Contact: Craig Thiel
517-485-9444

CRC's Con-Con Series Analyzes Article IV - Legislative Branch

The seventh in the Citizens Research Council of Michigan's series of papers about state constitutional issues focuses on the Legislative Branch -- Article IV of the 1963 Michigan Constitution.

The 2010 U.S. Census is on-going, the results of which will be used over the next decade for a host of important governmental functions, including determining Michigan's representation in the U.S. House of Representatives and allocating billions of dollars of federal aid to the state. The census results also will be used to determine the size and geographic structure of Michigan's 38 senatorial and 110 house districts.

The process of determining legislative districts will be carried out by the Michigan Legislature because the current constitutional provisions addressing the topic were ruled unconstitutional over 45 years ago and absent constitutional language to the contrary, the responsibility for crafting these districts falls to the legislative branch of government.

In light of the invalid language, Craig Thiel of CRC said "The current constitution is silent on three important issues: 1) it does not specify what body, agency, or official is responsible for the process; 2) it does not list the state-specific standards that govern the process; and 3) it does not indicate how often the process is to take place."

Given the importance of the matter to the electoral process, a constitutional convention, should one be convened, would most likely concentrate attention on the provisions in Article IV that deal with redistricting. At a minimum, a convention would be expected to eliminate the current language and replace it with valid language that addresses: who, how, and when.

The latest in CRC's series of papers on constitutional issues, Article IV - Legislative Branch, analyzes the deficiencies related to redistricting and other provisions of Article IV. In addition to redistricting, Article IV also contains provisions that involve the legislative institution itself; its structure, organization, and procedures. It is likely a convention would weigh in on issues dealing with size of the two legislative chambers (Sections 2 and 3), how often the body meets in session (e.g., full-time or part-time), and setting legislative compensation levels (Section 12).

Michigan's restrictive, life-time legislative term limitations might be an issue considered by a constitutional convention. Michigan adopted term limits for senate (2 terms) and house (3 terms) members in 1992 (Section 54) and while term limit revisions in other states have not taken place, the issue continues to be debated in Michigan.

In looking at each article of the Michigan Constitution, CRC takes no position on the question of calling a constitutional convention. It is hoped that examination of the matters identified in this paper will promote discussion of vital constitutional issues and assist citizens in deliberations on the question of calling a constitutional convention.

Article III -- General Government can be accessed at www.crcmich.org/PUBLICAT/2010s/2010/rpt36007.html. The series of constitutional issues papers is being released on roughly a bi-weekly schedule and can be accessed at www.crcmich.org/election.

The Citizens Research Council of Michigan is a private, nonprofit public affairs research organization, founded in 1916 to analyze issues pertaining to state and local government organization and finance in Michigan.