“It is conceivable that a legislator who is not running for
re-election and who is under the inauspicious and officious influence of the
Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago and other legislators will
write and propose an amendment to the Illinois constitution before exiting the
General Assembly, thereby challenging the 'Pension Clause' once again and;
thus, we must prepare for a constitutional revision" (We Must Prepare for a Constitutional Revision).
In Illinois, two procedures can be used to make amendments to
the Illinois Constitution, both of which will eventually face the approval or
disapproval of the voting public. In truth, we might argue that either a
Constitutional Convention might bring such a possibility or that a court's
interpretation might be the same as an amendment, but a truly new request for a
proposed amendment is more likely to come to all of us in Illinois by one of
two processes.
One is an Initiative Amendment Process: This occurs when
an amendment is placed upon a ballot based upon the request (or initiative) of
the citizens of Illinois. In order to proceed, a set number of voters must sign
a petition to request an amendment. “This initiative method was included to
give the voter the possibility of changing the constitution even if the
legislature was unwilling to do so” (Understanding the Illinois Constitution ) In order to declare such an initiative, a percentage of voters equaling at
least 8% in the previous gubernatorial election must be identified on the
petition...
NOT
VERY LIKELY.
WHAT
WOULD BE MORE LIKELY?
Another
is a Legislative Amendment Process: An
individual in the House or Senate of the General Assembly creates and proposes
an amendment, often at the sanction of leadership. In this case, the proposed
amendment must seek the approval and vote of both houses of the General
Assembly by a three-fifths endorsement. No more than three articles of the
constitution may be amended in any election; in the case of the public
pensions, the single target would probably be Article XIII, Section 5: “Membership
in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government
or school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be an
enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be
diminished or impaired.”
WHAT
HAPPENS THEN?
In
short, a positively accepted and proposed amendment from either the public or a
member of the legislature will be an opportunity for the citizenry of Illinois
to make an alteration in the existing framework of the Constitution of the
State of Illinois.
Please include repeats of your past posts from Pension Vocabulary as you blog. The tie-ins and linking are important - even the earlier date of when you considered and voiced issues is important.
ReplyDeleteKen Previti