017.
Since the first constitution was written in 1777, New York has chosen to significantly rewrite it on eight occasions. The Constitution in effect today was produced by the convention in 1894, with significant changes resulting from the 1938 convention. While there have been amendments to the Constitution since then, the basic structure of it has not undergone a comprehensive updating, and currently there are provisions that are simply ignored as invalid under federal law.
Voters turned down opportunities to convene a convention in 1957, 1977, and again in 1997. In the last vote in 1997, 63% of voters said no. The next constitutionally mandated vote is in 2017.
The possibility of additional changes occurred in 1967, when as a result of federal court decisions on voting rights and reapportionment that invalidated New York constitutional provisions, state lawmakers put a referendum on the 1965 ballot to call a convention. The referendum was approved by voters, but the product of that 1967 convention was voted down.
In November, 2017, the public votes on whether to hold a convention. If the majority of votes cast on the convention question are “yes,” then the process continues. If the majority votes no on convening a convention, no convention happens and the “road” to a convention ends.
If voters choose to convene a convention, in November, 2018 voters then choose delegates to that convention. 204 delegates are chosen by voters; 3 delegates for each of the state’s 63 senate districts and 15 selected statewide.
The convention, consisting of its delegates, would begin its deliberations the first Tuesday of April 2019 and continues until work is completed.
As the convention begins, the delegates will likely organize themselves to consider changes to the Constitution, such as creating committees to examine specific areas of the constitution (e.g., environmental policies). The commission proposal in this year’s budget could help by doing the preparatory work that the delegates would need to begin their work in earnest.
If delegates have thoughtful, independent, and fair plans ready to go, they will be able to move quickly. The absence of such planning will ensure a more drawn out process.
At the convention, the delegates would decide on which changes they agree should be part of a new Constitution.
Whatever changes emerge from the convention is then sent to the voters for final approval. New Yorkers go to the polls the following November (2019 at the earliest) to approve or reject the changes. If rejected, the Constitution does not change.
Will history repeat itself in 2017 with voters giving the convention idea thumbs down? If not, the work done by the governor’s commission could be very helpful. Lawmakers should support it.
Blair Horner is the Legislative Director of the New York Public Interest Research Group.
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