Rapid approval of constitutional amendments makes a mockery of legislative process

Since the North Carolina state constitution went into effect 53 years ago, amendments have been exceedingly rare. Indeed, the constitution has been amended only a little over 30 times.

In other words, amendments in our state are – or at least should be – a big deal; the kinds of things that are dissected and debated at length before they’re even considered by lawmakers — much less placed before voters.

Unfortunately, as in so many other areas in which North Carolina Republican legislative leaders have come to short-circuit traditions of process and transparency, constitutional amendments are now treated like run-of-the-mill bills that can be quickly whisked through the General Assembly – often with deceptive titles and vague language.

On Monday of this week, the state Senate unveiled and passed two enormously important constitutional amendments on taxes and voting in just a few hours.

The bottom line: The approval of any state law in such short order should be unacceptable. Doing it with constitutional amendments makes a mockery of democratic government.