This post was written by Priscilla Grim of Citizens Union as part of our PowHer the Vote 2017 campaign.

All New Yorkers should commit to voting “Yes” this November to start the process of a State Constitutional Convention and halt the New York State legislature from wasting billions of tax dollars in unaccountable spending. New Yorkers secured rights and protections from every previous convention, and with the possibilities of transparency in the entire process, we have everything to gain in this effort.

The state Constitution guarantees the right to a free public education, to join a union, to protect our health, to care for the needy, to secure jobs, and to protect state lands and forests. These rights—and much more—could be strengthened with a constitutional convention.

Those who want to squash this process, do not trust in the savviness of New Yorkers, who together, can build an actual convention of the people. Last year, Citizens Union reported that nearly 13 billion dollars in the state budget were neither accounted for nor available for review by the public. If there were ever a better time to hold a state constitutional convention, it is now. In the modern world, in which research is a mouse click away, apps move us closer to our destinations, and communication with loved ones residing in another hemisphere happens in an instant without cost, surely we can find our way to a modern constitutional convention process. We demand innovation in our workplaces, in our homes, in our free time, and in our travel. It is time to innovate government. With the tool provided to innovate, the constitutional convention.

We want to know if you will vote “Yes” or “No” for a New York State Constitutional Convention. Vote in our poll here!

This year alone the New York State Senate has rejected 19 pieces of proposed legislation. If the current legislature were up to the task of moving forward with necessary, good government initiatives, we would not have to vote yes, calling for a meeting. If the current legislature were up to the task of expanding voting access to all who live in New York, we would not have to call for a meeting. If the current legislature were up to the task of providing information to the public about the 13 billion dollars, spent in the shadows of New York State government, we would not have to call for a meeting.

In this meeting, we could have a room that includes the brightest and most generous minds of our present moment in New York State. A moment in which many people are looking for a concrete way forward. One of the best ways to move forward is with a convention representative of the people in our state. A state with the highest percentage of professional women, a state-ranked top in the world for bringing together technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, a state in which, for those who live here, not necessarily those who govern, our health is a public priority, and public transportation is paramount.

We are also the most politically corrupt state in the United States. 13 billion dollars unaccounted for, represents a failure to adequately serve the people of New York, which is why it is time to hold a meeting. Nearly every elected official is against the New York State Constitutional Convention, the ones not against the convention are not talking about it.

I urge all to Vote Yes on the Nov. 7 ballot referendum to hold a New York State constitutional convention.