Should RI reopen the state Constitution? Voters may decide in November.

The once-a-decade question – whether the time is right to reopen the state Constitution – is moving toward an appearance on the November ballot.

The House of Representatives Thursday introduced legislation to ask voters whether they want to hold a Constitutional Convention – and to establish a 12-member commission that will go around the state explaining what a Constitutional Convention is.

What is a Constitutional Convention

Sometimes referred to as a "ConCon," a convention is made up of a group of elected delegates who meet and propose changes to the Constitution. Any amendments the convention recommends have to be approved by voters in an election.

The state Constitution asks voters to decide every 10 years whether to hold a convention, and the last referendum was in 2014, making this the year. But the Constitution also says that if lawmakers fail to put the question on the ballot within the decade, the secretary of state is required to do so in the next election "following said period," which would be 2026.

More: Political Scene: Should RI hold a Constitutional Convention? Voters may get a say in 2024

Lawmakers weigh in on Constitutional Convention ballot question

House and Senate leaders had been noncommittal about putting it on the ballot this year and waited most of the legislative session before taking any action until the House moved last Thursday.

"I want to follow the Constitution. I consider myself a strict conformist," House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said Thursday when the resolution putting it on the ballot was introduced. "It is an obligation and why wouldn't we do it? The voters are going to vote on it anyway."

Senate President Dominick Ruggerio has declined to comment on whether the referendum should be in 2024 or 2026, but spokesman Greg Pare on Thursday said a version of the resolution will be introduced soon.

"It will be given due consideration through the committee process," Pare wrote in an email.

Go deeper: What sorts of issues might the convention get into?

The last Constitutional Convention was held in 1986. It created the state Ethics Commission, restored felons' right to vote after they served their time, allowed courts to hold defendants without bail on certain drug charges and attempted to clarify the public's right to access the shoreline.

Beach access is one of the issues that could come up if voters decide to have a Constitutional Convention this time around, with the state's new shoreline access law being challenged in court on constitutional grounds.

Other issues where constitutional changes have been considered include allowing citizen ballot initiatives, General Assembly term limits, a line-item veto, an inspector general, a lawmaker pay increase and protecting abortion rights.

The 12-member preparatory commission would be co-chaired by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Craven and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Dawn Euer.

“Times change and so do the issues that the public deeply cares about over time," Craven said in a news release Friday. "We are living in a very different state than we did in 1986 when the last Constitutional Convention was held, and it is vitally important that the public has the opportunity to decide whether or not our state Constitution needs to be updated."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI voters may get to weigh in this year on a Constitutional Convention