The results from the annual State Fair poll are in, and as usual, fairgoers largely prescribed a common-sense direction for the state. The poll isn’t scientific, but the results are still interesting. Fairgoers support ending “blue laws” that require liquor stores to close on Sundays; support making companies that violate environmental laws ineligible for state subsidies; and oppose shoot-first, ask-questions-later gun laws. In my opinion, though, the most important question was this one:
10. A simple majority of both bodies of the Legislature is required to get a constitutional amendment on theballot. Should there be a higher threshold?
Yes ……………………………………..53.4% …………….(4,778)
No ………………………………………36.3% …………….(3,250)
Undecided/No Opinion ……………10.3% ……………….(923)
Over the last year, we’ve seen how the current system can be abused. Rather than reaching a deal with the Governor on legislation, Republicans used the amendment process as a way to force a referendum and legislate through the Constitution. Unable to get their way through the legislative process, they’re content to litter our Constitution with policy details that have absolutely no place there.
Constitutional amendments are not meant to be a replacement for the legislative process, they’re meant for much more fundamental questions of how our government operates. The next legislature should fix this, by requiring a 60-percent supermajority for new amendments, and possibly by forbidding policy referendum to be placed into the Constitution. If the DFL can take back the Legislature, this should be a top priority. DFL leaders can be confident that the public will support them.
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