Voters in northwest Cook County take up pension crisis, gerrymandering
Palatine Township voters will take up some of the state’s most urgent issues at the April 1 election, telling state lawmakers where they stand on public pensions and legislative map gerrymandering.
Palatine Township voters will have a chance to voice their opinions on two major issues. Their April 1 ballots will ask about pensions and political redistricting.
Palatine Township has more than 109,000 residents, including the village of Palatine, located in northwest Cook County. The township includes portions of Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg and South Barrington. Voters will have a chance to share opinions on two advisory questions:
Pensions: “Should the state of Illinois enact constitutional pension reform to protect workers’ existing retirements and generate savings which could provide property tax relief or be reinvested in the community?”
Redistricting: “Should the state of Illinois create an independent citizens commission to draw fair and competitive federal and state redistricting maps, rather than allowing lawmakers to decide?”
Other townships such as Homer, Winfield and Leyden have all given their voters a chance to vote on at least one of the questions for the April 1 election. The questions are non-binding, meaning they won’t directly change any laws, but they will tell state lawmakers where nearly 300,000 of their constituents stand on the issues.
Barrington Township gave voters the question on pension reform Nov. 5, which passed with 73% voting yes.
Illinois has the worst pension crisis in the nation at $143.7 billion in debt, with only 46% of the funds that will eventually be needed to pay for state worker retirements. Add to that another $70 billion in local government pension debt, which drives Illinois’ property tax pain to second highest in the nation.
The more chances for voters to voice their concerns on these issues, the stronger the message it sends to state lawmakers who currently refuse to address these pressing issues.