Illinois term-limit petition halfway to 300K signature goal

Illinois is one of only 11 states without term limits, but a constitutional referendum proposal to bring the proposed reform to Illinois met a significant milestone. From the Chicago Sun-Times: “Bruce Rauner’s Committee for Legislative Reform and Term Limits has already reached 150,000 petition signatures — the halfway mark to getting onto the Nov. 2014...

Illinois is one of only 11 states without term limits, but a constitutional referendum proposal to bring the proposed reform to Illinois met a significant milestone.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

“Bruce Rauner’s Committee for Legislative Reform and Term Limits has already reached 150,000 petition signatures — the halfway mark to getting onto the Nov. 2014 ballot, the committee announced today.”

“It’s a sign that there’s public support for the initiative that’s aimed at taking out ‘career politicians’ in Springfield.”

The measure will need more than 300,000 signatures to be eligible to appear on the November 2014 general election ballot.

Polling shows citizens of Illinois overwhelmingly support term-limits reform, according to a 2012 Paul Simon Public Policy Institute poll, 79 percent of those asked were in favor of the move. But so far, the Illinois General Assembly has mostly ignored the overwhelming bipartisan support on the issue.

If the measure is successful in appearing on the ballot, history shows it has a good chance of passing. Statewide term-limit referendums are overwhelmingly successful in the United States, and have passed 20 out of 22 times since 1990.

The law would help limit the power of long-term legislative leaders. Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is the longest-serving, and arguably the most powerful, state legislative leader in the country.

This term-limits referendum would limit Madigan’s time in the General Assembly to an additional eight years.

The Committee for Legislative Reform and Term Limits is heading up the effort to place the issue on the ballot.