It's not only candidates that we will be voting on come November's general election. When we step into the polls we will also discover two state wide ballot proposals. The first proposal deals with whether or not the state should hold a constitutional convention. We vote on that every 16 years. The second proposal asks a simple question; should convicted felon be allowed to immediately return to an elected office?
Technically it's called Senate Joint Resolution V. You may know it from its nickname that some lawmakers and the media have labeled it, the Kwayme Bill. So what is the connection between Detroit's former mayor and these few paragraphs? To find out, I drove to Lansing and caught up with State Senator Tupac Hunter (D-5th District) who wrote the resolution. While he believes strongly in what it calls for, he says its nickname is inaccurate. Instead Senator Hunter says "this applies to the thousands of elected officials across this state, so how can this possibly be about one individual." Regardless of the motivation behind writing it, he is right in terms of who is would apply to. If approved by voters the fall, the statewide ballot proposal he authored would impact every elected official, from governor to township supervisor.
In a nutshell, Senator Hunter describes the resolution simply, "If we trusted you with our votes and our tax dollars and you get convicted of a felony involving a breach of that trust, we are telling you can't do it again for 20 years at least." The amendment to the state's constitution wouldn't keep convicted felons from running from office in general. The Senator wanted to make sure that people who made mistakes, and turned their lives around, could go on to serve once they had paid their debts to society. This resolution would specifically ban those who commit a crime once in office from running for that same office again for 20 years. Senator Hunter explains "I believe especially in this day and age our problems are serious and I think that the public needs to understand that the people they elect are above reproach. They are honest and trustworthy. If you have a record showing that you have lied, you've committed fraud, you've embezzled money, you have done any of these things that should disqualify you from holding the same position."
Before we vote, the resolution had to make its way through both chambers in Lansing. It passed the senate without opposition, and only a handful of Representatives voted no on the measure. While Senator Hunter admits there may have been some representatives who voted against it out of an affiliation with Kwayme Kilpatrick, he realizes others may have found fault with the bill. He says "some think it doesn't go far enough others think it goes too far. That is why we put the question to the voters to decide what they want."
The proposal itself is pretty simple. It is one page and written in a way that makes it easy to understand. It certainly doesn't read like most legislation in Lansing, that was intended since it's folks like us who will decide its fate. While the legislation is basic, crafting it posed challenges according to Senator Hunter, "the issue Marc with bills like this is you have to draft it that in a way it is broad enough to cover what you want to cover but narrow enough so as to avoid any unintended consequences."
The bottom line, if you're in office, get convicted of a public trust felony, then you can't run for that office for 20 years. Senator Hunter hopes voters support it, and by doing so he says it should send a message to anyone seeking office in Michigan, "This is notice that the people of this great state will not allow you to take advantage of them in this way so if you get in trouble don't expect to come back to government and be able to take advantage of us again."
When you go to the polls a yes vote on this proposal would amend the state's constitution and therefore bar any elected official convicted of certain felonies from running for office for 20 years. A no vote would leave the consitution unchanged.
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Here is the resolution for you to read:
A JOINT RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to the state constitution of 1963, by adding section 8 to article XI, to disqualify a person who has been convicted of certain felonies from election or appointment to an elective office and from certain public employment in this state.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the state of Michigan, That the following amendment to the state constitution of 1963, to disqualify a person who has been convicted of certain felonies from election or appointment to an elective office and from certain public employment in this state, is proposed, agreed to, and submitted to the people of the state:
ARTICLE XI
Sec. 8. A person is ineligible for election or appointment to any state or local elective office of this state and ineligible to hold a position in public employment in this state that is policy-making or that has discretionary authority over public assets if, within the immediately preceding 20 years, the person was convicted of a felony involving dishonesty, deceit, fraud, or a breach of the public trust and the conviction was related to the person's official capacity while the person was holding any elective office or position of employment in local, state, or federal government. This requirement is in addition to any other qualification required under this constitution or by law.
