When it became clear to Democrat legislative leaders would be unable to pass some of their key proposals during this spring session, they quickly diverted to a little-used initiative in Illinois called the nonbinding referendum.
Some states, most notably California, use referendums and propositions to directly pass laws, but Illinois doesn’t allow such law making by ballot. We do, however, allow nonbinding referendums, where voters get asked a question but the results do not have a the force of law.
On the fall General Election ballot, there will be at least three non-binding referendums that could affect small business:
Question:Should Illinois Raise The Minimum Wage to $10?
Some lawmakers have been trying to hike Illinois’ minimum wage for the last few years. Illinois’ wage is currently set at $8.25 but there are proposals to increase it anywhere from $9 to $15.
House Speaker Michael Madigan has said he didn’t have the votes yet in his caucus to hike the wage so he instead passed a bill to put the question to voters.
Of course, the simple question without any type of background or pro/con arguments is a bit disingenuous; everyone wants to see a wage hike. The real question is whether they believe Illinois can afford it.
Question:Should Taxpayers Making Over $1 Million Be Charged a 3% Surcharge With Proceeds Going to Education?
Because this proposal requires a change to Illinois’ constitution, Speaker Madigan needed 71 votes to pass it. He did not have the votes so instead he passed the question as a nonbinding referendum.
Since the vast majority of Illinoisans make much less than $1 million, many believe this is a populist stance and class warfare meant to drive voters to the polls.
As well, most voters don’t realize that many small business owners who are “pass through” entities may be impacted by this surtax even though most of the money generated goes back into the business.
Question:Should Health Care Insurers Be Required to Cover Contraceptives?
This was passed even before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case that privately-held companies such as Hobby Lobby could refuse to pay for contraceptives due to religious beliefs.
Ironically, Illinois law already requires all health care policies sold in the group market to cover birth control. Again, it appears this is meant to drive certain voters to the polls.
There were also two citizen-led drives to get constitutional questions on the ballot–one focused on how Illinois draws its legislative maps and one pertains to term limits. Both initiatives had to get a required number of signatures that then had to be certified as authentic by the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Only the term limit initiative was certified, but it was quickly taken to court and ruled unconstitutional by a lower court.
Proponents of the term limits initiative have asked the Illinois Supreme Court to rule immediately so if the higher court approves it the question of term limits could be on the fall ballot. The Court has not ruled yet.
