@jmyrlefuller
Followup.
I've gotten an earful. It looks like supporters haven't truly addressed some of the points.
There's no guarantee pensions wouldn't be impacted.
The SAFE Law and other anti-gun wording could be put into the state Constitution.
Etc.
- Actually, there is a guarantee, and it's in the federal constitution. The state literally has no power to take away any pension that has already been promised. It falls under the Constitution, which grants the federal government sole power over bankruptcies and the such. So the fearmongering about Cuomo taking away pensions (and I'll note: the governor has absolutely no say in a convention, which is another misconception the naysayers are throwing around) is simply untrue. Even the proposed amendment up for vote this year—the one taking away pensions from those convicted of crimes—may not pass constitutional muster if it gets challenged.
Besides, I know of no delegates that have any serious thoughts of raiding the pension fund, and any amendment including a pension raid would probably fail in the required referendum. The fund is currently making boffo returns (11% APR or so, last I heard) in the stock market, and the state (because there's a balanced-budget amendment already in place) is not short on funds. What may need to be addressed in a con-con is the practice of subsidizing the fund's losses in recession. Right now, those losses get passed on to county and municipal governments, who must raise property taxes (and BTW, pension fund taxes are exempt from Cuomo's tax cap, so they can't be stopped) that are already among the highest in the nation.
- The current constitution did not prevent the SAFE Act from being passed. A constitutional convention could restore firearms rights just as easily. Given the weight of the delegation, which is based on the Senate, upstate New York will have a wider say than in the state legislature, and upstate has been most vehement against the SAFE Act. There's a better chance of repealing the SAFE Act in a con-con than making it ironclad.
@Suppressed
