New CIR proposal appears in Massachusetts, while Washington CIR bill stalls in committee;
Massachusetts state rep. Jonathan Hecht has introduced a measure in his state to establish the CIR. One new wrinkle in this proposal is that a seven-person commission oversees the process, with special backgrounds required for some of the members:
The governor shall appoint a dean or professor of law or political science or government at an institution of higher education. The attorney general shall appoint a retired justice. The secretary of the commonwealth shall appoint an expert in the methods of deliberative democracy. The speaker of the house of representatives, the minority leader of the house of representatives, the senate president, and the senate minority leader shall each appoint 1 member.
In other news, a bill to establish the CIR in the State of Washington appears to have stalled in committee. “Returned to Rules Committee for second reading” may not sound like a final status for a bill, but it likely is for the current session. There may yet be a CIR pilot held in that state, and we will post more when we know the details.