CHICAGO – Several weeks ago, Illinois Review took a rare editorial position on a ballot item Illinois voters will be dealing with Tuesday – the Safe Roads Amendment.
Since IR expressed opposition to it, several other editorial boards have taken a similar position despite there being no organized effort against it to counter a coalition of construction businesses and unions that are running ads in support of the proposal.
Here's what we published on October 4th, 2016 – an op-ed entitled "Is Forcing a Constitutional Amendment to Fund Safe Roads the Answer?"
SPRINGFIELD – A proposed amendment to the Illinois Constitution will be on the November 8th ballot, something that is news to most Illinoisans. Information from Secretary of State Jesse White is hitting mailboxes statewide and ads paid for by Citizens to Protect Road Funding are appearing online and on TVs.
The argument they raise is that 4200 Illinois bridges and fifty percent of the state's roadways have fallen into disrepair and there's no money in the Illinois treasury to correct the situation. Instead of keeping $6 billion in dedicated road funds safely set aside for infrastructure, state lawmakers passed budgets and bills that authorized "sweeping" the road fund over the past ten years to use elsewhere.
That means Illinois' roads, highways and bridges are a mess with little hope of change.
