Kankakee Times

The voter empowerment initiative is designed to allow constituents in Illinois to take control of their government and would ensure that the people who represent Illinoisans are accountable to them. 

Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) noted that the state’s current recall provision is limited only to the office of the governor.

What he and his colleagues are proposing is a constitutional amendment that would extend the recall provision in Illinois to all statewide constitutional officers including the speaker of the house,  Senate president, auditor general, each member of the general assembly, and local government officials.

A signature threshold will be imposed to make sure that there are reasonable protections in place. Petitioners would be required to obtain 12 percent of those who voted for the governor in the previous gubernatorial election.

Noting that the provision was designed to warrant accountability from officials representing their constituents, the petitioners who are initiating the recall must live within the district of which they are attempting to recall an official.

Recalled officials would be disqualified to serve for 10 years.

The voter empowerment initiative is a joint resolution of  Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) with State Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield), Illinois Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods), and House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs).