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* Wirepoints…
Polls have long showed that few things in Illinois have more bipartisan support than term limits, with 80% of voters in support. Springfield, however, will have none of it. “A lot of hay was made,” as Politico said this week, about the Illinois House passing term limits earlier this year, though the bill was only for the speaker, Senate President and minority leaders of both chambers.
But Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Lawn) has shelved even that watered-down bill in that chamber, so nothing will happen. Harmon’s excuse? He said the legislation isn’t necessary given that the Senate in 2017 passed 10-year term limits for Senate leadership posts, according to Politico. He also questioned whether the bill would be constitutional.
That’s bunk. That change was just a rule change, not statutory, so the politicians themselves can change the rule at will. And a constitutional challenge in court just wouldn’t be a workable solution for a candidate for those positions. Harmon learned the ropes as former Senate President John Cullerton’s sidekick. He learned well.
“The politicians themselves” can change state statutes, too.
But, yeah, there are huge differences between a rule change and a statute change. Rules are voted on by each chamber every two years. Individual rules can be changed or even omitted when that happens (which is how the House Republicans under their previous Leader quietly dumped their own term limit language from their caucus rules). Statutory change requires both chambers being on board as well as the governor. It’s much more difficult to change a statute than it is to change a rule.
But this is particularly ironic since the Senate Democrats made such a big deal about their new rule. And the SDems under John Cullerton got into a massive fight with Speaker Madigan and organized labor over 2018 campaign TV ads that pushed leadership term limits. Madigan’s state party also refused to process mailers for the SDems which mentioned the topic.
And these are the same Senate Democrats who pushed for a clearly unconstitutional budget provision to zero-out funding for midterm legislator pay raises. So, yeah, spare me the constitutional argument, please.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jul 16, 21 @ 10:54 am
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I did not realize President Harmon moved to Oak Lawn.
Comment by Annon3 Friday, Jul 16, 21 @ 11:08 am
Hey, 80% of the voters want to ban gerrymandering - didn’t stop the governor from blatantly lying about it. Harmon’s gamesmanship pales in comparison.
Comment by lake county democrat Friday, Jul 16, 21 @ 11:25 am
Once elected, most politicians are not eager to limit their terms and power? Go figure.
Comment by Responsa Friday, Jul 16, 21 @ 11:52 am
Separation of Powers? Constitution? If a rules change doesn’t cut it, statute also will fail.
Comment by Socially DIstant Watcher Friday, Jul 16, 21 @ 12:09 pm