If Iowa voters approve the Nov. 2 ballot question about whether Iowa “should convene a constitutional convention,” I want to be a delegate. The first thing the convention needs to do is remove this controversial provision that provides for a convention every 10 years.
Piecemeal, like the present method, is a better process of improving a constitution, and who knows better than executive branch agencies. In the past 15 years, most ideas for constitutional amendments have come from the Department of Transportation, the Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Natural Resources. We the people my eye.
The next big item for the convention to address is to restore the provision that people could not hold office if they were involved in a duel. I see no merit in allowing people to be elected officials if they were in a duel.
In 1998, Iowa voters amended the Constitution by removing a cap on simple misdemeanors that was set at $100. The state couldn’t collect much of the fines imposed under that limit, so the Attorney General’s Office suggested we raise the lid to get more money. The argument at the time was that $100 wasn’t a lot. It was then, and it is today. The constitutional amendment was ill-advised. In 1991, the Iowa judicial branch reported that more than $18 million in outstanding fines remained uncollected. That figure grew to $143 million in 1998, the year the constitutional amendment was adopted. However, once the cap was lifted, and fines grew exponentially, the amount of uncollected fines after another 10-year period grew to $521.4 million. That’s a 2,897 percent jump from 1991.
Following those accomplishments, I would like to convince my fellow delegates that we need to incorporate an entire article on the rights of Iowa children to have a free public education. It’s not in there.
There is language in the Iowa Constitution about education, but not in the codified version. Iowa and Alabama are the only two states that do not provide for a free public education in their respective state constitutions.
There are items that clutter up the Iowa Constitution. For instance, that burdensome article that provides for a court system. As one former candidate for governor has put it: “We need to send a message to the Iowa Supreme Court that they (sic) are accountable to the people of Iowa. The problem with judicial activism is that it thwarts the will of the Legislature and of the people of Iowa.” OK, so if interpretation of the Constitution is a problem, get rid of the people who do it now and have the Legislature decide cases. Heck, it can’t be much worse than the Taliban. Who needs to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority?
If churches and other religious non-profit groups are going to lobby, they should lose their tax-exempt status. Freedom to practice religion does not mean that majority mainstream religions have the right to shove their dogma down my throat. The place to teach the tenets of one’s faith is in a non-taxed house of worship, not the rotunda.
This convention could go on for several years. Between now and January, I’m going to think of at least 100 more issues to bring up. But first, I throw my name out there for nomination as a delegate.
I voted for the convention. Too bad we lost that one.
My new state representative may be interested to know Iowa is one of only two states that don’t guarantee a free public education. He’s already noticed that we are one of the very few that doesn’t guarantee the right to bear arms and has promised to make that amendment his top priority. I bet he succeeds. Surely then he will take up the education matter.