Access to democracy in the 2021 session

There’s an old story about Elizabeth Willing Powel, the wife of the Philadelphia mayor, asking Benjamin Franklin, as he left the Constitutional Convention, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” To which Ben Franklin supposedly answered: “A republic, if you can keep it.”

This legislative session, which started on Jan. 11, will require you as a citizen to work harder than ever to keep our representative democracy…well…representative.

Access to democracy is a major topic at the start of this year’s gathering of lawmakers.

Earlier this month, the majority party formally adopted rul...