Do you remember voting on Amendment 1 last November? An Illinois attorney is suing the state because they failed to follow Illinois Constitution provisions that lay out the criteria to amend the constitution.
George Wechbacker began having conversations with his friend, Attorney David Shestokas. Shestokas provided some direction and Wechbacker went to work on developing a Verified Petition of Election Contest.
“There’s a lawsuit in Lake County, originally brought forward by five citizens,” said Shestokas.
The essence of the suit is that the Illinois State Board of Elections proclaimed the citizens of Illinois had amended their Constitution. Citizens, among them Wechbacker, had given the Board notice that it should not certify the ratification of the Amendment because the actual words of Amendment 1 were not on the ballot. The board ignored the warning and ratified the Amendment.
“The problem is that the text was not on the ballot. There was just an explanation,” said Shestokas.
On Jan. 4, 2023, Wechbacker filed the petition to contest the ratification of the amendment.
Among the text of the Amendment not being on the ballot there we several other violations to the provisions laid out in the Illinois Constitution.
“The vote on the proposed revision or amendments shall be on a separate ballot. Any proposed revision or amendments shall become effective, as the Convention provides, if approved by a majority of those voting on the question,” states the Illinois Constitution.
That means the question should’ve been on a separate ballot, but if you voted in the 2022 Election you know that it appeared on a ballot with other positions and issues.
The Attorney General Kwame Raoul has asked that the petition filed by Wechbacker to be dismissed.
On May 31, 2023,there was a legal argument in the case. In court, Shestokas joined Wechbacker to argue that the People of the State of Illinois deserve to have what they are voting on actually on the ballot.
“The Illinois Constitution Act has a variety of provisions that must be followed. In fact, there’s a specific label that has to appear on a ballot amending the constitution,” said Shestokas.
Also unlike the process for bills becoming law, the Governor is suppose to have no involvement in the amending process.
“There’s no participation by the governor,” said Shestokas. “An amendment gets on the ballot by way of a resolution [by the General Assembly].”
The Illinois General Assembly passed Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 11 in May 2021, receiving bipartisan support in the House and Senate. House Minority Leader Tony McCombie and Senate Minority Leader John Curran, Republicans, supported voted for this Amendment initiative to get on the ballot.
But Amendment 1 expands bargaining to encompass broad new subjects, including “economic welfare” and “safety at work.” There is no definition or case law explaining what those terms mean. They could encompass virtually anything.
The Illinois Policy Institute predicted challenges, legally, would happen: “Now that it’s official, Illinois residents should be watching for at least three consequences: 1) costly government union demands in negotiations, 2) increased cost of government passed on to taxpayers and 3) litigation to clarify the amendment’s first-of-its-kind language.”
In the city of Bloomington we might see Amendment One come into play when it comes to the percentage of government labor unions used.
The last court date to challenge the Amendment was June 7, 2023 in Lake County.
What happened?
The judge decided he didn’t have the “authority” to decide.
Judge Joseph Salvi was the judge and yes is related to former candidate for Senate Kathy Salvi, according to Val Ojeda, writer for the Illinois Republican.
Now Shestokas tells Cities that they are discussing a “Motion to Reconsider” —such a motion is useful in clarifying issues for the appeals.