To the Editor:
Question 2 on the ballot in the November 6, 2018 elections in Massachusetts called for the establishment of a Citizens Commission. This proposed law would be set up to consider and recommend potential amendments to the U.S. Constitution to establish that corporations (and other artificial entities) do not have the same Constitutional rights as human beings and that campaign contributions and expenditures may be regulated.
In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a whole, more than 71% of those who voted cast their vote in favor of establishing such a Commission. Per a timeline determined from the full text of Question 2, the following activities will take place:
-In early January 2019, there will be a posting date of the opportunity to serve on the Commission (open to any resident of Massachusetts who is a U.S. citizen).
-By April 30, 2019, appointments of the 15 members to the Commission will be complete (3 each from the Governor, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Attorney General, the Speaker of the state House of Representatives and President of the state Senate).
-From early May to the end of December 2019, the Commission will meet to gather evidence and take testimony in researching the impact of political spending in Massachusetts and the possibilities of regulating such expenditures.
-The Commission will deliver its report by December 31, 2019.
-The Secretary of the Commonwealth will deliver the report in early January 2020 to the state Legislature, the United States Congress, and the President of the United States.
The Act so distributed will urge Congress to pass and ratify the recommended amendment(s).
Jack W. Dean, Chair of Citizens for Economic Justice, Mattapoisett
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