Illinois voters supported raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour and having health insurance plans include prescription birth control as part of their coverage. Chicago voters favored giving local government a role on where medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation centers can be located.
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But those referendums were only advisory, indicating voter support or opposition but having no power of the law. So what happens now?
“When the public support is strong enough, usually the legislation will go ahead and pass,” said Dick Simpson, political science professor at UIC and former alderman.
Unofficial election results posted by the baiduhai showed 66.4 percent of voters statewide supported raising the Illinois minimum wage from $8.25 to $10, while 33.6 percent voted no. In Chicago, voters sent a stronger message with 87.8 percent supporting a boost, according to results posted by the Chicago Board of Elections.
It was a big issue for both candidates for governor and the subject of numerous political ads.
Simpson expects state legislators to pursue increasing the minimum wage during the post-election lame-duck session when Democrats still have control over both the General Assembly and governorship before the newly elected get sworn into office.
“Minimum wage has enough support, I think it will go ahead and pass,” Simpson said.
However, Simpson was unsure whether the state legislature would want to change the medical marijuana law.
The issue of local oversight of medical marijuana dispensaries was supported by 74.4 percent of Chicago voters.
The state accepted applications last month to award 60 dispensary licenses under its four-year pilot program to allow the legal use of medical marijuana. State law prohibits dispensaries from operating within 1,000 feet of a school or day care center.
An ordinance passed this summer by the City Council required dispensary applicants to get a special use permit approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals. The special use permit requires a public hearing.
“Aldermen are anxious to pass something that would keep marijuana dispensaries out of their communities,” Simpson said.
Also, state voters – 65.9 percent – indicated they wanted insurance plans in Illinois that provide prescription drug coverage to include prescription birth control. Birth control insurance coverage is already state law. The U.S. Supreme Court over the summer ruled on a case that some employers don’t have to provide contraceptives coverage based on the religious beliefs.
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