By: Mark Glennon*
The most consequential vote on November’s Illinois ballot might well be Amendment 1 to the state constitution, also called the Workers’ Rights Amendment.
But casting an informed vote on the amendment will be a challenge, and perhaps impossible, for most of the public.
First, Illinois media have mostly ignored the topic so far. Maybe that’s because they haven’t decided what to make of it. The new constitutional right it would create is so vaguely written and such vastly different claims have been made about what it would do, even among its supporters.
Or maybe it’s because much of the press is unionized, tempting some reporters to just let passage of the amendment, which unions heavily support, slip through with no scrutiny.
Whatever the reason, almost nobody in the press has challenged its supporters to answer even the most fundamental questions about it.
Advertising and messaging about the amendment will be entirely one-sided. Organized efforts supporting the measure have raised $7.7 million so far while opponents have raised nothing at all, according to Ballotpedia.
Nor will the state’s official summary of the amendment and arguments for and against be of any use. What that summary will say was already prescribed by the General Assembly, and it is appallingly incomplete and misleading, for reasons we described earlier.
The amendment is often grossly oversimplified. It’s often described simply as a measure to ensure that Illinois could never become a right-to-work state, or as just a lock-in of current worker rights in Illinois. While that should be controversial enough, the amendment would go far beyond that.
We will continue to find and link to all significant news and opinion about the amendment, pro and con. We will also be putting up a special page on our website collecting those arguments.
We will not attempt to summarize those positions here because they are lengthy and we have already written about many issues the amendment raises. Suffice it to say that we have found little merit to the amendment but enormous problems with it, which is why we think voters better start thinking it through thoroughly. Passage of the amendment, we believe, would mean enormous expansion of public union power in Illinois to a level unprecedented in any other state. Our commentary on it so far is collected here.
The vote will truly be historic. The most genuine way Illinoisans could honor this Labor Day is to mark it as the beginning of their work to truly understand the full, long-term consequences of what the amendment would mean for the state.
*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.
Some of our earlier commentary on Amendment 1 is here:
- Wall Street Journal Calls Out The Whopping Lie Behind The Pending Constitutional Amendment Illinois Is Ignoring
- Illinois’ biggest fraud on its voters yet is coming in its official description of proposed constitutional amendment
- Are Workers’ Rights Amendment Supporters Lying In Their Ad, Did They Lie To Legislators Or Lie To The Court?
- Scope Of Pending Illinois Constitutional Amendment Goes Far Beyond Appearances. It’s A Monstrous Giveaway To Public Unions.
- Illinois lawmakers want to cement union powers into the state constitution
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Just want to wish everyone a safe and happy Labor Day weekend. It good to have the freedom to discuss day to day matters-an open forum of differing opinions and ideas. This is hard to come by with all the censoring on most platforms/websites. I try to simply look at the down votes as just disagree with some or all of a particular comment that I or others make. Thanks Mark/Ted/Matt and staff for bringing up many articles that would otherwise not be seen on other sites and sometimes more often than not lively discussions. Take Care and Stay Safe… Read more »
Freddy, I keep pounding the up-vote button on this but it only works once. I don’t know what good it does being moderator here if I can’t even rig it.
Mark, you realize you just outed yourself as a non-Democrat? I kind of suspected it, but admitting you don’t know how to rig. C’mon man!
We’re on to you, buddy.
If a contributing member of Illinois society cannot afford to flee, “quiet quitting” is an option. Political class, Pritzker-esque Ppf types– who if they weren’t so narcissistic would openly express their latent hatred for the chump taxpayers they exploit to bankroll fulfillment of their superficial desires–who are so indifferent to the destruction they leave in the wake of their pleasure cruises through the sea of Illinois humanity– —who feel as self-entitled to special treatment as toddlers oblivious to what it takes from adults around them to feed and clean them and praise their doodies— These Ppf’s of Illinois cannot be… Read more »
When they commit to study this amendment maybe they will realize that over 60% of Illinois Senate Republicans voted to put this on the ballot. Both Democrats and Republicans in that chamber believe this is right for Illinois.
Love the downvote on a pure factual statement. I guess it’s true that the truth hurts.
I’m just kidding. I totally understand. You’re under the belief that if you just vote for the “good” guys, then those evil public employees will finally suffer. That’s got to hurt.
PPF – the inside baseball political stuff is tedious. Good ideas have good outcomes; bad ones don’t. Will Amendment 1 improve the fortunes of the state? Irrespective of political party, (and I agree facts are facts), will these amendment make for an economically sustainable Illinois?
Except they didn’t pass a law. They passed a resolution letting the voters decide on whether of not they want this law. Big difference.
These resolutions and constitutional amendments are always a Catch-22 for the Republican Party that is supposed to be the party that lets the people decide.
nixit,
Are you trying to say that those Republicans in the Senate don’t actually support the amendment but actually just voted yes to be the party that “lets the people decide”? If that’s the case why didn’t the Republicans vote for the fair tax amendment and let the people decide? Your argument doesn’t hold up.
Stop trying to cover for them nixit. These Republicans support this union measure or at the very least they wanted it to look like they do.
Welcome back PPF- haven’t heard from you in a while. Now you’re all over Amendment 1. Hmmmm…
I’m not all over amendment 1. I actually don’t think it will pass nor do I necessarily believe it should be added to the constitution. I can support the ability of employees to negotiate for better pay and benefits without enshrining that belief in the constitution.
That said, I enjoy educating all the uninformed commenters that don’t understand that this ballot initiative was supported by over 60% of Senate Republicans. I’m just trying to help with the stated goal of the headline.
Regretted posting after I hit save- we all comment more on topics that interest us. Thanks for being gracious in your response.
That means nothing beyond whatever silly point you are trying to make. If you follow the politics at all, 90% of their votes are about optics and the rest actually accomplish something, though that something is usually pointless as well.
PPF, they have some explaining to do. That’s why we consider ourselves nonpartisan here. We couldn’t care less if the things we criticize were supported by Republicans.
Mark,
Agreed. My statement was directed at many of your commenters who defend these same Republicans and not you or WP.
Let’s indeed speak about facts. Have you wondered why 11 of 18 Senate Republicans voted in favor of the amendment? Is it because they’re a bipartisan bunch? Is it because they want the people to decide? Or is it something else? Every one of those 11 received contributions from a PAC called the Chicagoland Operators of Joint Labor Management, one of Michael Madigan’s largest campaign contributors. At least two have received nearly $300,000. Look ‘em up. And then ask where they’re based. In Countryside IL. Their address is the same as the Fight Back Fund, which is backing the amendment… Read more »
Couldn’t have explained it better. The republican leadership, aside from a few mavericks, have always fed, shoulder to shoulder, at the trough with democrats. Senate bills? Constituents? Seven hells to them. “Where’s mine”?
I’m not a huge Labor Day fan. Not because it’s the end of summer fun and frolic. It ushers in fall, my favorite season, with footballs filling the air and a return to hockey and basketball seasons not far behind. Maybe it’s because I’ve always been part of management, often in minuscule ways, but always some sort of title that implied management responsibilities. I recognize the contributions the Big Labor movement made in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. They gave us the six and then five-day work week. They gave us child labor laws. They fought, often literally, unjust… Read more »
The local press these days definitely has a heavy bias towards labor. Much like their political bias, they seem to wear it like a badge of honor. But the bigger issue is they simply do not understand the amendment and lack the analytical ability and curiosity to explore it on their own. And because of their bias, they tend to seek out “experts” that affirm their bias. What you end up getting is pro-amendment analysis from the labor groups that pretty much drafted the amendment and found a crony (Ram Villivalam) to rubber stamp it. That’s why Ram can’t answer… Read more »
Right. What we really need credible, unbiased legal experts to speak up and write on this. I am confident they would support what we have written.
Let’s make this simple. Here are the 2 options for Illinois voters.
A. Leave Illinois. (Proven repeatedly to be effective.)
B. Hope the next few elections fix the problems. (Current Vegas odds 100-1.)
If you remain in Illinois, you are betting the long shot. Do you feel lucky?