In Gov’s Race, Christmas Goose not always Good for the Gander
December 22nd, 2009 by washington
By Brooke Anderson
Contributing Correspondent
Photo credit: Cindy Barrymore
Several candidates may pledge support for term limits, but Illinois’ current governor is among those leading by example. Gov. Pat Quinn is one of three gubernatorial candidates pledging to seek no more than two full terms in office, The Washington Report confirmed Sunday.
DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom and businessman Adam Andrzejewski have also agreed to the pledge.
“If you advocate for term limits and think they’re good for certain offices, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be good for all offices,” Schillerstrom said last week in a phone interview.
Quinn made the same promise Sunday evening through his spokesperson, while Andrzejewski took the two-term pledge at a press conference on Oct. 29, according to his campaign.
A recent Chicago Tribune questionnaire indicated that all but one of the nine gubernatorial candidates support term limits for some politicians, ranging from legislative leaders to state legislators.
When asked whether they would commit to a two-term pledge, every gubernatorial aspirant, except for Quinn, Schillerstrom and Andrzejewski, either declined to take the pledge or did not respond to the question.
A review of Illinois’ gubernatorial history shows that only one–James R. Thompson– has spent more than eight years in office.
While term limits may seem to be another election battle cry destined to fall by the wayside, political science professor Dick Simpson notes that limits have multiplied the power of public officials.
“It’s an important question because if (Illinois House Speaker) Mike Madigan hadn’t been there for so many terms, he wouldn’t have such iron control over the Legislature,” Simpson said. “If Mayor Daley hadn’t been mayor for long, he wouldn’t have so much power over the City of Chicago, as opposed to say, someone like (Cook County Board President) Todd Stroger, who has only served one term.” With the exception of one five-year stint, Madigan has served as speaker since 1983; Daley has been mayor since 1989.
Yet the political difficulties of enacting term limits have historically kept implementation at arm’s length, said Simpson, a former Chicago alderman and professor at the University of Illinois since 1967. In Illinois, limits for the governor would have to be passed by both houses of the legislature and signed by the governor. Limits for state legislators could also be amended to the constitution by citizen initiative.
Such an initiative is now being pushed by constitutional author and reformer advocate John Bambenek. The Champagne-based activits He is proposing to enact the Putback Amendment which, among other reforms, would establish a limit of eight years for every legislator.
In 1994 the Coalition for Political Honesty, a reform group founded by Quinn, also led a citizen effort. A total of 437,088 petition signatures were collected from almost every county of Illinois calling for a statewide referendum on term limits, according to the governor’s campaign.
The push was stymied when the Chicago Bar Association sued to block the referendum from appearing on the November ballot statewide. The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in favor of the association. (Quinn authored an op-ed on the battle in the November 1994 Chronicles magazine).
In May, the Quinn-appointed Illinois Reform Commission supported Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 25, which would have limited legislative leaders to ten years. However, the proposal was not included in the final ethics reform package that Quinn signed into law on Dec. 9.
“In Illinois, it’s very constrained,” Simpson said. “But it’s conceivable… if you could build up enough political momentum where a candidate got elected based on it.”
Perhaps there is something to be said for leading by example.
Brooke Anderson is a Chicago-based freelance writer.
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CAMPAIGN RESPONSES
Rach campaign responded to two questions:
- What is the candidate’s current position on term limits in general / term limits for leadership?
- Would the candidate make a two-term pledge himself?
Several of the responses appear to also have been submitted to the Tribune questionnaire, as featured on Clout Street:
Businessman Adam Andzrejewski via his spokesperson Veronica Vera
“Yes, Adam supports term limits. Adam also supports the put-back amendment and has been one of its leading proponents. Adam made a 2-term pledge while endorsing the Putback Amendment at a joint press conference on October 29.”
Illinois State Sen. Bill Brady via spokesperson Jaime Elich:
“I support term limits that would return Illinois to the citizen legislature envisioned by the writers of our Constitution and diminish the ability of legislators to serve for decades in powerful legislative leadership positions. I would limit legislators to five terms in the House and three terms in the Senate. Legislators who are term-limited out of office could seek to return after being out of office for six years. Fifteen other states impose term limits on legislative service. Statewide officials would be limited to three terms in any one office.”
**Did not commit to a personal two-term pledge.
Illinois State Sen. Kirk Dillard via spokesperson Brook Hogueson:
“I have publicly supported the Collins commission and filed motions calling for votes on every single piece of the reform commission report. I support the recall of all public officials. I voted for the recall of the governor and support the ability of the people to recall any elected official. Voters have an opportunity to replace their elected officials at every election but we need to limit campaign contributions from legislative leaders so that challengers are not at a huge competitive disadvantage.”
**Did not commit to a personal two-term pledge.
Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes campaign via spokesperson Matt McGrath:
“Dan does not support term limits. He is a proponent of the democratic process that allows citizens to elect their representatives based on their merits and their record, and believes the people of Illinois, as well as the members of the General Assembly, should be given the freedom and autonomy to choose their representatives. As for any personal pledges, Dan said he’d be happy if he only served one term if it meant making hard choices and righting our ship but no, he is not taking a pledge.”
Former Illinois Republican Party chairman Andy McKenna via spokesperson Lance Trover:
“In general, I support term limits. For statewide constitutional officers, I could support a two-term limit, or eight years in office. More importantly, I support term limits for legislative leaders. Today, the legislative process in Springfield is tightly controlled by just four people; rank-and-file representatives and senators have little power to proactively effect legislation without the acquiescence of leaders. A system that encourages new ideas and new faces will produce more open government and more innovative thinking that isn’t tied to the failures of the past.”
** Did not commit to a personal two-term pledge.
Businessman Dan Proft
“I support legislative leader term limits but am generally opposed to term limits because they are an ineffective remedy for the disease that plagues state government. It is an attempted HR fix to a systemic problem. Different people making the same policy decisions will produce the same results. To paraphrase P.J. O’Rourke, as long as buying and selling in Illinois is controlled by legislation, the first thing to be bought and sold will be Illinois legislators.
The core problem is that we have a state government that is too big with too many goodies to hand out. If you want to curb influence-peddling, which is what term limits seek to do, you must reduce the influence that politicians in Springfield have to peddle. In other words, reduce the size, scope and expense of government. That would engender more meaningful and long-lasting reform of Illinois’ political culture.”
**Did not commit to a personal two-term pledge.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn via spokesperson Elizabeth Austin:
“Personally, I am a longtime supporter of reasonable term limits, such as an eight-year limit for legislative leaders in any particular office. However, I believe the term limit issue is best decided at the ballot box, by putting the issue to a referendum. Yes, I will take a pledge for two full terms.”
Former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan via spokesperson Dan Curry:
“I favor term limits for legislative leaders as spelled out in the Illinois Reform Commission report. I favor this because dictatorial legislative leaders are only accountable to those in their small districts even though their power extends throughout the state. I do not favor term limits for other elected officials because they are accountable to the people they represent on a regular basis.”
**Did not commit to a personal two-term pledge.
DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom:
“I support term limits for all members of the General Assembly and the governor. The Springfield culture really keeps change from making place. Things are so bad in state government that we have to have dramatic structural change. We have to do some things differently and one of the things we need to do is to impose term limits to get some fresh faces in there on a regular basis.
I’m willing to take a two-term pledge because I think that if you’re going to advocate for term limits for others, you should advocate for them for yourself. It’s clear that we need someone who’s willing to go down there and take on the establishment because the way things are going isn’t working. In these difficult times, I’m prepared to put politics aside to do the right thing for the state of Illinois because we are in such dire straits, even if it means I am a one term governor.”
