Does anyone think the call for the Constitutional Convention will pass in November?

[terrya]

I'm voting no. God knows what can of worms will be opened up if this passes.

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. I don't think so....

but state law requires a referendum on it every 20 years. It's a pro forma thing.

[mopinko]

2. i don't want it. but

i know a lot of people are just really frustrated with our local governments. i think some of the frustration with the cook county board, and some of the fossils in the city council might slop over. don't know what things are like in the rest of the state.
people might just be in a "change everything" mood.
hope not.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. I Doubt It, Terry

The same people pushing this nonsense are the folks who brought Alan Keyes to Illinois. How'd that work out for them?
The Professor

[Peregrine Took]

4. I sure as hell hope not. Today's "pols" are so much more venal than even

those from years ago - I just don't trust them to do anything that isn't totally self serving.

[Doug 1973]

6. This exactly why you should vote YES

1. It's not the current Pols who will write the Constitution.

2. If the delegates come up with something really self-serving, then we get to vote No later on. It's a multi-step process.

[Doug 1973]

5. Whoa whoa, I'm a long-time lurker but this got me to sign up

You guys are against the Constitutional Convention?

I'm really surprised that anyone here would be against it taking place. If anything it would create a large debate on some of Illinois' biggest problems and get people talking about the issues that face our state in a larger context.

Just for a second think of the different things new constitution could address:

Term limits for leadership positions in the General Assembly and executive officers:

While I don't favor term limits for legislators across the board (see California's GA for an example of the negative effects that come from losing long-time legislators), I do favor them for positions like Senate Majority Leader and House Majority leader. Michael Madigan has been the Speaker of the Illinois House since 1982 (except for two years where he was Minority Leader in 95-96). Senator Emil Jones has been the Senate Minority Leader or Senate President since 1993. These guys don't get along and for the past 15 years, Illinois law has been primarily influenced based on whether or not these guys wanted to play ball with each other. Hell, if you wanted to have a career in the House, it's all been based on whether or not you wanted to play ball with Michael Madigan. That kind of official power has to stop.

Rod Blagojevich is talking about running for another term, we could use term limits for executive officers too. Does anyone think it's good to have the same people running a government agency for more than 8 years when policy and technology are constantly changing? Imagine a scenario in 2010 where Blagojevich runs in a 4-way primary and gets 30% of the vote but still gets the Democratic nod because the other three candidates split up the remaining 70% among themselves. A Constitutional Convention could also bring run-offs to elections.

Campaign Finance Reform:

Right now there are no giving limits in Illinois. None. If you want to bankroll someone else’s statewide candidacy, there is nothing stopping you. Limits similar to the Federal System could and should be brought to Illinois

Ending Sophiscated Gerrymandering:

We could model our legislative districts on Iowa's computer system which creates districts based on population while keeping Supreme Court rules on districts (creating minority districts, etc.) in tact. You won’t have a situation where 90% of districts are safe by design and legislators trade favors in order to secure what becomes a permanent seat for life.

End of Home Rule/Regulation of Home Rule

The Cook County Board is able to change their tax rate because of Article VII, Section 6 of the Constitution: http://www.ilga.gov/commission/lrb/con7.htm

“SECTION 6. POWERS OF HOME RULE UNITS
(a) A County which has a chief executive officer elected
by the electors of the county and any municipality which has
a population of more than 25,000 are home rule units. Other
municipalities may elect by referendum to become home rule
units. Except as limited by this Section, a home rule unit
may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to
its government and affairs including, but not limited to, the
power to regulate for the protection of the public health,
safety, morals and welfare; to license; to tax; and to incur
debt.”

A constitutional convention can take that power away and put Cook County back in line with the rest of the state.

I could go on and on, but this is already long.

To the people who are worried about opening a can of worms, this is a decent point, we could end up with something worse. However, given the current state of Illinois government, do you think that is possible?

Second and most important of all, if a constitution convention is voted YES, we then get to vote for the delegates AND

WE GET TO VOTE ON WHAT THEY CREATED. If they come up with a terrible constitution, we can vote no. Again, if anything the constitution convention will put a spotlight on some of the glaring holes in Illinois’ current constitution and even if we vote no on an entirely new constitution, I believe new issues will be brought up and introduced as popular amendments once they have received more attention. Please at least consider voting YES for this very important item.

I have yet to hear a convincing argument as to why we should vote NO, but I would like the people above to expand a little more on why they are voting no.