Demand action from lawmakers on term limits amendment

Illinois has unprecedented challenges.

We have overdue bills and a severely underfunded pension system that is crippling our ability to invest in education, infrastructure and social services.

We have the highest property tax burden and second highest unemployment rate in the nation.

We're bleeding residents.

Our great state has been driven to the brink of ruin after decades of mismanagement, corruption and insider deals made by career politicians.

For too long, career politicians have been more concerned with being re-elected and maintaining power than doing what's right for the people of Illinois.

The system is broken, and we need to fix it.

As a first step, we need term limits on our elected officials to bring the focus of governing back to the needs of the people, rather than the politicians.

Once politicians are elected to office, it becomes difficult to remove them, even if voters are unhappy with their performance. The system has evolved to include unfair advantages, from favorably redrawn districts to name recognition to rules that make it harder and harder for challengers to take on those in power.

This year, 88 percent of Illinois legislative candidates faced no opposition in the primary, and two‐thirds will face no opposing candidate in the general election this November.

That's not because our people are thrilled with their elected officials. This dysfunctional cycle in which the same people are re-elected over and over again, bolstering their power while ignoring the best interests of their constituents, has distorted the very concept of public service.

The good news is: There is broad support to adopt term limits.

Even in these contentious times, Illinois citizens of both parties support implementing term limits. According to a 2016 poll by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, 78 percent of respondents favored term limits for state legislators. Seventy-one percent of Democrats, 89 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of Independents support term limits.

In our current divisive political environment, the strong consensus on this issue is tremendously encouraging. It's clear the implementation of term limits is a sensible solution and an area of common ground among the people of Illinois.

Over the last several years, a number of term limits bills were introduced in Springfield, but they went nowhere. In an attempt to bypass the obstructive elements of the General Assembly, I circulated a ballot initiative. Over half a million Illinoisans signed that petition, providing more than enough signatures to put the matter before voters.

However, in a stunning rebuke to the will of the people, the term limits ballot initiative was thwarted by the courts, which are friendly to many of the long- standing members of the General Assembly. As a result, the question never appeared on the ballot. The entrenched political powers prevailed again, and ordinary citizens were denied a voice on the issue.

This same phenomenon was on display just last week when, despite hundreds of thousands of voter signatures, the courts disallowed a ballot initiative on the Independent Maps Amendment, which would make our legislative district mapping fairer and less political.

Career politicians have fought any and all term limits proposals, using their power and connections to ensure your voice isn't heard. It's time to change this. The people of Illinois are united on this issue, and they have my support.

I was a strong advocate of term limits while on the campaign trail, and my support for term limits has never been stronger. Enacting 10-year term limits on state legislators and eight-year term limits on governors -- starting with me -- is an important part of my plan to fix Illinois.

Instituting term limits will ensure there is a fresh crop of citizen legislators, not career politicians, in Springfield -- legislators with innovative, new ideas who are driven by the best interests of their constituents, not the desire to stay in office for 20, 30 or even 40 years.

Even the most entrenched and powerful members of Springfield's old guard will be forced to act if the citizens rise up and demand action on this critical issue. We must get the legislature to adopt term limits or put a term limits proposal on the ballot so voters can have the final say.

Bruce Rauner is Republican governor of Illinois.