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A commonsense plan to revive Legislature
BY STEVE NEAL SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST It
was a blow to democratic government in this state. The 1980 ''Cutback
Amendment,'' which shrunk the Illinois House of Representatives by a third,
had unintended consequences. As a result of the cutback, the power of special interests and the
legislative leadership were strengthened at the expense of the people. A task force of public officials, scholars, political activists and civic
leaders has produced a blueprint for reform that shows how the damage can be
undone. Former Gov. Jim Edgar, a Republican, and Abner
J. Mikva, a former Democratic congressman and
former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, are the co-chairmen of the
70-member Task Force on Political Representation and Alternative Electoral
Systems. Their recommendation is a restoration of cumulative voting. Under this
system, each legislative district elected two members from the majority party
and one from the minority party. Each voter had three votes. They could cast
a three-vote ''bullet'' vote for a single candidate, choose two candidates,
or split their ballot for three of the four nominees. The 1980 amendment, which was passed by referendum, virtually wiped out
the Democratic Party in Mikva, 75, who began his political career in the
Illinois House, notes that it is virtually impossible for independents to win
legislative seats under the current system. He observed that voter turnout
has declined as a result of limited choice and the lack of electoral
competition. In last year's election, half of Women, racial minorities and independents would be likely to gain more
representation under cumulative voting. When The cumulative voting system produced some outstanding Democratic
legislators from the suburbs, including former state Rep. Harold Katz of the Under the cumulative voting system, nearly 20 percent of the House GOP
caucus was from If cumulative voting is restored, the House might once again become a
deliberative body. The Mikva-Edgar report notes
that the cutback amendment has produced larger party majorities and greater
party cohesion but at a cost. There is less discussion of issues, and the
decision making is made by the leadership. Former state Rep. James D. Nowlan, a member of
the task force, lamented that the leaders operate in such secrecy under the
current system that their membership is often uninformed about important
legislation. ''At the last session,'' said Nowlan,
''legislators didn't know what was in the budget.'' Is there a chance that The One question asked: ''Imagine a legislative district in which two-thirds
of the voters are Democrats and one-third are
Republicans. Do you think such a district should be represented by a single
Democratic legislator or by both a Democratic and Republican legislator?''
Another question reversed the percentages, so that two-thirds of the voters
were Republicans. In both cases, 70 percent of the poll's respondents said that they favored
an electoral system in which legislators are chosen from both major parties.
Less than 20 percent favored retention of single-member districts. Mikva and Edgar have made a most compelling case
for the restoration of cumulative voting. The cutback amendment is the worst
thing that ever happened to the General Assembly. It's time to restore power
to the people. |
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