Constitutional convention supporters hold rally

The Southtown brought up the subject of a pro con-con rally yesterday:

Today, upwards of 1,000 people were expected to rally for a "yes" vote on a referendum proposal to hold a constitutional convention.

"It couldn't be more perfectly timed," said the Rev. Edward Cronin, of St. Alexander Catholic Church in Palos Heights. "With what's going on in the nation - the economy, Congress, the (Illinois) Legislature in gridlock and we can't even get a budget together."


The rally was organized by United Power for Action & Justice. It begins at 3:30 p.m. at Rice Park, 1051 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago.

"Unfortunately, we have been falling behind compared to other states in many respects," said Oussama Jammal, a board member of the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview that supports a convention.

"It's just not the kind of state the people are aspiring to. We want to be the No. 1 state when it comes to education, health care, safety. It has become to us a duty to engage, to participate."

Then the AP had a brief update. The feed I'm subscribed to seems to show brief reports:

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn and former state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka were among the speakers at a rally in Chicago Sunday to drum up support for a constitutional convention.

Topinka told the crowd at a Chicago park that constitutions aren't designed to last forever and must adapt with the times.
...
Quinn has said the convention is necessary to push legislators to address issues including ethics reform, school funding and the pension system.

Then Clout Street has yet another report with a suggestion of a possible reform of the state legislature:

Seated together on one side of a makeshift stage at Rice Park at St. Ignatius College Prep were Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, state Rep. Mike Boland (D-East Moline) and Ald. Sam Cahnman of Springfield. Boland and Cahnman are long-time acolytes of Quinn’s populist petition-style form of government reform.

The crowd was largely made up of various religious groups. Boland—who has often aspired to higher office—spoke of the need for reforming property taxes, a more equitable distribution of education dollars and a method to allow voters to recall public officials from office.

Then Boland, who is seeking his seventh two-year term in the Illinois House, called for term limits. And, as an added starter, he resurrected his long dormant proposal to make the Illinois General Assembly a one-chamber “unicameral” legislature by either eliminating the House or Senate.

A unicameral legislature, such as the one employed by Nebraska, would ensure “we don’t have this kind of personality clashes that hold up progress in our state,” Boland said.

The single-house legislature is an expansion of Quinn’s most notable work—the petition drive for a state Constitutional Amendment that for the 1982 election eliminated one-third of the members of the Illinois House and got rid of cumulative voting—the election of three-members from each House district to ensure minority party representation.

Quinn’s oft-stated motive was to save the state money, but the move is widely regarded as having concentrated power into the office of Speaker, held chiefly by veteran Southwest Side Democrat Michael Madigan, while leading to less consensus building and more partisanship.

Mostly I'd have been OK with resurrecting the whole cumulative voting of state reps. This proposal for a unicameral legislature has come up in some blogs I've seen about what could be discussed at a con-con. Might need more info, if I am to be sold on the idea of a unicameral.

Perhaps bring back cumulative voting for the possible election of state legislators in a unicameral. That could be one idea that could be had.

It should be noted that Clout St said the Boland didn't explain the checks & balances system should a trouble governor's chief  and only ally just so happen to be the presiding officer of a uni-cameral state legislative body.