HOW YOU CAN HELP ALABAMA

February 21, 2008

 You can help influence our state government for the betterment of future generations of Alabamians if you will join in the effort being made by myself and others to help make Alabama the 25th Initiative and Referendum (I&R) state, and enlist your Alabama acquaintances to join in our effort.

Right now is the time to start lobbying our legislators.  Now is the time to start telling them what we want if they want our votes for any office they may seek in the future, and to tell them again and again every few weeks.

Representative Mike Ball is the author of the Initiative and Referendum constitutional amendment that will give Alabama voters the key to unlock the door to REAL reform and accountability legislation that the legislature refuses to pass. Getting the legislature to pass his I&R bill will require a grassroots demand that it be passed, because while it would give those of us who own and pay for our government a voice in our own government, it would also take a small amount of the power out of the grasp of legislators who want to keep all of it for themselves.

The only way the legislature will pass the I&R legislation is if large numbers of voters demand that the two legislators who represent them actively work to get it passed. It will require a grassroots effort so large, loud, and continual that the legislators will fear losing all of their power in the 2010 election cycle if they don’t comply.

As Representative Ball has said, “The initiative process is not a cure-all for Alabama’s problems, nor should it utilized to replace the legislative process.  In his address to the 1912 Ohio constitutional convention Theodore Roosevelt told delegates, ‘the initiative and referendum should be used, not as substitutes for representative government, but as methods of making such government really representative. Action by the initiative or referendum ought not to be the normal way of legislation; but the power to take it should be provided in the constitution, so that if the representatives fail truly to represent the people on some matter of sufficient importance to rouse popular interest, then the people shall have in their hands the facilities to make good the failure.’  Inspired by Roosevelt, Ohio delegates implemented the initiative process.”

If we can obtain I&R there’s a good chance voters wouldn’t have to use it often, if at all. Just the knowledge that we could might be sufficient motivation to cause the legislators to actually pass the needed reforms rather than to face the wrath of their constituents who might have to do their work for them. So now is the time to start our lobbying effort.

WHAT EVERY CIVIC MINDED VOTER NEEDS TO DO

(1) If they don’t know the names of their state senator and representative, they need to learn who they are and how to contact them.

They can go to http://www.doctoriq.com/KeyReps.htm or they can go to http://www.legislature.state.al.us./misc/zipsearch.html and enter their 9 digit zip code and then click the “Search” button to learn who their legislators are. When the next page comes up displaying the names, they can then click the name of their legislator. When they do, that legislator’s page will come up which contains information on how they can be contacted as well as their picture and some biographical information.

If they don’t have internet access they can phone or visit in person any state government agency in their area and enquire how to contact their state Senator and Representative.

(2) They then need to contact both of their legislators and give them a message. If it were me, it might be something like this: “You asked voters in your district to trust you by giving you their vote in November of 2006, and a majority of them did. Trust, however, is a two-way street. Now I ask you to trust me and the rest of your constituents by working diligently in our behalf to pass legislation to make Alabama the 25th Initiative and Referendum state. If you do, you will help make our state government, finally, one truly of, by and for the people and build some trust and respect for yourself and the Alabama legislature. If you don’t, I and every one of your constituents that I can influence will work diligently to insure your defeat if you should seek re-election to your current office, or election to any other office."

(3) They also need to contact all of their family, friends, and acquaintances in Alabama, even people they may not really know well, and convince them to do what they have already done for the sake of all Alabamians. They also should tell everyone to get registered as a voter if they aren't already registered.

That’s all that those of us who are already working for I&R ask of you and others, except of course, to vote for the I&R referendum when it appears on the ballot. Those are the three easy things that they can do that require very little time or effort. Surely everyone will do that for themselves, their fellow citizens, and Alabama.

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