By John J. Woodcock III
In November 2008, close to 580,000 Connecticut voters said "yes" to
a constitutional convention. It was a David vs. Goliath campaign as
reflected by the "yes" supporters being outspent by 83-1. A 2008 poll
showed Connecticut citizens favoring ballot initiative by 65 percent to
30 percent opposed, with 5 percent undecided. A Hartford Courant
article on Oct. 30 announcing the poll results stated "The poll found a
correlation between a poor opinion of the General Assembly and support
for the ability of citizens to legislate by petition and referendum."
The Connecticut General Assembly
has ignored this strong expression of public support for Initiative and
Referendum. In the 2009 legislative session, four Initiative and
Referendum bills were submitted by legislators. Not one of them
received a public hearing, and all died in the Government,
Administration and Elections Committee. Yet that same committee gave a public hearing to bills such as "An Act Concerning the State Dance."
Is there a more dramatic example of the General Assembly being unresponsive to the wishes of the Connecticut public?
Connecticut is one of only 19 states without any form of direct
democracy. Direct democracy -- namely, Initiative, Referendum and
Recall -- comes from the Progressive Era, which began 120 years ago. At
that time, Initiative, Referendum and Recall was a direct response to
entrenched legislatures being beholden to special interests, such as
the railroads, the mining industry and the banking industry. Some would
argue that history is repeating itself here in Hartford, and in
Washington. Initiative and Referendum is responsible for passing
women's suffrage, direct election of United States senators, child
safety labor laws, term limits, public financing of elections, medical
marijuana, and increasing the minimum wage, to name a few.
Most of our Connecticut elected officials maintain that the present
system is working fine, and that legislators are accessible and
responsive. If that is so, how do you explain their complete
indifference to the 2008 poll results showing 65 percent of Connecticut
citizens favoring Initiative and Referendum?
What is documented is that special interest lobbying at our state
capitol has increased by 500 percent since 1990. What is also clear is
that over one-third of our legislative offices races were uncontested
in the 2008 election, and more than 95 percent of incumbents were
re-elected. In addition to the obvious entrenchment of our legislators,
we see the anemic performances of the public watchdog agencies, the
Office of State Ethics, and the State Elections and Enforcement Commission.
Both agencies have been substantially enhanced, both in staff and
budget, yet enforcement, particularly with the Office of State Ethics,
has all but disappeared, especially when compared to its predecessor,
the State Ethics Commission. All the while, the public is made aware on a continual basis of frequent missteps by its elected officials.
In October 2008, I debated Attorney General Richard Blumenthal
on the constitutional convention question, as well as the issue of
citizens having Initiative and Referendum rights. His suggestion at
that debate was that the Initiative and Referendum issue should be
addressed in the context of a legislative election and not through a
constitutional convention. We have heeded the attorney general's
advice. A nonpartisan, issue-neutral political action committee called Connecticut Citizens for Ballot Initiative
has been formed. The purpose of the committee is to advocate for ballot
initiative and to educate the public as to where candidates stand on
this critical issue for the 2010 state election this November. Every
candidate for state and federal office from all parties will be asked
his position on Initiative and Referendum, and we will then publish
that position on our Web site, Facebook and other media.
Perhaps in 2011, with a new and more responsive Legislature, the
voices of Connecticut citizens will be heard through a long-awaited
public hearing on new legislation, which, if made into law, will
empower Connecticut citizens and give them a voice in their state
government and their state's future.
John J. Woodcock III is chairman of the Connecticut Citizens for
Ballot Initiative, a former legislator and former state ethics
commissioner.