Peoria Area Chamber Positions on Ballot Issues
November 2008
Constitutional Convention
Every 20 years, the current Illinois Constitution requires there be a ballot item asking the citizen’s of Illinois if they want to convene a Constitutional Convention (ConCon) and 2008 is the year for that question to appear. After careful analysis the Peoria Area Chamber is opposed to convening a ConCon at this time. There are several reasons for this position.
First, the gridlock in Springfield is not caused by structural problems in the Constitution so ConCon will do little if anything to improve the current situation. It is also relevant that convening ConCon could be an excuse or distraction for members of the General Assembly to not deal with many of the very important issues before them that need to be addressed.
Additionally, special interests, current political dysfunction in Springfield, and party politics may gain control of the delegate election/selection process as well as deliberations. That could cause the results of a convention to be unrepresentative of voters’ concerns. (The Illinois General Assembly decides the parameters for the delegate election process, budget, staff, location, dates, etc. for a convention if the voters pass the constitutional convention issue in November.)
There is in place a methodology to amend the current constitution and it has been used 17 times since the adoption of the current constitution in 1970. 10 of those times changes were made and this includes on amendment that was a citizen’s initiative.
Finally, a ConCon would cost upwards of $78 million by some estimates. Given the current budget problems of Illinois this is not the highest and best use of those funds.
For these reasons and others the Peoria Area Chamber opposes the convening of a Constitutional Convention and is asking voters to vote “no” on this issue.
October 7, 2008