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LAWMAKERS
SEEK TO PLACE NATION’S FIRST JOB-KILLING AMENDMENT IN ILLINOIS
CONSTITUTION
Illinois Policy Institute/
Mailee Smith
A
proposal in the Illinois General Assembly would prohibit right-to-work
laws in Illinois, making Illinois the only state in the nation to ban
the policy in a state constitution. |
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 Illinois’ economic growth already lags the rest of the nation,
so common sense would tell state lawmakers to avoid policies that make it worse.
Yet a proposed constitutional amendment would take Illinois a step backward. If
enacted and passed by ballot measure, House Joint Resolution Constitutional
Amendment 37 would incorporate a ban on right-to-work laws directly in the
state’s constitution.
Instead of focusing on fixing Illinois’ economic woes, politicians are kowtowing
to labor interest groups, abusing the purpose of the state constitution,
cluttering it with policy preferences and placing Illinois at odds with the more
pro-growth policies of the majority of states.
In areas with a right-to-work law, workers in the private sector have the right
to form unions, but nonmembers cannot be required to pay fees to a union in
order to keep their jobs. Right to work already exists for workers in the public
sector following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME.
From a legal perspective, the state constitution is the wrong place to wage a
battle over economic policy.
Constitutions exist to establish the structure of government and, importantly,
to protect people from the government – not to force one particular interest
group’s policy preferences on the people. If lawmakers move forward with this
legislation, Illinois could become the only state in the nation banning
right-to-work laws in its state constitution.
 Such a policy provision – and particularly one that enshrines sharply contested
ideas – does not belong in the state constitution. It undermines the purpose of
the state constitution by cluttering it with policy preferences, while also
tying the hands of future lawmakers should subsequent events make them want to
reconsider the policy.
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The proposal is a bald-faced power play by a
politically connected and powerful union. The proposal may drive
union turnout in the November 2020 election, which could then affect
the outcome of the progressive tax amendment that would be on the
same ballot.
An amendment to ban right-to-work directly in the
Illinois Constitution would also severely weaken the state’s
already-shaky labor market.
Illinois jobs grew at only half the rate as the rest of the nation
last year, and more people have been leaving the state than coming
in for six years straight. If Illinois has any chance of boosting
its jobs market, it’s not through doubling down on laws that can
crush competition.
Currently 27 states – and nearly all of Illinois’ neighbors – are
right-to-work states. If Illinois is going to compete with its
Midwestern neighbors, banning right-to-work in the state
constitution is not the way to go.
That Illinois’ legal landscape repels business isn’t merely
theoretical. Rockford-area residents learned this the hard way in
2017, when Toyota bypassed the state as the site for a new $1.6
billion facility. One of the main reasons Rockford lost out: the
state’s failure to adopt a right-to-work law, as reported by Crain’s
at the time.
How many businesses must Illinois lose before its politicians get
the message?
A constitutional amendment would mean the General Assembly could
never allow right-to-work for private sector employees without first
amending the state constitution again.
There’s a reason no other states have banned right-to-work directly
in their state constitutions. It’s a drastic, politically motivated
move with even more severe implications for jobs in Illinois.
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