Thursday marks the 24th anniversary of the decision by the Illinois Constitutional Convention to allow citizens a limited right to petition and vote to make changes in the General Assembly.
And it is the day the state Supreme Court will begin reviewing a lawsuit to determine just how far that right extends.
After months of petition passing and signature gathering, justices will hear arguments on whether a proposed constitutional amendment to limit legislators to eight years in office fits into the narrow window for citizen initiatives that the authors of the Illinois Constitution created in 1970.
State Treasurer Patrick Quinn has used the term-limit drive as the centerpiece for his Democratic candidacy for secretary of state, including spending $10,000 this week on advertisements trying to raise public awareness of the issue.
Quinn spearheaded the petition drive that led to the Cutback Amendment, which in 1982 reduced the size of the Illinois House by a third, eliminated cumulative voting and instituted single-member legislative districts.
Although the State Board of Elections has determined that Quinn’s petitions contain enough valid signatures to put the term-limit issue before voters in November, the proposal is being challenged by the Chicago Bar Association, which believes the term-limit issue goes beyond what the constitution allows.
