By Bob Katzen
THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week,
ATTEMPT TO ABOLISH ELECTRICAL COLLEGE
While on the stump in her presidential campaign last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) made headlines and reignited a debate that has been brewing across the nation for years. Warren wants to abolish the Electoral College, the current system under which the president and vice president are not actually elected directly by the voters but rather by “electors” who are elected by popular vote from each state. There are 538 electors with each state assigned a number of electoral votes equal to the number of its members of Congress. The District of Columbia has three electoral votes. Electors are chosen by political parties and pledge to vote for the winner of the state’s popular vote.
Warren was on the stump in Mississippi last week and promoted the abolishment of the Electoral College. “You know come a general election, presidential candidates don’t come to places like Mississippi,” said Warren. “They also don’t come to places like California and Massachusetts, because we’re not the battleground states. But my view is that every vote matters. And the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting.”
Every four years there is talk about abolishing the Electoral College and electing the president based on the national popular vote. This talk intensified after the 2000 election in which Al Gore (50,999,897 votes) won 543,895 more popular votes than George W. Bush (50,456,002 votes) but was beaten by Bush in the Electoral College by a 271 to 266 margin. The debate was re-ignited when Hillary Clinton (65,853,514 votes) won more popular votes than President Donald Trump (62,984,828 votes) but lost to Trump in the Electoral College by a 304 to 227 margin.
Eventually, though, the debate settles down and the system stays the same. One of the key reasons for the reluctance to change is that abolishing the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment that is either proposed by two-thirds of each house of Congress or by a constitutional convention that would be called if 34 states requested it. In both cases, the proposed amendment would then have to be ratified by 38 states in order to become part of the Constitution. Both of these avenues are difficult, at best.
Along comes Fair Vote, a group with the goal of electing the president by popular vote without actually abolishing the Electoral College. It establishes an agreement among the states to elect the president by national popular vote. The agreement would require states that join the pact to cast all of their electoral votes for the presidential candidate who wins a majority of the national popular vote in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The pact would go into effect when states representing at least 270 electoral votes — a majority of the 538-vote Electoral College — join the pact. It is a clever end run around the Constitution by taking advantage of a part of the document that supporters say gives the states exclusive and complete power to determine how to allocate their electoral votes. The pact would likely be challenged in the courts if it ever takes effect.
The National Popular Vote plan has bipartisan support and, according to Fair Vote’s website, the plan has been introduced in all 50 state legislatures. It has been signed into law in the District of Columbia and 12 states possessing 181 electoral votes — 67 percent of the 270 electoral votes needed to activate the legislation. The states include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Washington State and Vermont. The Massachusetts House 114-35 and the Senate 28-9 approved the measure in July 2010 and it was signed into law in August by former Gov. Deval Patrick.
Supporters say the Electoral College is an antiquated system that is inherently undemocratic and gives voters in states with a large number of electoral votes more voting power than those in other states. They argue the system was designed by the framers because they did not trust the common citizen to vote correctly. They note that presidential candidates now concentrate on, and campaign in, a handful of swing states while ignoring most of the states that are already solidly Democratic or Republican.
Some opponents say that the Electoral College is a good system that has worked well and should not be changed. They argue it actually gives voters in smaller states power that they would not have if the president was elected strictly by a popular vote system in which candidates would concentrate on states with larger populations. Some have argued that electing the president by popular vote would give wealthy fringe and third-party candidates a chance at success by focusing their efforts in a few major urban centers. Others suggest that changing from the Electoral College to a popular vote system is a very serious issue that needs more study.
(A “Yes” vote is for the law making Massachusetts a member of the popular vote pact. A “No” vote is against the law.)
Rep. Christine Barber Not yet elected Rep. Mike Connolly Not yet elected Rep. Denise Provost Yes Sen. Patricia Jehlen Yes
ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL
IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED – Many bills that were defeated or died in committee last year have been refiled for consideration in the 2019-2020 session. Here are some of them:
PROFIT FROM CRIMINAL ACT (S 797)- Restricts the ability of convicted criminals to profit from their notoriety. The measure provides that any profits from the criminals’ books, movie rights and similar profit endeavors be given to the victim as restitution.
HEROIN PRESENCE (S 842) – Repeals a current law that imposes a minimum 1-year prison sentence and/or up to a $1,000 fine on a person who is “knowingly present at a place where heroin is kept or deposited.”
SHOOTING AT A HOUSE OR SCHOOL (H 3070) Imposes up to a 5-year prison sentence on anyone who hits any dwelling, public park, daycare facility, public school or college with a firearm. The measure is designed to punish the shooter for this violent act even when no one is hurt or killed in the shooting. Currently there are no penalties for this offense.
COMPANION ANIMALS (H 2290) – Refers to pets as “companion animals” and requires people to protect the health and safety of these animals including dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, hamsters and ferrets. It prohibits companion animals from being left outside during extreme heat, cold, wind, rain or hail or any weather condition which poses a risk to their health and safety.
An offender is subject to a 2.5-year prison sentence for each incident of animal abuse. A first offense includes a $2,500 fine and loss of the right to obtain another animal. A second offense includes a $5,000 fine and placement of the offender’s name on A “Do Not Adopt To” list that will be made public and provided to all shelters, rescues, animal controls offices and pet stores. A third offense includes a $10,000 fine and their name on a “Do Not Adopt To” list.
PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION IN STATE CONTRACTS (S 1689) – Requires anyone who submits a bid or proposal of more than $10,000 to do work for state government to say that their company is in full compliance with the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
The person must also state that the company does not currently, and will not during the duration of the contract, refuse to do business with any other person based upon the person’s race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, gender identity or sexual orientation.
RAPISTS AND PARENTAL RIGHTS (S 832) – The Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a bill that would take away the parental rights of convicted rapists. The measure prohibits convicted rapists from getting custody of or obtaining visitation rights to see the child born from the rape. It also allows the courts, despite this termination of rights, to require that the perpetrator of the rape pay child support.
NO PARENTAL RIGHTS FOR MURDERERS (H 2285) – The Judiciary Committee is also considering a bill that would remove a child from the custody of his or her parent who is convicted of murdering the child’s other parent.
The measure provides a few exemptions including allowing custody by the convicted parent if the child requests it and the court determines that the child is mature enough to make such a decision. Another exemption allows custody if the convicted parent suffered from physical, sexual or psychological abuse from the murdered parent.
HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK’S SESSION? Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature’s job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Senate chambers. They note that their jobs also involve committee work, research, constituent work and other matters that are important to their districts. Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been filed. They note that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late-night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session.
During the week of March 18-22, the House met for a total of 12 minutes while the Senate met for a total of 29 minutes.
Mon. March 18 House 11:04 a.m. to 11:08 a.m.
Senate 11:06 a.m. to 11:11 a.m.
Tues. March 19 No House session
No Senate session
Wed. March 20 No House session
Senate 1:01 p.m. to 1:10 p.m.
Thurs. March 21 House 11:00 a.m. to 11:08 a.m.
Senate 11:04 a.m. to 11:19 a.m.
Fri. March 22 No House session
No Senate session
Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com