Constitutional Amendment: The Most Cynical Power Grab Yet

In an act of breath-taking cynicism, the Pennsylvania legislature Republicans approved a set of proposed Constitutional amendments at literally the last moment of the legislative session.

The amendments contain a few innocuous provisions and several outrageous ones.

This is a supremely cynical action because a constitutional amendment bypasses the governor’s veto pen. The main reason Pennsylvania isn’t a mean, dysfunctional state like Wisconsin, Texas, or Florida isn’t because our Republican legislators are less radical, less mean, or less opportunistic than their counterparts in states that are on their way to 3rd world status. No, what has protected us from rounds of successive voter suppression laws, abortion restrictions, school choice funding, right to work laws, and even deeper corporate tax cuts and deregulation bills has been Governor Wolf’s sturdy veto pen.

The cynicism is compounded by the end of session timing, which means there is no opportunity to discuss these radical proposals. And piling yet more cynicism is the near-certainty that the measures will receive their second approval just in time to go on the ballot for the May primary. Why the May primary, you ask? Well, that’s the lowest turnout election and the one where the disparity between Republican and Democratic voters is the greatest. If you want to pass something you’re pretty sure would be opposed by the majority of voters, put it on the ballot in May.

So after all this huffing and puffing, what’s it all about? Well, one provision (selection of lieutenant governor) seems to be innocuous. And one seems to be a real “good government” measure. At least on its face, it seems to give child sexual abuse victims extra time to file charges. (By the way, did I mention, this set of amendments is REALLY cynical?)

But then, there are four real doozies. These were never discussed; they’re just hits from the “how to destroy democracy” playbook.First is a voter ID law. If adopted, it would require in person voters to show an “unexpired, government issued” identification to receive a ballot. And those not voting in person must “provide proof of a valid ID” along with their ballot.

So, you ask, what’s the big deal? If you don’t have an ID, just get one. Well, you see, voter suppression isn’t about making it impossible to vote, it’s about making it a bit harder to vote for people you don’t want to vote. So your typical resident of the Links or, say, Amblebrook? Well, in the unlikely event they don’t have an ID, it’s probably not that hard to spend a few hours going to the driver’s license center or the courthouse or wherever. And if they’re voting absentee, it’s not that hard to photocopy your ID. Poor people who lack transportation or work an hourly job? Maybe not so easy. And if they’re filing absentee and don’t have a printer? How hard are people willing to work to vote?

And who else doesn’t have a government issue ID? Well, how about a Gettysburg College student who is legally a resident here for voting but maybe still has their New Jersey driver’s license. College ID? Funny, isn’t it, them saying it has to be government issued. Why isn’t a college ID valid? Ah, now you’re starting to understand. Say there are 500 out-of-state US citizens with out-of-state driver’s licenses at Gettysburg College. 300 of them are registered to vote, but only 200 go to the hassle of getting an ID. Congratulations, you just successfully suppressed the vote.

Then there is “This constitution does not grant the right to taxpayer-funded abortion or any other right relating to abortion.” If passed, that’s the first step toward criminalizing abortion in Pennsylvania.

Finally, a third section removes the legislature’s action to disapprove a regulation or to terminate a disaster emergency declaration from the reach of the governor’s veto pen and a fourth lets the legislature launch “cyber ninja-”type election “audits.”.

The audacity of this move is breathtaking. If adopted, we’ll take a large step toward”Florida” status, even if Shapiro prevails in the gubernatorial race.While our highly gerrymandered legislature districts all but guarantee permanent GOP control of the legislature, we’ve been spared the worst excesses of GOP legislation because Pennsylvania voters have elected a Democrat as governor. We have to elect a Democrat in 2022 and we have to be prepared next May to reject this profoundly awful constitutional amendment.

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This series is written to promote political discussion and organizing. Permission is given to use this in fact sheets, talking points, letters to the editor, etc. We’d appreciate if you notified Gettysburg DFA (leonsreed@gmail.com) of any uses. Written by Leon Reed.

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