No Coalition

August 8, 2024

The “no” coalition came out in force at the August 8, 2024 public hearing of the Preparatory Commission, including coalition leaders from the AFL-CIO, NEA, and ACLU. Afterwards, the AFL-CIO tweeted the Rhode Island Current story about the hearing.

July 30, 2024

RI Citizens for Responsible Government launches campaign to defeat Constitutional Convention; urges voters to reject Question 1, Progressive Charleston, July 30, 2024.

July 8, 2024

The three organizations leading the no coalition organizing drive in 2024 are the RI AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, and the RI ACLU. This core group, longtime coalition partners, is similar to 2014 except for the lead role of the AFL-CIO rather than the teachers union. But it should be noted that the no coalition is organizing relatively late. Expect dozens of organizations in the resulting coalition by early fall 2024. Copied below is an email sent to Rhode Island General Assembly members and other potential allies.

July 15, 2024

The website for the no coalition, www.RejectQuestion1.com, is launched. But the coalition won’t be publicly announced for another nine days.

July 24, 2024

RI Citizens for Responsible Government, Rhode Island’s no campaign regarding the convention referendum, was publicly announced the same day Rhode Island’s Preparatory Commission met for the first time.

The coalition members at launch are:

• Planned Parenthood of Southern New England
• ACLU of Rhode Island
• RI AFL-CIO
• RI National Organization of Women
• The Womxn Project
• RI Coalition for Reproductive Freedom
• RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• RI Commission for Human Rights
• Center for Justice
• Fuerza Laboral
• AFSCME
• Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals
• National Education Association Rhode Island
• RI Building and Construction Trades Council
• SEIU District 1199
• Working Families Power
• RI Black Business Association
• Providence Central Labor Council
• United Nurses and Allied Professionals
• UFCW Local 328
• RI Atheists
• Humanists of RI
• Women’s Health & Education Fund
• RI Alliance for Retired Americans
• Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance
• Black Lives Matter RI PAC
• DARE (Direct Action for Rights and Equality)
• Open Doors
• NAACP Providence Branch
• RI National Association of Social Workers
• Olneyville Neighborhood Association
• RIC AFT (RIC Faculty Union)
• PSA@RIC (RIC Professional Staff Union)
• Cranston Teachers Alliance
• Warwick Teachers Union
• RIAFT/R (Retiree Chapter)
• Latino Policy Institute
• GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)

This no coalition is very similar to the previous no coalition in 2014.

The text part of the press release accompanying the launch is copied below:

Title: RI Citizens for Responsible Government launches campaign to defeat Constitutional Convention

Subtitle: “A Constitutional Convention poses a direct threat to established civil rights, with the potential to introduce amendments that could undermine protections currently afforded under RI state law…”

Rhode Island Citizens for Responsible Government, a diverse and growing coalition of Rhode Island individuals and organizations, held a press conference today to launch its campaign to defeat a Constitutional Convention, which will be Question 1 on the ballot in this November’s general election. The coalition cited several reasons why they are opposed to a Constitutional Convention.

Here’s the video. James Parisi, Field Representative and Lobbyist for the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, acted as emcee:

“A Constitutional Convention poses a direct threat to established civil rights, with the potential to introduce amendments that could undermine protections currently afforded under Rhode Island state law,” said coalition Chair Vimala Phongsavanh, who is also Senior Director of External Affairs of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. “The influence of out-of-state special interests, empowered to spend without limits, further jeopardizes the integrity of our democratic process, potentially swaying outcomes away from the will of the people and towards narrow ideological agendas. A convention would also cost the state millions of dollars. The economic burden placed on taxpayers to fund a process that could ultimately erode established civil rights and democratic principles is alarming and underscores the outdated nature of the convention.

“Women and birthing people should be especially concerned about a Constitutional Convention because ballot measures have been used disproportionately across the country to impact and restrict reproductive rights,” continued Phongsavanh. “The 1986 Constitutional Convention in Rhode Island quickly spiraled from ‘good government’ to abortion politics. This is not the way to debate and decide these issues.”

“We can not let wealthy individuals and corporations buy our Constitution,” said Patrick Crowley, Secretary-Treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. “A Constitutional Convention puts our Constitution up for sale. With voter initiatives, deep-pocketed special interest groups and wealthy individuals distort issues and hijack local campaigns. Rhode Island does not need a constitutional convention to change our governance. Constitutional changes may be done, and have been done in the past, by questions placed on the ballot by the General Assembly. A Constitutional Convention is expensive, and our money can be better spent elsewhere.”

“The 1986 Constitutional Convention may be most known for its attack on abortion rights, but amendments coming out of that convention also had a severe impact on other fundamental freedoms, including the right to bail and voting rights,” said Steven Brown, Executive Director of the ACLU of Rhode Island. “We should learn from this history and recognize that another Convention could roll back or stifle LGBTQ+ and other minority rights.

“While our opponents claim a constitutional convention could improve our governmental structure, we believe that, just like the 1986 convention, it is almost certain to serve as a vehicle for socially divisive amendments,” continued Brown. “Passing a constitutional convention will lead to disastrous results for Rhode Islanders. This is why we stand against calling a Convention.”

“Across the country, issues like reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, worker rights, senior citizen rights, and immigrant rights, have become fodder for expensive statewide campaigns mounted by well-funded, out-of-state special interests,” said Awilda Reinoso Lopez, Policy Associate at the Latino Policy Institute. “We are gravely concerned that those who would be elected in a small turn-out, a special election will not reflect the wishes or diversity of the LGBTQ+, minority, and other potentially impacted communities. A Constitutional Convention would allow for big money to come in and distort the issues right here in Rhode Island.”

The Constitutional Convention question is posed to Rhode Island voters every ten years. Voters have rejected a Constitutional Convention the last three times it was on the ballot. The last time a Convention was approved and convened was 38 years ago in 1986.

Coalition members include Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, ACLU of Rhode Island, RI AFL-CIO, RI National Organization of Women, The Womxn Project, RI Coalition for Reproductive Freedom, RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Latino Policy Institute, RI Commission for Human Rights, Center for Justice, Fuerza Laboral, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), AFSCME, Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, National Education Association Rhode Island, RI Building and Construction Trades Council, SEIU District 1199, Working Families Power, RI Black Business Association, Providence Central Labor Council, United Nurses and Allied Professionals, UFCW Local 328, RI Atheists, Humanists of RI, Women’s Health & Education Fund, RI Alliance for Retired Americans, Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance, Black Lives Matter RI PAC, DARE (Direct Action for Rights and Equality), Open Doors, NAACP Providence Branch, RI National Association of Social Workers, Olneyville Neighborhood Association, RIC AFT (RIC Faculty Union), PSA@RIC (RIC Professional Staff Union), Cranston Teachers Alliance, Warwick Teachers Union, RIAFT/R (Retiree Chapter), and more.

For more information about this campaign, visit www.RejectQuestion1.com.

Here’s a History of Constitutional Conventions in Rhode Island.

List of Speakers at the Coalition’s July 24, 2024 Press Conference

• Coalition Chair, Vimala Phongsavanh, Senior Director of External Affairs of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England
• Coalition Treasurer and Event Moderator, James Parisi, Field Representative and Lobbyist for the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals
• Patrick Crowley, Secretary-Treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO
• Steven Brown, Executive Director of the ACLU of Rhode Island
• Awilda Reinoso Lopez, Policy Associate at the Latino Policy Institute

Campaign Website: www.RejectQuestion1.com.

Transcript of the July 24, 2024 Press Conference

Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Press who’ve come here to attend this event announcing the Rhode Island citizens for responsible government campaign to oppose the Constitutional Convention ballot question in November.

My name is James Paresi. I’m a field representative with the Rhode Island Federation of teachers and health professionals, and I’m treasurer of the Rhode Island citizens for responsible government.

I’d like to start by thanking Planned Parenthood of Southern New England for hosting us here today.

Article 14 of the Rhode Island Constitution requires that a question be put on the ballot every 10 years asking voters the question shall there be a convention to amend or revise the Constitution.

That question will be on this year’s ballot.

The last time Rhode Island had a constitutional convention was 1986.

In fact, that was the last time any of the 50 states had a constitutional convention.

20 years ago the question was rejected by a 52 to 48% vote.

10 years ago the question was defeated on a 55 to 45% vote.

Some of us who had come together 10 years ago to oppose the ballot question a decade ago began conversations a couple of
months ago about putting the group back together again this year knowing that the question was likely to be on the 2024 ballot.

Thus, the Rhode Island citizens for responsible government was formed to oppose the ballot question coming up in November.

Rhode Island citizens for responsible government is a coalition of organizations representing a wide cross-section of Rhode Islanders.

We have labor unions and civil rights groups.

We have women’s groups and minority groups.

We have organizations protecting reproductive health and immigrant workers.

We are joined in a common belief that a constitutional convention poses significantly more opportunity for harm than it does for good for a variety of reasons that are going to be articulated by our speakers today.

So starting us off we have four speakers planned.

The first speaker is vamala Don Psaan.

She is the chair of the Rhode Island citizens for responsible government, and she is the senior director for external Affairs here at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England.

[Applause]

[Vimala Phongsavanh, Head of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England]

Thanks Jim, and good morning everyone. I’m Vimala Phongsavanh, senior director of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, and also the chair of the Rhode Island citizens for responsible government Coalition.

This November Rhode Island voters will be asked whether to hold a constitutional convention.

We are here today to speak out in strong opposition to this proposal, which will be question one on this year’s ballot.

A constitutional convention opens the floodgates for special interest money to come into our state in a dangerous attempt to strip away the civil rights and protections currently afforded to all Rhode Islanders.

Those rights include access to abortion and other reproductive Health Care.

This is not what Rhode Islanders want.

A majority of Rhode Island voters believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and our state has made incredible progress over the past 5 years to make abortion care more accessible, and that’s because Rhode Islanders trust women–our family members, our neighbors, our friends–to make the decisions that are best for themselves.

We believe that people in our communities deserve privacy in their medical decisions.

Rhode Islanders cannot go backwards and our work ensures that everyone has the ability to control our own bodies, our own lives, and our own Futures.

Yet that is just what could happen with a constitutional convention.

The last time one was held in 1986 the convention ended up proposing two anti-abortion Constitutional Amendments, one of which passed.

Now more than ever, when Reproductive Rights are under attack across the country, Rhode Islanders must remain vigilant in protecting and expanding access to this critical health care for all people in the ocean state.

Let’s be clear: anti-abortion opponents were never satisfied with overturning Roe.

Over the last two years, we’ve watched as they’ve strategically attacked sexual and reproductive Health Care on all fronts.

They’ve banned abortion in 21 states and tried to use the courts to restrict access to mher Prestone, a safe and effective drug used for medication abortion.

Next they are coming for birth control, gender affirming health care, and IVF, and so much more,

They are using every tool in their tool box, including pouring out of state special interest money into ballot questions like the one here in Rhode Island to push their narrow ideology on us and exert control over our bodies and our lives.

But we won’t let them win.

Together we are building a strong and diverse Coalition of Rhode Island voices speaking out to educate voters on the importance of defeating the Constitutional Convention and the direct threat it poses on our established rights civil rights.

Planned Parenthood of Southern New England is proud to join in this effort, and we will never stop fighting until everyone has the ability to make decisions about their own reproductive lives and Futures without political interference.

Thanks.

[Applause]

[James Paresi]

Thank you, thank you very much, Mala.

Our next speaker is a stalwart supporter of worker rights, and here in Rhode Island it’s Patrick Crowley, who’s the secretary treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO.

Take the podium. Patrick.

[Patrick Crowley, Secretary-Treasurer AFL-CIO]

Thank you, Jim, and thank you, everyone, for being here today.

My name is Patrick Crowley.

I’m the secretary treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL CIO.

On behalf of the 80,000 union members across the state of Rhode Island, we’re happy to join this Coalition and will be strongly urging all working people to vote no on question one.

Rhode Island is a labor State.

We are proud of our Union Heritage.

We are proud of the laws that we have enacted to protect basic rights of working people whether they’re union members or not, and we see a threat to those rights.

We see outside corporate money ready to pounce and undo the hard work that many of the people in this room have done over the last decades to ensure that basic freedoms of working people: the right to form a union, the right to advocate at the workplace, the right to make sure that working people are paid a decent wage, the right to Health Care, the right to make sure that the civil rights that all workers enjoy, including the right to bodily autonomy, are protected as we move forward.

That’s why this is a working person’s issue.

That’s why this is a union issue.

We need to make sure that Rhode Island laws are written by Rhode Islanders, that it’s our voice that is heard loud and clear, not Wall Street, not the out of State corporate interests, not the big Banks.

Rhode Islanders should decide the direction of our state, and that’s why a constitutional convention is a direct threat to the rights that we have fought so hard for.

So on be again on behalf of the Rhode Island AFL CIO, our 275 Affiliates, and our members that live and work everywhere from Westerly to Woonsocket, we’re going to do everything that we can to make sure Rhode Islanders get out and vote no on question one.

Thank you.

[Applause]

[James Paresi]

Thank you very much Patrick.

The ACLU is a premier civil rights organization here in the state of Rhode Island. They were a central player in the Coalition 10 years ago to defeat the ConCon ballot question, and they are back in our Coalition this year.

Joining us at the podium now is Steven Brown, the executive director of the ACLU.

[Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU]

Thank you, Jim, thank you everybody for coming to this news conference.

My name is Steven Brown.

I’m executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, and let there be no mistake about two things: the calling of a constitutional convention is a frightening prospect for those concerned about civil rights, and the work of the convention would be as political as any session of the general assembly.

I don’t make these predictions lightly.

But I don’t make them hypothetically either.

They are plainly borne out by the history of our last Constitutional Convention in Rhode Island in 1986.

Nobody should be fooled by those who claim it will be otherwise.

We’ve talked, you’ve heard some talk, about one of the main things that came out of the 86 convention, which
had to do with an amendment declaring that life begins at conception that was overwhelmingly defeated by the
voters, but as Mala noted, there was actually a second anti-abortion Constitutional Amendment that came out of that convention, and it remains in our state constitution to this day.

Unfortunately, that was not the only attack on civil rights at that convention. The voters also approved the Constitutional Amendment restricting the fundamental right to bail for people charged with certain drug offenses, an amendment that promoted the state’s very unfortunate role in the mass incarceration epidemic that swept the country in the 1980s.

In addition, the convention proposed and the voters approved an amendment that significantly expanded the number of people who lost their right to vote because of a criminal record.

20 years later, it was the General Assembly, not a convention, that restored voting rights to those tens of thousands of individuals.

There’s absolutely no reason to believe that a constitutional convention in 2026 would be any more sympathetic to civil rights and civil liberties than the one in 1986.

Now what about the politics.

Here, too, the 1986 convention offers a lot of important lessons despite the polyana hopes that were heard back then in
support of a convention, and the same ones we hear today from supporters that it would be a people’s convention, free of the politics of the legislature.

It’s worth looking at the facts.

Consider the makeup of the convention itself.

Legislators at that time made a vow that none of them would run for a seat in the convention, and they were true to their word.

But who did run and get elected?

7 former legislators, the relatives of four sitting legislators, including the son and the sister of the speaker of the house, at least eight people who had previously held another political office, and at least 10 current or former Democratic or Republican Party Committee members.

In addition, no fewer than 17 delegates to the convention used the Convention as a stepping stone to run for the general assembly the same year that the convention was being held.

As for the political machinations that occurred in the convention, where even the order of the ballot questions was mired in politics, that we can save for another day.

There are about a dozen other states that have a constitutional provision like Rhode Island requiring periodic votes on whether to hold a constitutional convention.

It is telling that since 1986 not one state has voted to do so.

I’m inclined to believe that it’s because those states took a look at what happened in Rhode Island in 1986 and learned the lesson not to follow that lead.

I’m hopeful that as they’ve done the last three times, Rhode Island voters too will reject this latest call for a convention.

Thank you.

[Applause]

[James Paresi]

Thank you very much Steve, and before I call our final speaker, I just want to make a note that after our fourth speaker, I’m going to ask all the speakers to come up here in case there are a couple of questions before we finish up today.

As I had said earlier, we have a very diverse organization, a lot of different labor, civil rights groups, Community groups, including the Latino policy Institute, and we’re pleased to have Wilder [?], who is a policy associate for the LPI joining us at the podium today.

[Applause]

[Awilda Reinoso Lopez, Policy Associate at the Latino Policy Institute]

Good morning, my name is Awilda Reinoso Lopez, and I am an associate at the Latino policy Institute.

We are a part of this Coalition opposing a constitution and Convention, which will be question number one on the ballot this November.

At LPI, we have spent the last decade working tirelessly to protect and uplift some of Rhode Island’s most vulnerable populations.

Our communities, particularly those of color, and those experiencing poverty, have made significant strides in gaining the rights and protections they deserve.

However, a constitutional convention threatens to unravel these hard-earned gains.

One Stark example is the cover all kids law passed in 2022.

This critical legislation ensures that all children in Rhode Island regardless of their immigration status have access to health care.

This law is a Lifeline for thousands of children providing them with the healthcare they need to thrive and succeed.

The Constitutional Convention could put this law in Jeopardy, threatening the health and well-being of these children and their families.

Communities of color and poor communities often bear the brunt of such political shifts.

Historically, these communities have faced systemic barriers and discrimination that have kept them from accessing the same opportunities as others.

We cannot allow a constitutional convention to open the door to policies that would disproportionately impact these vulnerable populations.

We have made significant progress, but our work still needs to be completed.

We must continue to build on our successes and ensure that all Rhode Islanders, regardless of their background, have a fair shot at a healthy, prosperous future.

A constitutional convention risks setting us back and undoing the progress we have fought to achieve.

Let’s Stand Together to protect our communities and say no to question one this November.

Thank you

[Applause]

[James Paresi]

Thank you, thank you, will want to come back up Patrick, Steven, Vimala.

We want him to pose for a pretty picture, and then we’ll feel that any questions from the Press, if there are any.

[Reporter]

Did anything good come out of the 86 convention?

[Steve Brown]

Well, the 86 convention did pass an amendment establishing the ethics commission.

But again, it was the General Assembly, not the convention, that passed, approved, and the voters approved a Constitutional Amendment making sure that the legislators themselves were subject to the ethics commission.

The Supreme Court had interpreted it otherwise, and the general assembly took it upon itself to make the themselves subject to it.

So even the one good thing that they did had to be corrected by the general assembly.

A number of other Provisions that were passed by the convention and defeated by the voters ended up getting approved by the general assembly, and the voters later on including judicial selection, legislative pay, and a few other Provisions that the voters rejected at the time.

But when the general assembly took action, they actually supported it. Thank you.

[Reporter]

I’m guessing you’re going to be spending some money here.

How much do you anticipate having to spend to run this campaign?

[Patrick Crowley]

So this is going to be a Grassroots campaign, and we are going to be raising money.

The Rhode Island AFL CIO has already contributed $5,000 to the effort.

But make no mistake, we are going to be outspent if the corporate money is allowed to flow into Rhode Island.

There’s just no way that, you know, $10 contributions from working people,  or $20 contributions and low
dollar contributions to people like the planned parenthood or the Latino policy Institute, is ever going to compete against someone like the Koch brothers who can write the six figure checks without blinking an eye.

So yeah, we are going to be raising money, and if you want to learn how to contribute you can go to our website, which will be part of the conversation after the afterwards.

[Reporter]

Let me just ask you.

I’m looking at all your signs; they say reject question one.

Is it a yes or no question when it turns up on the ballot? or, I mean, would you say no?

[Patrick Crowley]

The language of the question will be approve  or reject, so that’s why the way we’re asking people to think
about this question is reject question one

[Reporter]

Can anyone can handle this?

You’re all speaking about the potential for conservative or corporate or right-wing
movements to take over a convention, but there’s obviously nothing to prevent all of your groups from putting up
candidates from progressives and left leaning people from becoming delegates and running out a whole host of
progressive ideas and constitutional ideas that have been floated over the last several decades.

Why not do that and just run and actually pass the things you want and defeat the things that the convention that you don’t want instead of shutting down the convention at the beginning.

[Patrick Crowley]

Let me let me start and then I’ll see if anyone else wants to answer.

Make no mistake we are preparing for the bad news that.

Just in case this does pass,we have already started planning for that.

Our lead organizer, our field director for the Rhode Island AFL CIO, Autumn Geeard, has
already been tasked.

We will run a union memberin every single District, make no mistake about it.

We’re not going to let the
corporate Powers take away our rights,
but we are fundamentally opposed to a
constitutional convention because we
think it is a primary job of democracy
to make sure these decisions are made in
the general assembly through the regular
legislative process.

So that’s why you know we’re not jumping
up and down to make sure that we pass
a constitutional convention this year.

We want to make sure that the rights that
we have are protected, and we think the
general assembly process is the right
way to do it.

[Reporter]

Are there things you would otherwise like to
see happen in a constitutional convention, any of you?

Nothing good would come of it?

[Steve Brown]

There are a 150 amendments one could easily come up with.

In fact in the 1986 convention, there were 322 resolutions introduced.

We’re not going to see 322 resolutions on any ballot, so there’s going to be a lot of politicking to decide which are which of all these wonderful ideas that people have will actually get approved by the convention and get approved by the voters.

And as you heard from Patrick, you know the moneyed interests have much greater opportunity to control and decide which of those questions will actually end up on the ballot, and that’s one of the key reasons that we’re here opposing that approach to amending the Constitution.

[Jamies Parisi]

I’ll just briefly add we all recognize there could be some
positive developments coming out of the convention.

I mean if you know I’m a
teacher union guy, and getting a
constitutional right to strike would be
a real neat thing to have debated at the
Constitutional Convention.

But we all recognize we’re all living under the
same rules of citizens united, where
there’s unlimited money that can be
spent, and we believe that our opponents
have the ability to spend way more than
we do.

As Patrick articulated, that’s why
when you balance the possibility of
positive versus the possibility of
harmful things, we all recognize that the
possibility for harmful things is
paramount, and that’s why we ought to
reject the Constitutional Convention in
the first place.

And finally, we’re all
mindful that the Rhode Island general
assembly can and has moved
constitutional amendments on the
ballot, and if there are some things we
want to all coalesce around, we’ll work
with the general assembly on those
issues in the future.

[Steve Brown]

One other quick point I’ll make is that ballot questions are more often than not used as a way to deny minority rights.

You’re putting these sometimes critical controversial divisive issues on a ballot, and it not only leads to moneyed interest coming in but it can appeal to some of the baser instincts of voters when you deal with, you know, crime issues, immigration issues, we we’ve heard that we’ve seen that it’s a real legitimate concern, and that’s another reason to oppose this approach for making laws in the most fundamental document that runs our state.

[Jamies Parisi]

All right, seeing no other questions, thank you all very much for coming.