The Morrison Memo: October 6, 2016

Since the General Assembly doesn’t return to Springfield until veto session in November, I have been taking advantage of a less busy schedule to meet with constituents in my office and speak at local events in the district and out-of-state. 

In addition to speaking on various panels, last week I was invited to local William Fremd High School to engage in a stimulating debate with Rep. Will Guzzardi, which was hosted by the Social Studies Club. Despite our different party allegiances and policy perspectives, it was encouraging to realize that we share a desire to combat corruption and legislate for the sake of principle, not personal advancement.

I also had the exciting opportunity to travel to Colonial Williamsburg mid-September as part of the Illinois delegation at a Simulated Convention of States. Here in Illinois, I am a co-sponsor of House Joint Resolution 115, a measure that calls on Congress to hold a Convention of States so that we can impose fiscal restraints and limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government while putting term limits in place for members and officials of Congress.

This effort is a grassroots movement to call a constitutional convention via the state legislatures (as delineated in Article V of the Constitution) so that we can impose constitutional restraints on our runaway federal government. Even though the problems we face as a state are pressing and it is unlikely that Illinois will be one of the 38 necessary states to pass the resolution to call a convention, if this effort does pick up momentum, an Illinois delegation will necessarily be part of this convention. I wanted to learn as much as possible about the effort so that I can draw from this experience if the time comes.

Before we return to Springfield in November and things begin to pick up on the legislative front, I would like to hear from my constituents about issues of state government that are important to them. Please call my office (847-202-6584) if you would like to schedule a meeting in my office or would like to set up a time to speak on the phone.