Should RI have a Constitutional Convention? The cases for and against

Rhode Island Constitutional Convention supporters Tuesday pushed back against the idea that tinkering with the state's founding text would invite a tidal wave of influence by outside special interests , or at least any more than already exists.

Breaking with a coalition of union and advocacy groups that launched last week to fight a convention, Providence Democratic Sen. Sam Zurier on Tuesday said holding a convention could be the only way to achieve reforms the General Assembly has neglected for a generation.

At the top on his list are a set of progressive agenda items: a constitutional right to an education, same-day voter registration, alternative voting systems and term limits for state Supreme Court justices.

"Their main argument was trying to scare voters and say ... look what happened in 1986," Zurrier said about the anti-convention Citizens for Responsible Government. "There was an anti-abortion proposal, which is terrible if it had become law."

"What they failed to say, though is that nothing becomes final until it's approved by the voters," Zurrier continued. "The voters rejected that by a ratio of 2 to 1."

Zurier was testifying in the first public hearing held by the commission tasked with informing the public what a Constitutional Convention is, how it would work and what policy issues it would be likely to take up.

So far, no group has organized in support holding a convention, and no single issue or set of issues has risen to the forefront.

Republicans appear more eager to have a convention than Democrats, but if one were to be held, there might be just as many, or more, progressive amendments debated than conservative ones.

How would it work?

If a majority of voters choose "yes" on Question 1 in November, it will set in motion a process for two more elections.

• First, the General Assembly would have to call for a vote to elect the 75 convention delegates – one for each House district – that would make up the convention. The last time voters called for a convention, in 1984, delegates were chosen in a 1985 special election.
• Then the elected delegates would convene, debate, negotiate and approve a set of amendments to recommend to voters.
• Next, the recommended amendments would be put to voters for final approval, most likely in the next scheduled statewide election. (If the 1986 model holds, an equivalent timeline this decade would be a vote on amendments at the November 2026 general election.)
• The 1986 convention was estimated to cost taxpayers $891,000. (That's about $2.5 million in today's money.)

The arguments for and against a convention

In arguing against a convention, Kristina Contreras Fox of the Rhode Island Black Business Association, which is a member of the No on Question 1 coalition, argued that the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision allowing unlimited corporate and anonymous political spending makes a convention vulnerable to outside influence.

"Personally, if this was going to be truly a convention of the people, where all Rhode Islanders had equal say and equal access to participation, we wouldn't be on the opposing side of it," Contreras Fox said. "But the reality is we exist in a time where if you have the money, especially if you're a billionaire, you have a huge pen with which to rewrite any kind of law, whether it's municipal, state or federal."

Rep. David Place, a Burrillville Republican, countered that any constitutional amendment vote would be subject to Rhode Island campaign finance law and its strict disclosure requirements, not the federal law that created dark money Super PACS.

Former Republican National Committeeman Steve Frias, who has been the most outspoken proponent of a convention so far, led his case for a "yes" vote by arguing a Constitutional Convention is the only way the state will create an office of inspector general. An inspector general, one of the Rhode Island GOP's top priorities for a decade, might have detected problems on the Washington Bridge earlier, he said.

Other potential amendments Frias suggested: citizen ballot initiatives, an Access to Public Records "sunshine" law like Florida's, voter approval of all public borrowing over a certain amount, General Assembly term limits and independent legislative redistricting

"One of the reasons why we have this [convention question] every 10 years is to make sure that if the General Assembly is not doing something, there's an avenue for the people to make changes," Frias said.

The next Constitutional Convention Commission meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 8 at 5:30 p.m. at the State House.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Should RI have a Constitutional Convention? The cases for and against