McHenry Times

“In a state where we’ve had routine corruption,” it is vital that voters should be able to feel empowered and have the ability to make substantial revisions to their constitutions, State Sen. Dan McConchie said in his recent General Assembly speech.

McConchie, along with other Republicans in the House and Senate, is proposing resolutions to empower Illinoisans.

The series of constitutional amendments, SJRCA1, HJRCA5, SJRCA2, and HJRCA7, will move  power that is currently concentrated into the hands of a few, McConchie said.

“The voters can take matters in their own hands and exercise control over the state constitution,” and end their “limited ability to go out, collect petition signatures, and put an amendment on the ballot to amend the state constitution,” he explained.

Citizens will be empowered to take part in weighing in on issues such as pension benefits, taxation, or redistricting, among others, he said.

“Half of the states in the country have the ability of the people when the legislature passes a law that the people don’t like, they would be able to go to referendum and repeal that law,” McConchie added.

He pointed out that people are leaving the state in droves and it is important to put power back into the hands of voters so at the end of the day “all of us work for them instead of the voters feeling like they work for the legislators.”