Despite concerns and complaints
the 1970 Illinois Constitution works
by Burney Simpson

It was shortly after the Summer of Love. The Vietnam War was at its height. A Daley was the Boss of Chicago. Men had stepped onto the Moon and the Cubs had handed a 9 1/2-game lead to the hated Mets. And then convention delegates from across Illinois finished remaking the state's 100-year-old constitution.

That was 30 years ago this month. The gathering that came to be called ConCon may not have had the made-for-TV glamour of a moon walk. Nevertheless, it managed to redraw the constellation of Illinois government, changing, for instance, the relationship of the executive and legislative branches, and the relative powers of local and state officials. It strengthened oversight of state finances. And it created limited citizen initiative powers.

Some of these changes are now taken for granted —"home rule" powers for larger municipalities, for example, and the establishment of a state auditor general. Others are still debated, such as the extra veto powers granted the governor. Mean-while, proposals that didn't make it into the document, particularly merit selection of judges, continue to stir controversy.

Still, those who participated in the Illinois Constitutional Convention 30 years ago have reason to celebrate the document's anniversary.

The Constitution of 1970 codified what had become obvious: Illinois had outgrown its rural roots, and most Illinoisans were living in cities. All cities, but especially the city of Chicago, were winners by the time the delegates disbursed. Increased municipal powers constituted a major victory for Mayor Richard J. Daley. He also retained authority to hand-pick candidates for local judicial races, a great reward for the party faithful. As a result, Daley's Democratic political machine helped assure that the Constitution was approved by voters.

There were new players in the political game, too. Among the delegates were Dawn Clark Netsch, soon to be a Democratic state senator from Chicago, and later state comptroller and gubernatorial candidate. Richard M. Daley, son of the Chicago mayor, cut his teeth at ConCon. Speaker of the Illinois House Michael Madigan won his first election as a delegate. And there was Jeffrey Ladd, a Republican, who is now chairman of the suburban Metra train system.

There were community activists who sat on opposite sides of the ideo-logical fence, too, including Al Raby, who had marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Father Francis Lawlor, a neighborhood organizer who worked to keep blacks from moving into parts of Chicago's South Side.

Delegates were elected on a non-partisan basis. And, though it was often clear where a delegate's political sympathies lay, removing party labels did seem to free up the debate. "It brought people together who would never talk to each other. The nonpar-tisan election brought new players and new voices. People went on to make their mark," says Ladd, who represented the northwest suburban district and has headed Metra since 1984.

Delegate Cliff Kelley concurs. "For some this was a one time thing, and we had to do something about a 100-year-old Constitution. Folks were willing to talk." Kelley became a Chicago alderman for 16 years, and now hosts a leading radio talk show.

What do these delegates consider their greatest accomplishments? Madigan, who represented a South Side district, says home rule powers. Under that change, municipalities were freed from many constraints. They won greater authority over their own purse strings and the ability to license professionals.

Prior to ConCon, "local govern-ments couldn't sneeze without going to state government," says Netsch, who represented the district on Chicago's Near North Side. Netsch now teaches law at Northwestern University. She recalls that the first Mayor Daley, in the midst of reform-ing the police department in the early 1960s, needed the legislature's approval just to change the color of the flashing lights on squad cars.

And before the new constitution, a single taxing body could not issue bonds greater than 5 percent of the value of the city's property. To get around the rule, cities created special taxing districts for their services and

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The home rule provision gave municipalities with populations of more than 25,000 the ability to issue their own debt without this limitation. Cities could also regulate public health and safety. “Home rule changed the dynamics of the legislative process and state government,” says Madigan. “Prior to the adoption of the Constitution, mayors of large cities like Chicago had to get approval from state government to address problems and to change their taxing authority.”

The Constitution also altered the relative powers of the executive and legislative branches. The amendatory veto, a Netsch proposal, gave the governor the authority to make changes in legislation approved by the General Assembly. Netsch argues a final review by the governor is necessary due to the sheer number of proposals legislators must consider. “Often legislation catches no one’s eye until everyone has gone home,” she says.

Madigan disagrees, saying it puts too much power in the governor’s hands. “The governor has the author-ity to rewrite [a proposal] without talking to the legislature. That gives the executive [branch] the power of being its own legislature.”

But Netsch thinks there were other provisions added to the document that leaned to the legislature’s advantage. The lieutenant governor no longer presides over the Senate, the legislature meets on a yearly basis and the auditor general, chosen by the General Assembly, has been given authority to review the financial practices of state agencies that report to the governor.

The 1970 Constitution also enhanced the rights of Illinois citizens. It banned discrimination in housing and employment based on race, color, creed, ancestry and — forward thinking for the time — gender and physical or mental disability.

But one seemingly innocuous change worked to the detriment of Illinois Democrats. The election cycle for state offices was changed so it would not coincide with presidential elections. While, in theory, that change would minimize the coattails of a popular national leader, it has meant GOP domination in the governor’s office, according to Madigan. He recalls meeting with Daley at the time. “This item slipped past the mayor. He found out after the fact and he was livid. I know, I was there. He said, ‘You ’re not going to get poor people out [to vote] in a nonpresidential election. You need the excitement of a presidential election.’ And we haven’t elected a Democratic governor since [this took effect].”

The man who came to be known as “the father of the Constitution,” Samuel Witwer, had been campaigning for a convention for more than 20 years. Witwer, a Republican from Chicago’s North Shore, became the chairman. He’s credited with encour-aging bipartisan compromise and herding the delegates to finish the document.

“He kept us working. He threatened, cajoled and emotionally bribed us. This was his life,” says David Kenney, a delegate from Carbondale. Kenney later served in Gov. James Thompson’s Cabinet and wrote Making a Modern Constitution about the convention.

Voters had approved a convention in 1968 when the state was facing a financial crisis because of limitations imposed by a century-old revenue article. (The need for a new constitution, however, was somewhat undercut when the state Supreme Court upheld the income tax instituted under Gov. Richard Ogilvie.)

Deliberations were held in Springfield in the Old State Capitol. The delegates were paid $625 per month. And those delegates, 116 of them, were more reflective of the state’s population than the General Assembly of the day: There were 13 women, 15 blacks and 34 under the age of 40. Ninety-six delegates were college graduates, 56 were lawyers and 11 were educators. Only five delegates were farmers. But the single most powerful group was the Democratic organization from Chicago.

The delegates organized themselves into 12 committees, including educa- tion, local government, revenue and judiciary.

The difficult debate over abortion foreshadowed the controversy that remains today. At the time, abortion was illegal. But Father Lawlor, a vehement opponent, says he could see the mood of the country turning. Lawlor pushed unsuccessfully to include the unborn in the Bill of Rights. He caused a stir when he brought several fetuses to a committee meeting. “I thought if they saw it, how could you vote not to protect it,” he says. “But the whole nation was falling apart at the time. I have no regrets. It was the truth.”

Soon after the convention, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized abortion in Roe v. Wade. Lawlor continued to work against abortion.

The occasional fireworks kept Witwer focused on ensuring that the final document was palatable to the majority of the state’s voters, who would have to approve the Constitution. Four divisive issues were presented separately on the ballot. Voters dealt with five questions: whether to approve the Constitution itself; whether judges should be appointed by a Judicial Nominating Commission; whether to lower the voting age to 18; whether to retain the cumulative vote for multimember districts in the House or switch to single-member districts; and whether to abolish the death penalty.

Witwer’s instincts paid off. The Constitution was approved, but the four other items were defeated.

Still, the flexibility built into the Constitution bore the seeds of later change. A provision allowed citizens to petition for changes in the structure and procedures of the General Assembly. A 1980 initiative ended cumulative voting and established single-member House districts, simul-taneously cutting the size of that chamber. Recently, though, academics and activists have called for a return to cumulative voting.

Despite some concerns and complaints, the 1970 Constitution works. “It is broad enough to encom-pass wide viewpoints,” says Ladd. “The proof is in the pudding.” .

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