Illinois

What you need to know about advisory questions on Illinois ballots

Published

1 year ago

October 3, 2024

What you need to know about advisory questions on Illinois ballots

Illinoisans will be asked to vote on three advisory questions in the election Nov. 5. Here is what voters should know.

Come Election Day, Illinoisans will see three questions on the statewide ballot: one on election interference, another asking about amending the state constitution to impose a 3% tax on income over $1 million and a third on requiring insurance companies to cover fertility treatments.

These questions were placed on the ballot by Senate Bill 2412, the same bill that attempted to reduce election competition in the middle of the election cycle by barring candidates who did not participate in a primary election from appearing on the 2024 ballot. That provision of the bill as applied to the 2024 election was struck down by a state appellate court in June. The Illinois Supreme Court declined to take up the appeal, so those provisions will not apply until after Nov. 5. The advisory ballot questions remained.

The statewide questions are not the only advisory questions some Illinoisans will see on their ballots. Citizens and governing bodies of municipalities, townships and counties may also place advisory questions on the ballot. For example, Barrington Township will ask voters if they support reforming public pensions by amending the state constitution.

Here are three common questions about nonbinding referenda, and what you should know before heading to the polls.

What is a nonbinding advisory question?

Illinois law allows voters or lawmakers to place questions of public policy on the ballot to be voted for or against at a statewide general election. There is no limitation to the subject matter of advisory questions. Questions can range from local to national to international issues covering public safety, the environment, foreign policy and everything in between.

The results of these ballot questions have no legal impact.

How are non-binding referendum placed on the ballot?

There are two general methods to place an advisory question on the ballot: through petition signature collections or by a resolution passed by elected leaders.

Voters can place an advisory question on the ballot statewide by collecting the number of signatures equal to 8% of the votes cast for governor in the case of a statewide advisory question. Voters can also place an advisory question on a local ballot by collecting the number of signatures equal to 8% of the votes cast for governor in that political subdivision whether it is a municipality, township, county or school district.
The local governing body of a municipality, township, county, or school district can place an advisory question on the ballot by passing a resolution. The Illinois General Assembly can place an advisory question on the statewide ballot by passing a law that gets signed by the governor.

Why put a non-binding advisory question on the ballot?

The main reason to place an advisory question on the ballot is to gauge public support for a particular policy proposition in a specific area – municipalities, townships, counties, school districts or statewide. It’s similar to an official poll, but the advantage of nonbinding referenda as compared to polls is the sample size is often larger, and the results measure the views of actual voters who went to the trouble to show up at the polls or to fill out and mail in their ballots. The results signal to lawmakers in a particular jurisdiction the strength of their constituents’ support or opposition to the question.

Advisory questions in Illinois are generally limited to three propositions per political subdivision. If more than three questions would qualify for ballot placement, the first three questions to be validly submitted will be placed on the ballot.

That is another reason lawmakers might place questions on the ballot: to preempt questions they’d rather not see asked. That appears to be what happened this year. A statewide advisory question proposed by the Parents Matter Coalition would have asked voters if they support requiring parental consent for the provision of non-emergency medical treatment or gender counseling of minor children. But by filling up the statewide ballot with three advisory questions before enough signatures could be gathered and submitted, Illinois lawmakers prevented it. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed SB 2412 into law three days before the deadline to file petitions for a statewide advisory question.

In addition, research on non-binding ballot initiatives in California indicate lawmakers pay attention to these results, particularly when the issue area falls under the authority of the jurisdiction where the advisory question is on the ballot. If the question is on an issue that is controversial or that the electorate is passionate about, it can also increase turnout to the polls and increase discussions of the policy proposed, making it more likely that lawmakers address the issue substantively.

As a result, while these questions may not have any legal effect, voters should take them seriously. State and local lawmakers pay attention to the results, and what is only a nonbinding question today may become public policy tomorrow. Voters should educate themselves on the consequences of these hypothetical proposals before they pull the lever for or against, lest they discover that lawmakers take them at their word and put those policies into law.

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Illinois

Shooting investigation shuts down I-270 in Illinois Thursday

Published

11 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Shooting investigation shuts down I-270 in Illinois Thursday

MADISON COUNTY, Ill. — A shooting investigation shut down a stretch of Interstate 270 in Madison County during the evening rush-hour Thursday. No one was injured, Illinois State Police said.

Troopers from ISP Troop 8 responded around 5:23 p.m. to I-270 eastbound at milepost 8 near Edwardsville after a call of shots fired on the expressway.

The eastbound lanes of I-270 were closed at mile marker 8. Police said the investigation is in its early stages. More details will be posted here as they come into the FOX 2 newsroom.

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Illinois

A power shortage could be in Northern Illinois’ near future, new report warns

Published

24 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

A power shortage could be in Northern Illinois’ near future, new report warns

Illinois energy providers are projected to face power shortfalls within the next decade as demand increases amid a transition away from fossil fuel power plants, a new report found.

The report anticipates accelerating energy demand, largely from data centers coming online. That demand, along with retirement of many coal, gas and oil units, and increasing development constraints could strain the state’s utilities and regional transmission organizations, PJM Interconnection and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, according to the report.

Plus, consumers are likely to see prices continue to rise as demand does.

The report, compiled by Illinois Power Agency, Illinois Commerce Commission and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, is required by the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) that Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law in September 2021.

Per CEJA, the state is required to undergo a Resource Adequacy Study that assesses its progress toward renewable energy, green hydrogen technologies, emissions reduction goals, and its current and project status of electric resource adequacy and reliability throughout the state, with proposed solutions for any shortfalls the study finds.

The different mechanisms and entities that supply energy across Illinois after the state’s deregulation and restructuring of the electricity industry in the late 1990’s and early 2000s contribute to challenges in managing resource adequacy in the future.

With different entities focusing on serving the needs of its immediate customers, the development of a plan for long-term resource adequacy needs is more difficult than if entities were working in concert with each other, according to the report.

Though Illinois zones are considered “resource adequate” today, sources of energy across Illinois are becoming increasingly constrained. Unless new capacity resources are developed, energy capacity shortfalls could be seen in Illinois as early as 2029, the report found.

Data centers are the primary driver of growth in the latest forecasts, the report states, with growth projections at levels “well above those observed in either market over the past twenty years.”

Combined with an “aging fleet of coal and gas generators,” the growth from data centers is “likely to pose significant challenges for the reliability of both systems,” the report stated.

Rapid, concentrated growth from data center development, in addition to growth from residential and commercial customers, is projected to drive growth in resource adequacy targets for both PJM and MISO between 2025 and 2030.

PJM is expected to experience a capacity shortfall beginning in 2029, with the deficit projected to widen in subsequent years if left unabated. MISO is resource adequate through 2030, though a shortfall is projected to emerge in 2031 and grow from there.

Though Illinois has long been known as an exporter of electricity, Northern Illinois will begin to import power in 2030 as the area served by Commonwealth Edison is projected to see a 24% increase in demand for power, according to the report.

MISO, which services downstate Illinois, will meet its zonal requirements through 2035 as a more modest increase of only 11% is expected between 2025 and 2030, though reliance on imports after that is possible.

In addition to the credible risks to reliability, rising demand means already rising consumer cost will continue to trend upward over the next decade.

Utility customers in Illinois reported increasing costs on their electricity bills earlier this year, with some saying their payments have doubled.

When ComEd bills increased an average of 10% in June after a capacity charge increase, PJM told NBC Chicago “higher prices reflect the fact that electricity supply is decreasing while demand is increasing.”

The latest PJM and MISO auctions each set record high capacity prices, which will incentivize new resource development and retention of existing generation. However, the price signal is also going to increase costs for consumers, the report states.

Sarah Moskowitz, Executive Director of Citizens Utility Board — a nonprofit that advocates for utility consumers in Illinois — said the report “makes clear the need to confront these challenges head-on and remain firmly committed to keeping the lights on at prices we can all afford.”

The report also “underscores the urgency” for the implementation of the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (CRGA), that was passed earlier this year to address the imbalance of supply and demand for energy in Illinois and to pass additional reforms on data centers.

“Across the country, our energy systems are facing new pressures, but for years, consumer advocates have sounded the alarm about policy shortcomings from the regional power grid operators, including unacceptable delays in connecting clean and affordable resources to the power grid,” Moskowtiz said. “Illinois’ strong energy policy gives the state a blueprint to tackle our resource adequacy challenges.”

The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition also pointed to the CRGA as an important step to addressing the projected shortfalls, however, passing “commonsense guardrails for data centers” is “the next critical step” to protecting Illinois’ ability to meet energy demands in the future.

“ICJC looks forward to working with legislative leaders and stakeholders in the spring legislative session to ensure data center developers, not Illinois consumers, pay for the disproportionate energy burden big tech is bringing to our power grid and keep in line with Illinois’ national leadership on climate by powering these facilities with clean energy,” the organization said in a statement.

Clean Energy Choice Coalition Executive Director Tom Cullerton said while the organization is in support of decarbonization and the state’s climate ambitions, “the Resource Adequacy Study makes clear that policy-driven shutdowns of reliable energy generation, before replacement resources are ready, will drive higher costs within this decade and push Illinois toward a less reliable system while putting skilled energy jobs at risk.”

As mandated by the CRGA, Illinois will begin an Integrated Resource Plan next year, an energy planning tool that will help the state account for the challenges outlined in the report and develop a strategy for moving forward. The IRP process is projected to take place throughout 2026 and 2027, according to the report.

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