Governor Wants Constitutional Convention

<p><em><a href="mailto:rickp@mprn.org">By Rick Pluta</a></em></p> <p>Governor Granholm is telling people at a business and politics conference on Mackinac Island that she thinks it would be a good idea to re-write the state constitution.</p> <p>Voters will be asked on the November ballot to decide whether to call a convention that would re-write the 46-year-old state constitution. Governor Granholm says she's a "yes" vote because state government is based on a manufacturing-based economic model that no longer exists in Michigan.</p> <p>"We've got an old structure," she says. "We've got an old tax structure. We have an old governmental structure, and I think we have got to modernize it all and constitutional convention would give us the ability to do that." </p> <p>The governor says she would also be interested in serving as a convention delegate or an officer if voters say "yes" to drafting a new state constitution.</p> <p>Opponents of a convention say it would open the door to special interests playing too large a role in re-writing the Michigan Constitution.</p>