How long would your family or business last with an attitude like this:* The rules you set apply to everyone…but you.
* Your decisions are made in secret…so they can be sprung on others.
* And when things do not work out…you blame your colleagues.
Obviously, it would not be long before your family would fall apart or you would be put out of business.
Sadly, too often, this is how a six-billion dollar corporation known as Iowa government operates.
This lack of transparency and accountability is one of the causes of the current financial crisis. At both the state and federal level, lawmakers and others—all too often meeting in isolation behind closed doors--did not know how bad things were until it was too late.
In Iowa, we have a golden opportunity to do something about it.
Because the legislature and Governor have refused to deal squarely with the issue of openness, an amendment to the Iowa Constitution is necessary.
Those who wrote the Constitution put a mechanism in the document to do this. It’s the once-a-decade ability for voters at the general election to bypass the Legislature and call a meeting to propose amendments to the state’s core legal document.
The question of whether Iowa should hold a constitutional convention will be presented to Iowans in November 2010. We should vote for it.
The amendment I am proposing would simply say: “The Legislature and Governor shall operate in the open and any open meeting laws that the legislature imposes on other government entities shall also apply to the Legislature and Governor.”
This is similar to a constitutional amendment that was approved by Florida voters in 1992. Florida’s “government in the sunshine” law is now a model for the nation.
Requiring lawmakers to operate in the open and live under the laws they pass would restore accountability and public trust.
A classic example of why this is necessary came during the 2008 session with the so-called “Iowa sunshine law.”
The law would have set up additional regulations for all local governments---but specifically exempted the legislature and the Governor.
Three amendments were offered that would have required the legislature and Governor to abide by the same open meeting laws that were placed on local governments.
This was so troubling to legislative leaders that they killed the entire bill at the last minute rather than risk the possibility of being required to operate in the open…under the same law that applies to everyone else!
A constitutional convention “will scare the bejeebers out of the powerful and the elites,” noted columnist David Yepsen in the Des Moines Register. “But that’s why it’s there and is needed. They can control the Legislature with their big campaign contributions. They’re less likely to control a constitutional convention.”
If Iowans vote for holding a convention, the Legislature is required in the next session to approve a law establishing a system to elect delegates to the gathering. Amendments proposed by the convention would go before voters for their final approval.
Think what a difference this would make.
Secret meetings would be replaced with open debate. Back room deal making would be replaced with honest dialogue. Instead of meeting in closed door party caucuses to plot against each other on the taxpayer’s tab, Republicans and Democrats would do what they were elected to do. They would be required to work together to use their competing ideas to find the best solutions to problems.
National Sunshine Week is being celebrated March 15-21. It’s a time when governments are encouraged to operate in an open and transparent way.
It is a perfect time to join the fight for open, honest and accountable government. The best way to do that is by encouraging a “yes” vote in 2010 on the question of whether Iowa should hold a Constitutional Convention.
