To the editor:
I am writing to encourage every New Yorker to vote “No” this November to stop New York state from wasting millions of tax dollars on a constitutional convention that would, at best, reaffirm the status quo and could, at worst, take away our rights and protections.
The state constitution guarantees the right to a free public education, to join a union, to protect our health, to care for the needy, to safe jobs, and to protect state lands and forests. These rights — and many more — are at risk if a constitutional convention is convened.
Don’t trust everything you read. It is not going to be a “People’s Convention,” as some well-financed people would like you to believe. History has shown that the vast majority of delegates would come from the same political apparatus we deal with in Albany right now. Past constitutional conventions have been costly extensions of state legislative sessions — filled with political posturing — with the same politicians and special interest groups running the show. Of the 186 delegates to the 1967 convention, 154 held public office. That means lawmakers elected as delegates could double their salaries and significantly fatten their pensions. And the overall cost is absurd — estimates are that a convention could cost taxpayers between $50 million and $100 million.
If we believe changes are necessary, there are less costly and more effective ways to accomplish them than a convention. Specifically, the New York State Constitution can be amended through the state legislature — as it has been more than 200times — most recently in 2015 to create an independent commission on redistricting, and to allow the legislature to save money by going paperless for proposed bills.
With all of the issues we’re facing — the possible loss of health care coverage for millions of New Yorkers, and keeping public education accessible and affordable — there are better ways to spend our hard-earned tax dollars than on an unnecessary convention.
I urge you to “Vote No” on the Nov. 7 ballot referendum to hold a constitutional convention.
Ronald G. Bort
Fayetteville
