Votes on 3 long-neglected state issues can help Illinois businesses

On April 1, nine suburban townships will ask their community of voters about three pressing issues affecting Illinois and its business environment.

Advisory questions in Palatine, Lemont, Homer, Palos, Winfield, Antioch, Leyden, Wheeling and Addison townships gauge opinions on public pension reform, unfunded state mandates and fair maps — state issues lawmakers have too long ignored or aggravated.

Suburban lawmakers should listen to the voices of the nearly 650,000 constituents who will weigh-in on these popular reform ideas.

Here’s what the questions are about.

Pension relief

Voters from several suburban areas, including those in Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Schaumburg, Naperville and Aurora, will see a question regarding support for constitutional pension reform.

The question serves to address the leading cause for Illinois’ second-highest property taxes in the nation. State and local pension obligations have grown to exceed $210 billion in unfunded liabilities, despite rising taxes and climbing pension contributions. This financial strain has squeezed state and local budgets, reduced resources for public services and forced local governments to repeatedly increase property taxes just to maintain basic operations. These rising taxes make it less cost effective to operate businesses and live in the state.

Changing the Illinois Constitution to allow government pension growth to be controlled would allow Illinois lawmakers to protect future generations from the growing debt burden while protecting retirement security for government workers. Without reform, pension debt and property taxes will continue to grow, which forces more businesses to close or move out of the state.

This question will appear on ballots in six township areas April 1. Barrington Township already voted on it Nov. 5, overwhelmingly backing pension reform with 73% of the vote.

Fair maps

The second question, which will be seen across four townships, asks whether the state should end gerrymandering by creating an independent citizen’s commission to draw fair and competitive legislative maps.

Drawing maps, as it stands today, allows lawmakers to pick their voting blocs, including the residents and businesses in their district, instead of the other way around. The current system discourages competition in legislative races, which leads to voter apathy. Gerrymandered districts often separate communities with shared interests, which can dilute business representation of concerns such as infrastructure, public safety or economic development.

Fair maps foster a competitive and balanced political environment. They ensure that longtime politicians do not feel untouchable and are more responsive to constituent concerns in their districts, including local businesses. They may even help avoid some of the corruption scandals for which Illinois has become infamous.

Unfunded mandates

Voters in seven townships will see an advisory question asking whether the state of Illinois should be allowed to force unfunded mandates on local governments.

Handing down mandates without providing resources often leads to property tax hikes on residents and businesses, which directly impacts businesses’ bottom lines.

This creates challenges for Illinois businesses competing against companies in states with fewer mandates and therefore fewer costs passed onto residents and businesses. The additional costs can make it harder to offer competitive prices while maintaining profit margins and savings.

While nonbinding, these questions will help lawmakers understand how important these issues are to Illinois residents and give them the chance to meaningfully improve the business environment. It’s good for democracy that nine Illinois townships are putting these questions to their suburban residents and allowing them to weigh in.

Leaders should act on long-overdue changes to make Illinois much more business friendly.

• Matt Paprocki is the president and CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute