For those who fret that not enough voters take part in elections, not to worry: The N.C. General Assembly is about to consider almost every conceivable kind of change. There’s a ton, all to be found on the legislature’s website at www.ncleg.net. Here’s a handful of proposals from the Senate filings, just to give you a whiff of what’s in the wind:
-- Senate Bill 84, to amend the N.C. Constitution to make legislative terms four years long rather than two years, sponsored by Sen. David Weinstein, D-Robeson.
-- SB Bill 168, to move the presidential primary in 2008 from early May to the first Tuesday in February, which would be Feb. 5, 2008, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Brock, R-Davie.
-- SB 954, to put North Carolina in a compact with other states agreeing to elect the president by popular vote, sponsored by Sen. Dan Clodfelter, D-Mecklenburg.
-- SB 957, to amend the N.C. Constitution to provide for the nomination of appellate judges by a nominating commission, appointment by the governor and periodic nonpartisan retention elections – replacing the state’s current system of electing judges, sponsored by Clodfelter.
-- SB 1124, to amend the Constitution to provide that the superintendent of public instruction be appointed by the State Board of Education, rather than chosen by election, sponsored by Clodfelter.
-- SB 1128, to provide public funds to finance the campaigns for eight Council of State offices, including superintendent of public instruction, auditor, treasurer, secretary of state, attorney general, commissioner of agriculture, commissioner of labor and commissioner of insurance, sponsored by Clodfelter. Candidates would have to agree to fundraising and spending limits to participate.
-- SB 1205, a similar bill to provide public funding of eight Council of State races, but not governor or lieutenant governor, starting in the 2012 election, if candidates agree to limit fundr-raising and spending, sponsored by Sen. Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe, and Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus.
-- SB 1261, to establish a pilot program experimenting with publicly financed elections in four legislative districts – two House and two Senate – recommended by the minority and majority leaders of the House and Senate and chosen by the State Board of Elections. Sponsored by Sen. Bob Atwater, D-Durham.
-- SB 1347, to provide that the superintendent of public instruction by appointed by the governor and subject to confirmation by the legislature, instead of chosen by election, sponsored by Sen. Malcolm Graham, D-Mecklenburg, and by Clodfelter. (Yes, that’s the third Clodfelter bill changing the way the public schools chief is chosen. Obviously he wants to get discussion going on any or all of several ways to do it.)
-- SB 1469 and 1470, to cut in half the number of statewide elected officials, by providing that the elected members of the Council of State will be the governor, lieutenant governor, auditor, treasurer and attorney general and that they would continue to be elected by the people. The remaining offices would be appointed by the governor. Sponsored by Sen. Charlie Albertson, D-Duplin.
See anything you like?
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
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4 comments:
I don't see ANYTHING here I like.
SB 84: Bad idea. Lengthening terms will reduce the accountability of legislators for their actions. If an elected politician "goes off the reservation", we need to be able to vote them out of office sooner, rather than later.
SB 168: Another questionable proposition. This seems like a move designed to boost NC's influence over the national primary process... and this can only benefit John Edwards, so it's not something we should consider until a year when no one from NC is in the national race.
SB 954: Again, no. This is just Democrats being soreheads because they won the popular vote in 2000 but lost the Electoral College vote. Why change a system that has worked well for over 200 years?
SB 957: No. The people should have as much say in the selection of judges as possible, since often it's judges who act as hedges against out-of-control legislators and governors writing bad laws.
SB 1124: No, for the same reason mentioned above... the people should have the final say on this. We do not need to abdicate our personal responsibility by giving all such authority to an elitist, unelected group of people.
SB 1128: No. This is an unnecessary expense for taxpayers.
SB 1205: Again, no.
SB 1261: No. "Pilot program" = "excuse to waste taxpayers' money"... and again, the taxpayers should not be required to fund anyone's campaign, EVER.
SB 1347: Again, no. Statewide offices should be elected so that we can have greater accountability.
SB 1469 and 1470: No. The governor should not get to decide who fills statewide positions. This seems like a blatant power grab by Democrats, who'd like nothing more than to see a victory in ONE race translate into a BUNCH of Democrats in various offices.
Uh, Jack. ClayJ has pretty much blown this junk out of the water.
How about this ACTUAL reform: Any political party that can gather 5,000 signatures state-wide may be on the ballot state-wide.
Now why don't I see that happening? Sen. Clodfelter, prove me wrong.
US President Tim Kalemkarian, US Senate Tim Kalemkarian, US House Tim Kalemkarian: best major candidate.
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