A look at Proposal One

 

This is the twentieth election cycle during which I’ve been a columnist.

 

Over those two decades I’ve hardly written about the candidates – politics isn’t my bag; policy is.

 

But, I’ve always taken the time to write about statewide ballot proposals. They tend to get lost in the theater, glamour, and money of political campaigns, so I’ve seen it as my duty to educate the masses about them, to give reasoning and both -- or all – sides. My goal is to help voters better understand their duty when heading into the polls and not be caught unaware of the decision they have to make.

 

Most ballot items are relatively benign and free of political intrigue. For example, recent proposals have been things like increasing the monetary level for cases that a specific court could hear or letting lawmakers have access to electronic -- instead of printed – bills. It’s difficult to get worked up about things like that.

 

This year is a little different. This column might actually be irrelevant because most voters have already heard about and made up their minds about Proposal One. If you’ve spent any time on social media or listened to talk radio you’ve no doubt been inundated with posts, memes, and advertisements about it.

 

For those who haven’t, here you go.  

 

Proposal One reads as follows:

 

Concurrent Resolution of the Senate and Assembly proposing an amendment to section 11 of article 1 of the constitution, in relation to equal protection

 

Section 1. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That section 11 of article 1 of the constitution be amended to read as follows:

 

§ 11. a. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed [or], religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy, be subjected to any discrimination in [his or her] their civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state, pursuant to law.

 

b. Nothing in this section shall invalidate or prevent the adoption of any law, regulation, program, or practice that is designed to prevent or dismantle discrimination on the basis of a characteristic listed in this section, nor shall any characteristic listed in this section be interpreted to interfere with, limit, or deny the civil rights of any person based upon any other characteristic identified in this section.

 

   §  2. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the foregoing amendment be submitted to the people for approval at the general election to be held in the year 2024 in accordance with the provisions of the election law.

 

Explanation – Matter in underscored is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted.

 

The proposal was made with the intent of enshrining in the state constitution the right to an abortion and ensuring that LBGTQ individuals be protected from discrimination. The proposal outright lacks the word “abortion” and the acronym “LBGTQ”, much to the frustration of top Democrats like Senator Liz Krueger and Attorney General Letitia James who wanted the proposal to be more widely understood in clear, plain language as required for such measures (judges dictated that the current language was sufficient to get that point across).

 

Organizations backing the proposal – such as NYCLU and the state’s Democratic Party – cite the state as being behind in enshrinement of abortion and gender rights as 22 states already have something similar to the proposal on their books. They also look at its need with urgency and fear, what with Roe v. Wade having been overturned by the Supreme Court and the increasing likelihood of a second Trump presidency.   

 

Those who are against the proposal – the most vocal and powerful being the state’s Republican Party – have been saying that it’s a Trojan horse, that it will bring with it a series of intended and unintended consequences. Among them, the GOP believes that it will remove parental consent from health decisions impacting their children; allow boys to compete in girls’ sports; and grant taxpayer-funded benefits to non-citizens.

 

I strongly suggest that voters spend time – outside of social media – researching the proposal because there are substantial theatrics and doom-and-gloom being cast by both sides. When it comes to those extremes, one side would have you believe if it doesn’t pass pregnant women will die while the other side has you thinking if it does pass kids will be mutilated.

 

If you were to further research this issue, a good place to start is the Empire Center’s take written by Cam Macdonald which can be found at tinyurl.com/NYProposalOne. In a reasoned, detailed approach he notes that the proposal does not protect abortion rights by itself nor does it take away parental consent. It does lift more people into protected classes while not affording any extra rights. Macdonald’s and the Center’s big concern with the proposal is that the courts (not lawmakers) will set public policy through litigation outcomes because the proposal does not provide the appropriate guide rails for the courts.  

 

Proposal one. Is it good? It is bad? That’s for you to decide at the ballot box.

 

 

From the 29 October 2024 Greater Niagara Newspapers and Wellsville Sun

Remembering Belva Lockwood, local presidential candidate

 

Much has been said and written by others about Kamala Harris possibly becoming our nation’s first woman president. But, politics and political coverage being what they are – that is, a focus on the now and the short-term – we tend to overlook both the future and the past. Little if anything has been said in recent weeks, even as a much-needed moment of reflection to get away from the immediate theater of presidential politics, about the modern role of women in government and the trailblazers who opened up the opportunities now present.

 

Among those who led the way is Belva Lockwood, someone who should be a household name in Western New York but is not for the most part outside of the communities she had called home in her formative years -- Royalton and Lockport.

 

Lockwood was historically significant. She was officially the first woman on a presidential ballot from any party, large or small. She ran for the office of the president in 1884 and 1888, both times via the National Equal Rights Party. In 1884 she received 4,100 votes, a fraction of those received by winner Grover Cleveland -- ironically, another candidate with a substantial Western New York background -- who garnered 4.87 million votes.

Limited numbers notwithstanding, Lockwood’s performance was a significant step in advancing women. Since Lockwood’s passing in 1917, women have had a long history of holding federal office dating back to that year in the House (when Jeanette Rankin was elected) and 1932 in the Senate (when Hattie Caraway was elected). Today, women make up 29% of the House of Representatives and a quarter of the Senate.

 

Back when Lockwood ran for president, women were looked at as second-class citizens; they couldn’t even vote. The common sentiment was that they belonged in the home and shouldn’t participate in more manly pursuits like governance and law. The majority of the “gentlemanly” press painted her as a joke when she campaigned, just as they did any other woman who counted herself as a suffragist fighting for women’s civic rights.

Lockwood was incredibly instrumental in changing those disgusting ways in which we viewed and treated women in the public arena. She overcame the negative coverage and showed that she was up to the task of debating and developing a platform, a deep 15-position masterpiece that was arguably more substantial than that of Cleveland or his Republican foe, James Blaine. Had women possessed the right to vote, she would have been a formidable opponent and definitely a game changer (the 1884 election was ridiculously close: Cleveland had 48.5 percent of the vote while Blaine had 48.02 percent). The 19^th Amendment, guaranteeing the right of woman to vote, wasn’t ratified until 1920.

Outside of politics, she was just as impressive.

 

As a teacher – a career she started at just 14 years of age -- she developed new curricula in schools in Lockport, Gainesville, and Owego whereby she expanded the knowledge base afforded young women, exposing them to studies that only men once took.

 

She also became one of the first female lawyers to practice in the U.S. – something she did for 43 years -- and ultimately became the first one allowed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. She was a successful lawyer at that: She fought the case of the Eastern Cherokee Indians against the federal government, winning them a settlement of $5 million (which in today’s dollars is $154 million).

 

Somehow, she managed all this while running boarding houses and tirelessly fighting for women’s rights.

She was an entirely self-made woman. Her achievements were not the result of privilege. Lockwood empowered herself and gave women the hope that they could do the same. In her time she ranked with Susan B. Anthony (who was immortalized on a dollar coin) as one of the most powerful and well-known women in the country.

 

There have been attempts to highlight her legacy, such as a World War II merchant marine ship in her name, a postage stamp in 1986, and a historical marker that stands in front of her childhood home in Royalton. But modern America – and even modern Western New York -- has all but forgotten about who she was and what she did.

 

It’s time Belva Lockwood got her due, especially when Kamala Harris and Donald Trump seem neck-and-neck in the polls. Not only was she the first woman to appear on a presidential ballot she was also, as made evident by everything she accomplished and inspired, truly presidential material in the traditional sense of the office -- a leader and a doer, someone to believe in and emulate.

 

 

From the 11 October 2024 Greater Niagara Newspapers and Wellsville Sun    

The economic impact of volunteerism

 

Last week, Boy Scout Troop 82 of Lockport disbanded after 42 years of service to the community. Over the course of its history, the troop produced 69 Eagle Scouts.

 

If you are unfamiliar with what an Eagle Scout is, the award is the pinnacle of scouting, a culmination of years of fun and hard work that saw the teen amass merit badges, take part in outdoors experiences, and develop leadership traits. The piece de résistance is his Eagle project, a task undertaken by that scout to address a specific community need that has him overseeing design and development, the acquisition of resources needed to complete it, and the scouts and adults who are building or distributing whatever that final outcome may be. Examples of such projects are building food pantries and clothing closets, upgrading town parks, constructing kayak launches, and preserving cemeteries. 

 

Those of us in scouting, and many people in the community, see the social value of becoming an Eagle Scout. We know he did something great for the world, at a young age, which sets him on the path of continuing to be a great citizen while one day becoming a great spouse, parent, worker, leader, and doer.

 

On the other hand, we never talk about the economic impact of that Eagle project. I’ve been involved with the Boy Scouts of America since 1986 and that’s always been the case at the national, local, unit, and individual levels.

 

It’s almost like it’s taboo.

 

This isn’t just a scouting thing. When it comes to other community organizations and non-profits – from fire companies to churches to little leagues to Lions and Rotary  Clubs – participants always focus on the feel-good stuff, the human condition, because that’s what it’s all about, that’s why we do what we do. It’s about the people. And, we should never lose sight of that.

 

But, all volunteers, in whatever they may do for the world, need to augment their conversations and show the dollar value their organization or tasks bring. Everyone understands the value of money, especially so in this era of inflation and high interest rates, and it could be something that motivates others to give of themselves, which is sorely needed in this era of frighteningly declining volunteerism.

 

Because we don’t talk about it enough or ever, the financial impact of volunteerism will startle, always.

 

Consider what Troop 82 did for the community.

 

The average Eagle Scout project involves 170 man-hours of labor. If you were to have contractors or government workers provide that same service, assume a labor rate of $40 per hour (which is both wage and benefits). That means one project saved the affected taxpayers or non-profits $6,800 in labor alone. Across the Troop’s 69 Eagle projects that’s a total savings of $469,200. There are also savings had in donations of materials, equipment, and expertise, which would certainly push the final number well past a half million dollars.

 

What a gift for Troop 82’s Eagles to have given Western New Yorkers!

 

Scouts, leaders, and parents across the country need to brag about that sort of thing.

 

Firefighters should do the same about what they do.

 

Volunteer firefighting and medical services are one of the greatest callings one can pursue. Those souls answer their pager at all hours of the day and night, leaving family picnics, Sunday football games, and their comfortable beds to save people and property, tackling everything from structure fires to car accidents to medical events.

 

If it wasn’t for what they do – and there are far fewer people doing it today, by the way – every community would need a paid service. With that comes payrolls from always having the halls staffed, benefits like health insurance, and the legacy costs of pensions. According to a detailed study commissioned by the Firefighters Association of NYS, if New York went all-in with paid services for firefighting, 31,000 career employees would be needed at an annual cost of $4.7 billion. That would increase property taxes across the state by 28.4%...to start. 

 

Fire companies do a bang-up job of showing calls-responded-to tallies on their signs and marketing materials. They should add a little nuance to that, saying “we’ve saved X lives and we also saved you X dollars on your property taxes.”

 

That sort of thing could serve as a wake-up call to the community. No one likes to part with money. When ultimately faced with the consequences of fewer helpers, people might just change their outlook about getting involved. A few hours a week is better than a few hundred dollars every year.

 

Sometimes, for some people, greenbacks tell stories that are just as impactful as the stories about the lives changed and saved. Dollars saved are something we need to talk about more often. 

 

 

From the 23 August 2024 Greater Niagara Newspapers and Wellsville Sun