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 Government unions have a great deal of power in Illinois,
wielding their influence to gain workplace advantages far greater than those
given to public employees in neighboring states. Their influence over lawmakers
has put them in a position to elevate collective bargaining agreements above
state law itself.
While some predict union power is showing signs of waning, union power was very
recently key in defeating legislation with significant bipartisan support that
would have helped fix Illinois. Three reforms in the recent legislative session
were smothered by government unions to protect their interests over the good of
ordinary Illinoisans.
Classrooms First Act
Aside from public pension spending, bureaucracy is one of the biggest factors
soaking up funding for Illinois schools.
Illinois spends more per student on K-12 education than the national average,
and more than its neighbors, without seeing uniformly better educational
outcomes. Not all that money goes to classrooms. In fact, Illinois is the only
state that spent more than $1 billion on district-level administrative costs in
2018.
 The comparatively high number of school districts means Illinois’ districts
serve fewer students than those of other populous states such as New York,
California, Texas or Florida. This has diverted money from classrooms and
teachers, resulting in wasted spending on redundant district-level school
administration.
Were Illinois to reduce the district-to-student ratio and corresponding
administrative spending to the national average, the state could free up over
$700 million in annual district administrative costs. Allowing voters to
consolidate school districts would let that money be re-invested in the
classroom.
The Classrooms First Act would have facilitated that by empowering voters to
decide for themselves if their school districts should be consolidated. Pairings
would be based on recommendations from a commission made up of parents,
teachers, other stakeholders and members appointed by the governor, the speaker
of the House, the Senate president, and the House and Senate minority leaders.
This bill was opposed by more than 110 school district administrators making
six-figure salaries. The Illinois Education Association and the Illinois
Federation of Teachers mobilized against this bill, even though it could have
diverted money from school district-level administration to classrooms and
salaries of the teachers those unions represent.
In the 101st General Assembly, the Classrooms First Act received unanimous
support in a March 2019 vote in the Illinois House of Representatives before
stalling in the Senate. In the spring session of the 102nd General Assembly, the
bill gained bipartisan support with 17 co-sponsors in the House and over 3,500
taxpayers registering support.=
Even so, the bill failed in a 42-55 vote in April. The Classrooms First Act
could not survive the combined opposition of Illinois teachers unions and school
administrators, and so the opportunity to provide teachers more resources
without further burdening taxpayers was lost.
Nurse Licensure Compact
Illinois was facing a shortage of nurses even before the pandemic, but COVID-19
put additional stress on a labor force already stretched thin. Gov. J.B.
Pritzker issued executive orders easing some of the burdens to getting more
medical personnel where they were needed, but the General Assembly needed to do
more to address a long-term nursing shortage.
 The Nurse Licensure Compact would have gone a long way toward that end. With
bipartisan support in both the Illinois House and Senate, the bill would have
opened the door to all nurses holding multi-state licenses from the 34-state
compact. It would have increased the talent pool and allowed nurses from out of
state to live and work in Illinois without going through additional licensing.
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Also, Illinois nurses would have seen their career
horizons broadened. They would have been able to easily take jobs in
those other 34 states and help in areas hardest hit by the pandemic.
Both Senate and House versions of the bill garnered
bipartisan support with 19 sponsors in the Senate and 15 in the
House. The Senate version passed unanimously out of the Senate
Licensed Activities Committee, yet the bill never received another
vote.
The Illinois AFL-CIO, the Illinois Nurses Association, and the
Chicago Federation of Labor were some of the organizations that
filed public notices of opposition to this bill. Meanwhile, AARP
Illinois, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, the Health Care
Council of Illinois, the Illinois HomeCare & Hospice Council, and
dozens of other organizations, institutions and individuals all
registered their support for the bill.
Despite its strong start, unions pulled the plug on this bill.
Police reform
In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and the groundswell
of support for policing reform, the Illinois General Assembly passed
sweeping changes to criminal justice laws in Illinois that received
both praise and criticism. But a significant provision was removed:
a limit on the subjects of collective bargaining for peace officers.
This would have cut the ability to bargain over discipline and
discharge of peace officers and ensured collective bargaining
agreements could not overpower state law on these matters.
Under the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, any government
employee collective bargaining agreement takes precedence over state
law. That means if police unions negotiate favorable provisions
regarding discipline, misconduct complaints or any other aspect of
their jobs, police reforms passed by state lawmakers can be
negotiated away by union bosses.
Provisions in the original bill could have prevented this. Similar
provisions to correct the oversight were introduced as standalone
bills. None made it into the final bill the governor signed.
Who opposed the fixes says a lot.
Along with the expected opposition from the Fraternal Order of
Police, the bill that would make sure police collective bargaining
agreements could not trump state law saw opposition from the
Illinois AFL-CIO, which is affiliated with the International Union
of Police Associations. And the bill that would limit the subjects
police officers could bargain collectively over was additionally
opposed by AFSCME Council 31, the Illinois Federation of Public
Employees
Local 4408, which is an affiliate of the Illinois Federation of
Teachers, and the Teamsters Joint Council 25.
On June 15 the General Assembly sent a trailer bill to the governor
to address certain issues in the police reform bill passed last
session, but nothing addressed the issue of union contracts taking
precedence over Illinois law. Until that changes, the ability of
Illinois to make police reforms will remain in doubt thanks largely
to opposition from Illinois government unions.
Unless Illinois politicians stand up to the power of government
unions and stand up for Illinois residents, the state will continue
to see resources flow out of the classroom to school district
administrators. It will continue to see barriers to more nurses
practicing in Illinois health care facilities. And it will continue
to see reforms addressing police misconduct drown in the ink of
union contracts.
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