State Rep. Mike Fortner (R-Dist. 49) called for term limits on Wednesday for elected officials in Illinois.
“Over the years, in the General Assembly, at the beginning of nearly every spring session, I file a proposed constitutional amendment to limit terms of leadership for speaker of the House, minority leader of the House, Senate president and the Senate minority leader," Fortner said. "I do this because I have seen firsthand how necessary it is to have turnover in these positions. Term limits can have benefits that are not the obvious new face in office, but an opportunity for new, original ideas.”
Fortner pointed to Ohio, a state with term limits, whose Legislature recently approved a ballot measure to reform redistricting and gerrymandering practices.
“Ohio, a Midwest state that does recognize term limits, placed an amendment on the ballot last December with bipartisan support to reform redistricting and end some of the gerrymandering games that had become a point of contention in their state. The only reason this happened was because the members whose terms were limited could leave redistricting reform as part of their legacy. Had they thought they’d be serving past 2020, when the next redistricting is scheduled, it would have been unlikely to see them agree to the bipartisan reforms,”
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