How many times has our state constitution been "stretched" to fit political agendas or ignored as "out of date"? It's time to modernize the wording, add some civil rights we've all come to accept, restructure to reduce costs, and simplify to provide better citizen access and state employee accountability. Then once again our Constitution will be the boundary beyond which our three branches of government cannot go!
Requiring the Vermont Constitution to be interpreted as originally intended and amended, while adding 21st century citizen rights (private communications and businesses included in search and seizure, internet added to free press, right to safe and sustainable environment and social safety net added) shall eliminate the stretching or disregarding of the Constitution by those who consider it “out-of-date”.
Restructuring state government to reduce cost by: reducing the number of General Assembly members from 180 to 100; reducing the frequency and number of elected officials (some 4 year terms, some appointments); reducing juries to a maximum of 5 chosen by the presiding judge; eliminating paper printing in favor of electronic documents; allowing representatives to work virtually in their districts rather than stay in Montpelier; setting state employee compensation the same as the average Vermont private sector compensation for similar work.
Simplifying state government to provide easier accessibility and accountability by: limiting the number of bills that become law to 5 each biennial election cycle, and the number of taxes levied to 5 at any one time; a short and simple format for bill submission; all state employees required to recuse themselves when making decisions in which they have personal gain interest; private sector firm audits the Treasury annually; state photo ID required for voting; reasonable basic education costs from birth to eighteen paid to the learning center/school of parents’/guardians’ choice by the state, with few strings attached; employers must meet the basic needs of employees (food, shelter, commute, dependent care, health/disability care, and higher education if the job requires it) via a minimum living wage, dependents may work for less than this minimum, self-employed exempt; state government only meets the basic needs of those who can’t work and can't support themselves.
