Constitutional Convention

==Background==
====
* Constitutional Convention-LTE-Daugherty called, Citizen Power 
* Russ Diamond, as a candidate for governor, was interest in convening a Constitutional Convention.
==Media==
===Editorials===
* Editorial: Got reform? / In this state, it may take a constitutional convention in the Post-Gazette, October 8, 2006
==Details==
* http://www.democracyrisingpa.com/index.cfm?organization_id=66§ion_id=994 Democracy Rising PA has been pushing for a Constitutional Convention.
===Constitutional convention needed for reform===
: 12/26/2006, Editor's Note: This is the first of a five-part series of editorials put
together by Times-Shamorck Communications, of which The Daily Review is a
part.
 "All power is inherent in the people, 
 and all free governments are founded on their authority and 
 instituted for their peace, safety and happiness. 
 For the advancement of these ends they have 
 at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right 
 to alter, reform or abolish their government 
 in such manner as they may think proper."
 -- PENNSYLVANIA CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE I, SECTION II
All power is inherent in the people ... an appropriate bulwark of the state
government here in Pennsylvania, America's cradle of democracy. Yet
Pennsylvania lawmakers, over the course of decades, have vested too much of
that power in their own incumbency.
The people cannot effectively exercise their inherent power when information
about their state government is denied to them by law, and when those laws
are passed under cover of darkness. They cannot bring their inherent power
to bear upon lawmakers who use their offices to shield themselves from
scrutiny, exempt themselves by the same laws that apply to the governed, and
enrich themselves behind the very curtains they raise to deflect scrutiny.
Voters this year delivered an unequivocal message to the General Assembly:
They want reform.
The most recent sessions of the state Legislature will be remembered
primarily for a massive political miscalculation that still has the
potential to fundamentally reshape Pennsylvania's government. That is, if
returning lawmakers and 57 newly elected legislators truly plan to embrace
reform.
The miscalculation was the massive pay raise for lawmakers, judges and
others that the Legislature passed in the wee hours of July 7, 2005.
Architects of the raise expected the furor to subside by the time the
lawmakers returned from vacation.
Instead, the raise became a window, revealing a labyrinth of power and
privilege that lawmakers had constructed for themselves. Each time the media
or activists peeled away the veil covering one layer of needed reform,
another was exposed.
There is one common thread running through the diverse areas in which reform
is vital - the need for a constitutional convention. That alone is ironic.
If lawmakers, and the state appellate courts, had simply adhered to the
current constitution's prescriptions for acting in the public interest, they
would have avoided the conduct that now makes reform so imperative.
It is critical that a constitutional convention be conducted next year
because amendments, or a new constitution, would have to be approved by two
consecutive sessions of the Legislature and by public referendum. An early
convention would be necessary in order to ensure that changes are in place
by the completion of the 2010 census. That count will trigger redistricting,
and reform of that process is fundamental to a host of other reforms.
The power of the lawmakers to, in effect, draw their own district boundaries
every 10 years is a fundamental means by which incumbency is preserved.
Rather than having voters select their representatives, the system allows
the representatives to select their voters. Not surprisingly, most
incumbents end up with districtwide demographics that are hostile to
challengers.
Many reform advocates have floated ideas including term limits, a part-time
Legislature, reducing the General Assembly's size from 253, and even
eliminating one entire house in favor of a single chamber. None of the
changes would be meaningful, however, without establishing an independent
means to redraw legislative boundaries to favor competitive races rather
than the preservation of incumbency.
Such a system should be a top priority of a constitutional convention in
2007, which would be the first in 40 years. A convention would remind all
parties that "all power is inherent in the people," and those people
ultimately would have the opportunity to make the final decision on the
convention's results. It's time to restore governance by the people under a
newly considered state constitution.
http://www.thedailyreview.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17632884&BRD=2276&PAG=461&dept_id=465724&rfi=6
category:democracy