What Really Happened
at the State House
Right to Vote Was Denied
in Violation of Constitution
What really happened yesterday
was that the legislators were afraid to go on record
as opposing the Amendment. They know a majority of
the citizens wish the measure to be sent to the voters
as demanded last fall when over 130,000 citizens signed
petitions.
That was why the legislators
voted yesterday to adjourn without ever voting on
the Amendment itself. The legislators will forever
be able to claim that they did not vote against the
measure - even though everyone knows they did.
The vote was 137 in favor
of adjournment and 53 voting against adjourning. The
number of votes that are required to send the measure
on to the people is only 50. But the majority would
not allow the more than 50 legislators who favor the
Amendment to get to vote on the measure.
Observers believe that
many of the 137 who voted to adjourn would have voted
to approve the measure if the alternative would have
been to go on record with a vote against the Amendment.
The legislators report
they were under heavy pressure to vote against the
Amendment from the state AFL-CIO, whose lobbyists
visited every one of them although very few union
members realize that.
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