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Minnesota Constitutional Amendments History and Legal Principles

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Minnesota Constitutional Amendments History and Legal Principles March 2013 Minnesota Constitutional Amendments History and Legal Principles Research Department Minnesota House of Representatives The Research Department of the Minnesota House of Representatives is a nonpartisan professional office serving the entire membership of the House and its committees. The department assists all members and committees in developing, analyzing, drafting, and amending legislation. The department also conducts in-depth research studies and collects, analyzes, and publishes information regarding public policy issues for use by all House members. Research Department Minnesota House of Representatives 600 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155 651-296-6753 March 2013 Minnesota Constitutional Amendments History and Legal Principles This publication provides a general overview of historical and current legal and procedural issues related to amending the Minnesota Constitution. This report was prepared by Matt Gehring, legislative analyst in the House Research Department. Questions may be addressed to Matt at 651-296-5052. Jessica Vogt provided graphics and production assistance. Contents Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 Proposing a State Constitutional Amendment: Procedural Standards ........................................................................... 3 Minnesota Constitution, Article IX ............................................................. 3 Individual Amendments ............................................................................... 4 Constitutional Conventions .......................................................................... 6 Historical Legislative Action to Review or Change the Constitutional Amendment Process .................................................... 7 Proposals to change Minnesota’s individual amendment process ............... 7 Proposals to Change the Constitutional Convention Process .................... 10 State Constitutional Amendment History: Statistics ................................ 13 Frequency of Proposed Amendments ........................................................ 14 Voter Ratification Rate .............................................................................. 15 Voter Participation Rate ............................................................................. 17 Presentation of Multiple Amendments at a Single Election ...................... 19 Presentation of the Same Amendment at Multiple Elections .................... 21 Proposing a State Constitutional Amendment: The Legislative Process ...................................................................... 23 Form of Legislation, Legislative Procedure, and Presentment .................. 23 Governor’s Veto Authority ........................................................................ 25 Legislative Authority to Remove a Proposed Amendment or Modify its Text Prior to its Submission to the People ................... 27 Ballot Question Title .................................................................................. 29 Ballot Question Wording ........................................................................... 31 Multiple Subject Issues .............................................................................. 37 Proposing a State Constitutional Amendment: The Voter-Ratification Process.......................................................... 41 Ballot Formatting and Order of Placement ................................................ 41 Lobbying, Campaign, and Campaign Finance Issues ................................ 43 Attorney General’s Statement of Purpose and Effect ................................ 44 Vote-Counting Procedures ......................................................................... 46 Proclamation of Governor Upon Voter Ratification of Amendment ........ 48 Effective Date of a Voter-Ratified Amendment ........................................ 49 Individual Amendment Statistics ............................................................... 55 House Research Department March 2013 Minnesota Constitutional Amendments Page 1 Introduction In Minnesota, the power to amend the state’s constitution rests solely with the people. The constitutional text structures this power by granting authority to the legislature to propose amendments, but reserving for the people the power to determine whether a proposed amendment should be ratified. In the 155 years since statehood, the Minnesota Legislature has submitted a total of 215 constitutional amendment proposals to the people for their ratification or rejection. Of these proposals, 120 were approved and 95 were rejected. Each amendment proposal has its own unique story. Some reflect broad questions about the role, structure, and financing of government within the state, while others are more narrowly tailored to specific interests, reflective of the historical era in which they were presented. Some—particularly those presented in recent decades—have generated a great deal of interest among voters, evidenced by high participation rates, while others have been burdened by lack of interest, and low participation, from the electorate. In addition to the substance of the amendments themselves, the mechanics and procedures for submitting amendments to the voters have their own varied and developed history. Several proposals have been presented to the voters to change the process for amending the constitution. On at least two occasions in Minnesota’s history, the legislature required formal study of the process by specially appointed commissions charged with a thorough review. But despite these efforts, the constitutional text specifying the procedure for making amendments has remained largely unchanged; a proposed amendment in 1898 increasing the vote threshold necessary for ratification—in effect, making the process more difficult—is the only change that has been ratified by the voters. Beyond the text of the constitution, decisions of the Minnesota Supreme Court, advisory opinions of the state’s attorney general, and the customs and practices of the legislature itself form an additional body of legal precedent that guide proposed constitutional amendments both in the legislative process and at the ballot box. Disputed questions of constitutional amendment law—requirements of the legislative process, standards for submitting questions to the people, procedures for tallying votes, an amendment’s effective date, and others—have been presented to and addressed by the supreme court and the attorney general on a number of occasions; some of these questions, originally presented in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, continue to recur on amendment proposals well into the 21st century. This publication provides a general overview of the historical and current processes for amending the Minnesota State Constitution. The publication is organized into several parts: Part 1: Proposing a State Constitutional Amendment: Procedural Standards This section describes the basic processes available for the legislature to propose an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, as provided in article IX of the constitution itself. It also contains some comparison of Minnesota’s processes to those available in other states. House Research Department March 2013 Minnesota Constitutional Amendments Page 2 Part 2: Historical Legislative Action to Review or Change the Constitutional Amendment Process This section describes each of the proposed constitutional amendments that have been submitted to the voters that would change the nature of the amending process in Minnesota. It also describes the work of several commissions that have been formed by the legislature for the purpose of reviewing the constitution and recommending changes. Part 3: State Constitutional Amendment History: Statistics This section provides a statistical overview of Minnesota’s state constitutional amendment history, highlighting the number of amendments offered, ratification rates, participation rates by voters, and the frequency of multiple amendments on the ballot. Part 4: Proposing a State Constitutional Amendment: The Legislative Process This section provides an overview of the legal and procedural issues that may arise when the legislature considers submitting a proposed constitutional amendment to the voters for approval. Part 5: Proposing a State Constitutional Amendment: The Voter-Ratification Process This section provides an overview of the legal and procedural issues that may arise while a proposed constitutional amendment moves through the voter-ratification process at a general election, after the legislature has approved the proposed amendment for submission to the voters. Part 6: Individual Amendment Statistics This section contains data on each individual constitutional amendment submitted to the voters since statehood. These data were used in creating many of the charts and graphs contained in Part 3. House Research Department March 2013 Minnesota Constitutional Amendments Page 3 Proposing a State Constitutional Amendment: Procedural Standards This section describes the basic processes available for the legislature to propose an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, as provided in article IX of the constitution itself. It also contains some comparison of Minnesota’s processes to those available in other states. Minnesota Constitution, Article IX Article IX of the Minnesota Constitution establishes the process for making amendments or wholesale revisions
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