|
Op-Ed: Illinois on automatic keeps
government running into the ditch
By Brad Weisenstein | Illinois Policy Institute
It’s being portrayed innocuously as a “Workers’ Rights Amendment,”
when in reality it is a way to keep the corrupt Mike Madigan-era
government union preferences in place without state lawmakers getting
their hands dirty. |
|
 Automatic was a nice improvement on car transmissions, on bank cash machines and
on cat litter boxes, but it’s not so great when government tries to automate.
Illinois state government likes making laws with automatic features. They
require no additional responsibility or thought. But they come at a high cost.
For example, the state gasoline tax: Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state lawmakers
doubled it and then built in automatic increases scheduled for every July 1,
which means state lawmakers never again must vote for the unpopular tax hikes.
Pritzker may have earned extra bonus points for the campaign trail when he
delayed this year’s tax for six months, but that means two increases in 2023
when the tax is expected to hit 45.2 cents per gallon when it was 19 cents pre-Pritzker.
Illinois on automatic example No. 2: Pritzker’s emergency declarations, which
he’s imposed 32 times. He’s cried “pandemic” for nearly 2.5 years to circumvent
the messy legislative process, and instead used disaster declarations intended
to last 30 days to impose 116 executive mandates. At some point the emergency
becomes “situation normal” and state lawmakers should resume manual control to
debate and vote on those 116 orders.
But the biggest potential for automatic governance is headed for voters Nov. 8
in the form of Amendment 1. It’s being portrayed innocuously as a “Workers’
Rights Amendment,” when in reality it is a way to keep the corrupt Mike
Madigan-era government union preferences in place without state lawmakers
getting their hands dirty.
Amendment 1 does a lot more than stop Illinois from becoming a right-to-work
state. It uses the same constitutional tactic that has stopped Illinois from
fixing its nation-leading $313 billion pension debt by declaring state lawmakers
can pass no law that “interferes with, negates, or diminishes” government union
powers. Hands off, at the same time government unions’ negotiation topics are
vastly broadened past wages and benefits.
Once negotiations are automatic and elected leaders’ roles are restricted by the
state constitution, expect the demands to get more militant. The Chicago
Teachers Union has been in the lead of activism, trying to impose a political
and social agenda through its contracts that included housing issues,
“restorative justice,” wealth redistribution and even defunding the police.
[to top of second column] |
Once all those emboldened demands are put into contracts negotiated by
constrained state bureaucrats, guess what happens next: someone has to pay for
them. The impact on each family’s property taxes was estimated at a minimum of
$2,149, according to an Illinois Policy Institute analysis. In reality, the tax
impact could be much greater.
No other state gives government unions this kind of protection in its
constitution, and if Amendment 1 were to pass, Illinois lawmakers could never
stop teachers unions from using children’s education as leverage to satisfy
their demands. None of Illinois’ neighboring states allows teachers to strike,
and Amendment 1 would permanently keep Illinois from joining them.
Illinois gives no other special interest this kind of constitutionally-mandated
power and protection. And while “Workers’ Rights Amendment” proponents claim the
issue will boost private-sector wages and embolden nurses to speak up for sick
children, those are just lies. Federal law stops the state from regulating
unionization of private employees, meaning this protection is for just 7% of
Illinoisans with state and local government jobs.
Indicted former Illinois House Speaker Madigan built his decades of control by
rewarding government unions with generous taxpayer-funded contracts and
pensions. He also was part of getting the Illinois Constitution to halt their
pensions from being changed, even for future, unearned benefits. In exchange, he
got $10 million in campaign funds that let him for 36 years rule the state
legislature and then the state Democratic Party by controlling members’
political fortunes. With Madigan gone, those government unions need a new way to
keep Illinois government and their contracts in their favor.
They want Amendment 1 to give them control that no one even thinks about. Voters
on Nov. 8 need to assess what automatic governance has already done to their tax
bills and the state’s ability to serve them.
Brad Weisenstein is managing editor of the Illinois Policy
Institute.
|
