The state bar association has listed the following goals in conjunction with its support of a constitutional convention:

• Reduce the number of the state trial courts from 11.

• Eliminate constitutional barriers to reforms such as election-day registration and “no-excuse” absentee voting to boost voter participation, now among the lowest in the nation.

• Trim the power of the Legislature to adopt unfunded mandates that force local governments to pay for state programs.

• Protect rights proposed by previous constitutional conventions and ratified by the voters such as the “Forever Wild” status of the Adirondack and Catskill Preserves; the aid-to-the-needy clause and the labor bill of rights. A future convention could propose an equal rights amendment, reproductive rights, rights to same-sex marriage, increased rights to privacy and rights to clean air and water.

• Slash outdated, obsolete and redundant provisions declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court from a 52,500-word document that critics say more resembles a poorly drafted municipal ordinance than a governmental foundation.

The state bar association has listed the following goals in conjunction with its support of a constitutional convention:

• Reduce the number of the state trial courts from 11.

• Eliminate constitutional barriers to reforms such as election-day registration and “no-excuse” absentee voting to boost voter participation, now among the lowest in the nation.

• Trim the power of the Legislature to adopt unfunded mandates that force local governments to pay for state programs.

• Protect rights proposed by previous constitutional conventions and ratified by the voters such as the “Forever Wild” status of the Adirondack and Catskill Preserves; the aid-to-the-needy clause and the labor bill of rights. A future convention could propose an equal rights amendment, reproductive rights, rights to same-sex marriage, increased rights to privacy and rights to clean air and water.

• Slash outdated, obsolete and redundant provisions declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court from a 52,500-word document that critics say more resembles a poorly drafted municipal ordinance than a governmental foundation.