http://www.crcmich.org en-us elupher@crcmich.org (Eric Lupher) 30 http://crcmich.org/rss/2011detroitcharter.html Voters in Detroit will have the opportunity to approve or reject a proposed new city charter on November 8. Citizens Research Council of Michigan is pleased to announce publication of its description and analysis of the proposed charter, *The Proposed City of Detroit Charter*. Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon162010.html The Citizens Research Council of Michigan has released the sixteenth paper in a series focusing on constitutional issues. CRC is examining the state's Constitution in anticipation of this November's vote on whether Michigan should convene a constitutional convention. Over the past nine months, CRC has laid out the process that is established for a constitutional convention, looked at Michigan's constitutional history, and analyzed each article of the constitution. We have identified obsolete provisions in our current constitution and issues that are likely to be at the forefront of a constitutional convention. This final paper pulls all of the previous papers together for a quick and easy look at the ballot question before the voters. Mon, 11 Oct 2010 09:00:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon152010.html The Citizens Research Council of Michigan has released the fifteenth paper in a series focusing on constitutional issues. CRC is examining the state's Constitution in anticipation of this November's vote on whether Michigan should convene a constitutional convention. This paper focuses on Article XII of the 1963 Constitution - Amendment and Revision. The basic question concerning the process of altering the Michigan Constitution is whether it is, by some standard, too easy to do so. The 1963 Constitution has been amended 31 times since its adoption and, while this frequency does not appear to be out of line with other states, it may be argued that the Michigan Constitution is nevertheless accumulating a disproportionate number of provisions that should have been left to statute if, in fact, they should have been adopted at all. In addition, the Michigan Constitution has become a target of national groups wishing to establish their favored policies in the constitutions of those states that have the initiative. Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:45:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon142010.html The Citizens Research Council of Michigan has released the fourteenth analysis in a series of papers focusing on constitutional issues. CRC is examining the state's Constitution in anticipation of this November's vote on whether Michigan should convene a constitutional convention. This paper focuses on Article XI of the 1963 Constitution - Public Officers and Employment. Thu, 23 Sep 2010 9:00:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/prop2010-02.html With the November election fast approaching, candidates are running for offices in nearly every type of state and local government in Michigan. If Proposal 2010-02 is adopted by the voters at that election, it will create new eligibility criteria aimed at keeping certain felons that have committed crimes involving crimes involving dishonesty, deceit, fraud, or breach of the public trust from running for office in the future. Proposal 2010-02 is a legislatively proposed constitutional amendment that would add a Section 8 to Article XI of the 1963 Michigan Constitution. The proposal affects elective public offices at all levels of state and local government as well as public employment that is policy-making or that has discretionary authority over public assets. Former public officials convicted within the past 20 years of certain crimes related to their official capacity in holding office or position of employment would be affected. Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:30:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon122010.html The Citizens Research Council of Michigan has released the twelfth in a series of papers focusing on state constitutional issues. CRC is examining the state's constitution in anticipation of this November's vote on whether Michigan should convene a constitutional convention. This paper focuses on Article IX of the 1963 Constitution - Finance and Taxation. The paper discusses state and local government tax and revenue limitations, state borrowing provisions, the Headlee Amendment, and the recent amendments to Article IX that were statutory in nature. Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:30:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon112010.html The eleventh in the Citizens Research Council of Michigan's series of papers about state constitutional issues focuses on education -- Article VIII of the 1963 Michigan Constitution. A review of the article raises a number of issues that would likely be debated at a constitutional convention, including both funding and governance issues. The level of state support provided to local school districts is a contentious issue and the language requiring the legislature to maintain and support a system of public education may be reviewed. Current language has not provided sufficient grounds for judicial intervention in school funding; stronger language requiring equal or adequate funding of public education may make the state vulnerable to court challenges. A constitutional convention would likely review the governance structure set up in Article VIII for issues related to both K-12 education and higher education. Additionally, statewide planning and coordination of higher education could be discussed and may lead to changes in how institutions of higher education are governed or how board members are selected. Finally, the establishment and support of public libraries in the 1963 Constitution may be discussed because of the evolving needs of residents with respect to libraries and technology. Mon, 2 Aug 2010 14:00:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon102010.html The tenth in the Citizens Research Council of Michigan's series of papers about state constitutional issues focuses on local government -- Article VII of the 1963 Michigan Constitution. In addition to providing authority and power to the different branches of state government, the Michigan Constitution authorizes and empowers local governments. These provisions range from establishing the structure and governance fo counties and townships to the provision of home rule powers for cities, villages, and counties. Mon, 2 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon092010.html The ninth in the Citizens Research Council of Michigan's series of papers about state constitutional issues focuses on the judicial branch of government -- Article VI of the 1963 Michigan Constitution. The paper looks at the operations of the judicial system within the framework of "one court of justice", including: court organization, the role of the county clerk in circuit courts, the selection of justices and judges, court rulemaking, the funding of trial courts, and continuance of the Judicial Tenure Commission. Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon082010.html The eighth in the Citizens Research Council of Michigan's series of papers about state constitutional issues focuses on the executive branch of government -- Article V of the 1963 Michigan Constitution. For 47 years, Michigan state government has operated under a constitutional framework that centralizes executive power in a single office and provides for a strong governor. With the exception of two amendments to Article V, the original constitutional provisions governing the operations of the executive branch remain basically intact. Despite this consistency over the years, a number of issues might be considered by a potential constitutional convention charged with looking at Article V dealing with: executive reorganization powers, single versus plural executive, filling legislative vacancies, office vacancies of executive officials, the governor's role in the state budget process, and the governor's appointment powers. Thu, 27 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon072010.html The latest in CRC's series of papers on constitutional issues, *Article IV - Legislative Branch*, analyzes the deficiencies related to redistricting and other provisions of Article IV. In addition to redistricting, Article IV also contains provisions that involve the legislative institution itself; its structure, organization, and procedures. It is likely a convention would weigh in on issues dealing with size of the two legislative chambers (Sections 2 and 3), how often the body meets in session (e.g., full-time or part-time), and setting legislative compensation levels (Section 12). Tue, 11 May 2010 09:00:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon062010.html The sixth in the Citizens Research Council of Michigan's series of papers about state constitutional issues focuses on General Government -- Article III of the 1963 Michigan Constitution. Should a constitutional convention be convened, it would examine the provisions of Article III. Among the eight sections in Article III are three that are of special interest from a public policy perspective (and one of those only because of the use of the word "militia," the popular association of which has changed over time). Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:00:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon052010.html The fifth in the Citizens Research Council of Michigan's series of papers about state constitutional issues focuses on Elections -- Article II of the 1963 Michigan Constitution. CRC's analysis of Article II describes three sections that are obsolete; considers the sections pertaining to direct democracy: recall, initiative, and referendum; and considers the role of the State Board of Canvassers. Wed, 14 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon042010.html The fourth in the Citizens Research Council of Michigan's series of papers about state constitutional issues focuses on the Declaration of Rights -- Article I of the 1963 Michigan Constitution. This analysis examines the dual role which a state bill of rights fulfills: according concurrent protection to individual liberties which also are protected under the federal Constitution and serving as an independent source for individual liberties which are not accorded recognition at the federal level. It also examines recent trends in amending Article I of the 1963 Michigan Constitution. Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:30:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon032010.html The third in the Citizens Research Council of Michigan's series of papers about state constitutional issues focuses on trends and issues with amending the 1963 Michigan Constitution. The 1963 Michigan Constitution has been amended 31 times since it went into effect in January 1964, nearly doubling its length and adding to its complexity. Much of the additional length has consisted of changes that could have been made statutorily or that simply elevated statutory provisions to constitutional status. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EDT http://crcmich.org/rss/concon022010.html The second in the Citizens Research Council of Michigan's series of papers about state constitutional issues focuses on Michigan's constitutional history. The people of Michigan have adopted four constitutions (1835, 1850, 1908 and 1963), have rejected two (1867 and 1873) and failed to approve the calling of a convention on 11 occasions (most recently in 1994). *A Brief Michigan Constitutional History* describes the successful and unsuccessful votes to convene constitutional conventions and approve revised constitutions. It also compares the issues that led to a successful convening and revision of the constitution in the early 1960s to the issues voters are likely to consider in deciding this year's question. Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:30:00 EST http://crcmich.org/rss/concon012010.html The Citizens Research Council of Michigan has released the first of a series of papers analyzing issues that voters may use to decide their vote on Proposal 1 on the November 2, 2010 ballot. Proposal 1 will ask Michigan voters whether a constitutional convention should be convened for the purpose of a general revision of the state Constitution. The 1963 Michigan Constitution provides in Article XII, Section 3, that in 1978 and every 16 years thereafter the question of a general revision of the constitution shall be submitted to the electors of the state. CRC plans to release analysis of the con-con question in a series of papers to be released on roughly a bi-weekly schedule. Tue, 9 Feb 2010 10:30:00 EST