State Sen. Joe Addabbo at Saturday’s WRBA meeting detailed the three state referendums on the ballot this year. Photo by Michael V. Cusenza
When borough voters size up the state and congressional races on the ballot on Nov. 4 they’ll also come across three referendums, or proposals: revising the state’s redistricting procedure; permitting electronic distribution of state legislative bills; and the Smart Schools Bond Act of 2014.
The purpose of the first referendum—revising the state’s redistricting procedure—is to reform the process of establishing new state legislative and congressional district lines that the Constitution requires every 10 years. If the proposal is approved, a redistricting commission will be established to determine lines for legislative and congressional districts, subject to adoption of the commission’s plan by the Legislature and approval by the governor. Under the current provisions of the Constitution, the Legislature is the entity responsible for establishing district lines.
Referendum 2, permitting electronic distribution of state legislative bills, proposes to allow electronic distribution of a state legislative bill to satisfy the constitutional requirement that a bill be printed and on the desks of state legislators at least three days before the Legislature votes on it. Under the current provisions of the Constitution, this requirement can only be satisfied by distribution of a physical printed copy.
“This basically makes the Legislature digital,” said state Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach) at Saturday’s meeting of the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association. This year, Addabbo is running against GOP challenger Michael Conigliaro to retain the District 15 seat he has held since 2009.
And the purpose of the third proposal on the 2014 ballot—the Smart Schools Bond Act—is to authorize the creation of state debt and the sale of state bonds in the amount of up to $2 billion to provide money for the single purpose of improving learning and opportunity for public and nonpublic school students across the state. The money would be expended on capital projects related to the design, planning, site acquisition, demolition, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or acquisition or installation of equipment for various projects.
The act would “benefit our children with technology in the classroom,” Addabbo noted.
For more information, and the text of each referendum as it will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot, log on to elections.ny.gov/ProposedConsAmendments2.html
By Michael V. Cusenza
