By: Mark Glennon*
Here’s a flat-out prediction: Home rule units of government in Illinois will begin enacting right-to-work locally, and it doesn’t matter what Springfield does or does not do.
Over 200 cities and towns in Illinois have home rule status. Never mind the other aspects of what that means, and never mind what you think about right-to-work on the merits. Some or many home rule cities and towns will embrace right-to-work and their prospects for legally prevailing are high. The attraction will be especially strong in depressed areas on the edge of Illinois because we are now surrounded by right-to-work states.
The Better Government Association recently wrote an otherwise good article on the subject titled, Rauner’s long shot: right-to-work zones. That’s wrong (though the BGA is almost always right on other things). With or without Rauner or the legislature, it’s not a long shot. I base this on no inside knowledge and not on my own judgement about legal obstacles. But I do know that plenty of municipalities are looking hard at it and that, if they proceed, their legal position will be sound, though probably subject to challenge.
*Mark Glennon is founder of WirePoints
A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
Mark, would ‘Home Rule’ right to work municipal ordinances conflict with the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, which requires union scale wages to be paid on municipal projects?
I presume the Prevailing Wage Act would be unaffected, so there would be no conflict.