Illinois Valley Times

State Rep. David Welter (R-Dist. 75) recently said in a Facebook post that Illinois voters want a better state government and that term limits would be a step in that direction.

“Term limits in Illinois are long overdue,” Welter said. “The people of Illinois deserve better, smarter and more effective government. To achieve that, we must act now to pass real reforms, such as term limits.”

Polling conducted by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University (SIU) in Carbondale found that approximately 4 out of 5 Illinois residents support term limits, yet House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Dist. 22) has served as Illinois House speaker for all but two of the past 33 years in which he has served as a state representative.

“This is an issue that both Democrats and Republicans agree on,” Welter said. “Let's improve the political climate in Springfield and unite behind reform that protects the people, not the political class. With term limits, we can ensure that state government in Illinois will be run by the people and for the people.”

Additionally, a citizens group recently sought to place a redistricting amendment on the November ballot in an effort to take redistricting out of politicians’ hands and make the process nonpartisan — an issue that complements term limits in terms of power distribution.

An activist group collected nearly twice the required 300,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot, but a lawsuit filed by a longtime Madigan associate led to the ballot measure getting struck down. The state's high court has taken up the case, and a decision is pending.