Ending Poverty As We Know It: Guaranteeing A Right To A Job

13 How Might a Constitutional Amendment Work?

13 How Might a Constitutional Amendment Work? To provide employment for the poor, and support for the indigent, is among the primary, and, at the same time, not least difficult cares of the public authority. —James Madison, Letter to Rev. F. C. Shaeffer, January 8, 1820 In a church cafeteria where I had just led a brief discussion about establishing a right to a job at a living wage, an older woman came up to me and said, “I like what you say about amending our Constitution . I think everyone should have a chance to work. And I think that everyone who works should be paid enough money to live on. My question to you is, ‘How on earth are we going to do that?’ ” There are several ways that we as a nation can respond to that question. This book is intended to initiate discussion on the importance of two intertwined principles that are the core of the proposed constitutional amendment: the right of every person who wants a job to have one, and the right of every person who works to earn a living wage. I do not attempt to provide an economic treatise or an offering of all the specific programs or laws that the country might use to fulfill the promise of the constitutional amendment. Others can do that. This book is an effort to hold up two principles deeply embedded in American thought, to show that we are not currently living up to our principles and that there are ways we can live up to these principles . What I propose here is a process for our nation to strengthen our commitment to end poverty as we know it by allowing every working person the opportunity to support themselves and their families. The Constitution enshrines the highest goals of this nation. This nation has always valued working to earn enough to secure a dignified living . A constitutional amendment guaranteeing every person the right to 137 138 Chapter 13 work and to earn a living wage simply yet forcefully elevates accepted American principles to protected rights. It is very important to reaffirm that these two principles must be kept together, for the right to a job without a right to a living wage is just as weak as the right to a living wage without a job. Both rights must remain intact and linked together. So how might such a constitutional amendment work? Fortunately for us, our nation has amended its Constitution on other occasions and this amendment would follow the same process. The exact meaning of these rights would be decided by the same combination of constitutional bodies that decide the exact meaning and implementation of our other constitutional rights: Congress, the executive branch, and the judiciary. Implementation of this amendment would operate in the same way as other constitutional obligations, with considerable care, deference, and judgment. The initial steps of implementation would be the responsibility of the legislative bodies. Congress would be expected to draft and pass appropriate laws consistent with the Constitution. As anyone familiar with the legislative process knows, it is a process that produces unpredictable outcomes. Those with interests in the amendment would be expected to propose ways to make it come alive that would benefit their particular perspective. Some business interests would likely try to get tax relief for their part in providing employment, while others will no doubt try to frustrate and delay implementation and still others will come up with innovative ideas not yet considered. Employees, labor unions, and social welfare organizations will certainly try to influence the legislation in accordance with their own agendas as well. Proposals will be made for public employment, subsidized private employment, higher minimum-wage floors, and tax credits. As in all legislation, compromise will result. The executive branch would then be called upon to develop the details of administrating the laws and to give oversight of how the new laws are operating. Administration of the laws would likely be by the departments of Commerce, Labor, and the Treasury. The judiciary would carry out its traditional role of evaluating actions in purpose and practice to ensure they are consistent with the Constitution . Even though judicial interpretation and enforcement of a constitutional right to work for a living wage would be unprecedented, legal How Might a Constitutional Amendment Work? 139 scholars point out that enforcing social...