OPINION: It’s time to vote yes on a constitutional convention

We often hear that our state’s constitution is a model constitution. If we’re talking about form and brevity, I would tend to agree. But if our constitution is so perfect, why did our founders include a provision to vote on a constitutional convention? Why make it every 10 years, the shortest duration of all such provisions in state constitutions?

Our founders knew that constitutions reflect the time and place they are written in. They are based on certain expectations about the state of the economy, the population and the government’s role in them. When our constitution was written, we were a poor territory with a small population looking to gain control of our natural resources instead of letting outside corporations bypass us and work through Washington, D.C.

Times have changed significantly. Our state is still sparsely populated, but our population is nearly three times the size and much more heavily concentrated in the Southcentral sections of the state. We had been relatively poor and reliant primarily on renewable resources like fish and timber. Oil was just starting on the Kenai, and mining was in a significant decline.

Now we are rich and economically reliant primarily on non-renewable resources like oil and metal mining. The Permanent Fund is the largest financial resource in the state, bringing in significant returns every year. The old problem was having control of and access to our wealth. The new problem is how to distribute our wealth.

Our constitution needs to change to reflect these changes within our state. We had similar problems in the 1970s and altered our constitution accordingly. Of the 27 amendments to our constitution, 16 were adopted between 1970 and 1984. We need to do it again.

The difference between now and the 1970s is that our Legislature hasn’t been able to address the changes adequately. It’s primarily the nature of the institution that is the problem. The Legislature is charged with preparing the yearly budget and other day-to-day policy questions. Because of our ongoing budget crisis, our Legislature has been focused on what is happening right now instead of the changes in our state that will affect how we look for the next generation or two. In the 1970s, the concern was how the state should divide up a growing pie. Now we’re having close to the opposite problem. It’s much tougher to be generous when your side might lose something as well.

Elections every two to four years don’t help. They encourage short-term thinking. While a number of legislators are able to rise above that and project out over the next few decades, the nature of the body pulls them back into short-term thinking.

The solution is a constitutional convention. We elect a body of individuals who don’t have to worry about the next election. They have the ability to have open dialogue and true compromise because they aren’t bound by reelection pressures. We likely will attract an entirely different type of person to run to be delegates because of the one-time nature of the position. Their only concerns will be the long-term future of our state and whether or not their changes will be ratified by the people at large.

Let’s not forget the importance of that ratification. The people will have a final say over all changes. We won’t have a runaway convention unless the people want it to run away. Knowing that, the smartest thing the delegates could do is create a set of amendments so that one to two poison pills won’t cause all of their work to be rejected. We likely won’t have a completely new document at the end of the process.

Our founders were smart people. They realized that circumstances change, and we need to change with them. Our economic circumstances have changed with the decline of oil. We need our economy to diversify outside of that narrow range of activities. Our constitution needs to change to reflect these new circumstances and provide for future growth.

We can’t do that with our budget process and spending policies in limbo every year. We need to solidify our spending with a spending cap that adjusts to the economy, find long-term certainty on the Permanent Fund dividend, and address who owns our resources, both the natural and financial ones. Let’s trust the people, end the gridlock, and hold a constitutional convention.

Sen. Robert Myers represents Fairbanks and North Pole neighborhoods in the Alaska Senate.

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