Governor Bruce Rauner spent most of the past four months traveling around Illinois, touting his so-called "Turnaround Agenda."
Some of his requests, like allowing localities to create right-to-work zones, faced an uphill battle from the beginning. But other items, like term limits, have been popular with voters since the governor ran on them last year.
Now Democrats, who control the state legislature, refuse to bring a term limit proposal to a vote, saying it's a distraction from passing a state budget before the weekend's deadline. Senator Jason Barickman, a Republican from Bloomington, says he disagrees.
"What does term limits have to do with the budget? ...The fact that we're in this problem because of the decisions made by the career politicians here and next door...adopting term limits gets rid of the people like Speaker Madigan, who quite frankly has been in office--
Spkr: Senator Barickman, I have given a lot of leeway today. To the budget."
Democrats point out there’s plenty of time, instituting term limits would require asking voters if they want to change the constitution. The next opportunity to put that question on the ballot more than a year away.
Earlier this month, Democrats forced other parts of Rauner’s agenda, like a statewide property tax freeze, to a vote. They were overwhelmingly voted down.
