 A constitutional amendment to limit the number of terms legislative leaders can
serve moved one step closer to reality May 19.
Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 2, introduced by Senate
Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, would limit the speaker of the
House of Representatives, Senate president and minority leaders of both the
House and Senate to a total of five terms in those roles. Those limits would
only apply to service “on or after the second Wednesday in January 2019,”
though, meaning the current leaders would not be affected until that point.
SJRCA 2 is now two steps away from a vote in the Senate.
If SJRC 2 passes the Illinois General Assembly and the governor signs the bill,
the measure would be on the Nov. 18 ballot, and if voters approve SJRC 2 the
bill would take effect in January 2019.
If successful, this would be a significant change from past efforts to enact
term limits. Other term limit initiatives – often for all lawmakers instead of
just legislative leaders – have been met with stiff opposition from House
Speaker Mike Madigan in particular.
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State Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, filed a
constitutional amendment in 2015 to place term limits on Illinois
lawmakers, but the bill never left Madigan’s Rules Committee. The
Senate passed a resolution in January that puts limits on leadership
in its chamber, but it does nothing to affect Madigan’s rule or that
of any other House lawmaker. And Madigan just recently said in an
interview with WGN when asked about terms limits, “I support term
limits as administered by the voters.”
Nearly 4 out of 5 Illinois residents support term limits, according
to polling from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern
Illinois University Carbondale. According to data from the National
Conference of State Legislatures, Illinois is one of only 14 states
with no form of term limits for state lawmakers and the following
executive branch offices: governor, lieutenant governor, secretary
of state, attorney general, treasurer, auditor general and
comptroller.
Madigan is into the 17th term of his speakership, and has been in
the House since 1971. Senate President John Cullerton is in his
fifth term and was first elected to the General Assembly in 1978. As
evident by the state’s downward economic path the last several
decades, career politicians can become deaf to their constituents’
needs, and often care more about power than positive policy
outcomes.
Enacting term limits for legislative leaders would be a good start
to promoting more transparent and accountable state government.
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