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Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Legislators who decry ‘ballot fatigue' seem to be afflicted with ballot envy
Rep. John Hughes, R-Sioux Falls, speaks with another lawmaker on the House floor during the Governor's Budget Address on Dec. 3, 2024. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) South Dakota citizens have had the right to petition issues on to the ballot since 1898. Some legislators would like to put an end to that. The prevailing wisdom in the Legislature seems to be that voters here are suffering from 'ballot fatigue.' They claim voters are just sick and tired of all the initiated measures and constitutional amendments on the ballot. In reality, 'ballot fatigue' is just a legislative code phrase for 'let's make it so tough to get an issue on the ballot that citizens will just give up.' That was the impetus behind House Joint Resolution 5003, a constitutional amendment that's already on the ballot for 2026. The measure was sponsored by an irony-impaired Republican representative from Sioux Falls, John Hughes. Hughes didn't think it was at all odd to say that voters were 'fatigued' by the seven 2024 ballot issues, all the while sponsoring his own constitutional amendment for the 2026 election. Lawmaker assertions about voter fatigue don't stop them from sending four measures to the ballot Hughes' ballot measure calls for constitutional ballot issues to need 60% of the vote to be enacted. Currently those measures have to get just more than 50% to become part of the constitution. (There's more irony to go around. Hughes placed his 60% amendment on the ballot in chambers where all he needed to do was convince just more than half of his colleagues it was a good idea. In 2026, if the 60% threshold is approved by voters, it will need just more than 50% of the votes cast.) Lawmakers had quite a time with ballot issues during the 2025 legislative session. They may be suffering from their own version of ballot fatigue as they considered 11 ballot issues, ultimately placing four of them on the 2026 ballot. There's another legislative session before the next election. That's another chance for lawmakers to endorse even more ballot measures. A check of the Secretary of State's website shows there are already six other ballot issues waiting in the wings for the 2026 ballot. Their backers will try to get them on the ballot the old-fashioned way: by collecting the signatures of registered voters. It takes 17,508 signatures to get an initiated measure on the ballot and 35,017 signatures before voters can consider a constitutional amendment. There's a stark disparity between the relative ease that lawmakers have if they want to get a measure on the ballot and the drudgery of collecting thousands of signatures for citizen-led ballot efforts. If voters are suffering from ballot fatigue, perhaps lawmakers are suffering from 'ballot envy,' an anguish rooted in the realization that there are people in the state with far more will and determination than they have when it comes to getting an issue before the voters. When they talk about ballot fatigue, lawmakers would have you believe that they want to protect voters from the chore of making a few extra choices on Election Day. The real definition of ballot fatigue is that lawmakers are tired of seeing issues appear and reappear on the ballot that don't conform to their worldview. Given the current Republican super-majorities in both chambers, there's no other way than through a ballot initiative for citizens to get issues like abortion and marijuana legalization in front of voters. For Republicans, it's not the voting that's tiring but the effort it takes every two years to fight off ideas that they find disagreeable. They point to the cavalcade of political commercials as a bad thing rather than celebrating the notion that political messages are just our free speech rights in action. Of course ballot fatigue is a play on words, substituting the word ballot for battle. But South Dakotans are in a real battle to keep their access to the ballot. It's a battle in which we can't afford to get fatigued. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Illinois community college enrollment increase reaches record high
CHICAGO, Ill. (WCIA) — The latest surge in community college enrollment across the state is the highest on record, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced on Tuesday. The 2025 Spring enrollment at Illinois community colleges increased 8.9% from the previous year, according to Pritzker. This is the highest recorded increase from spring-to-spring since the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) began collecting enrollment statistics in the late 1990s. Over 99k granted to Illinois schools for conservation-based field trips Additionally, this is the third consecutive spring that community college enrollment has increased across Illinois. 'With the largest Spring-to-Spring enrollment increase and the third straight year of growth, our community colleges have not only bounced back from the pandemic – they are now stronger than ever thanks to our historic investments in education,' Pritzker said. 'We are the home to the third largest community college system in the nation, and we want to continue seeing growth and opportunity for working families by making higher education more affordable and accessible for students across the state.' In the FY26 Budget Address, Pritzker proposed a student-centered program to allow community colleges to offer four-year bachelor's degrees. On top of this program, Pritzker is helping launch a direct admission program to streamline college admissions to public, postsecondary schools with the goal of saving money for Illinois residents. Illinois State Fair adds Brad Paisley to 2025 Grandstand lineup Also, in the FY26 budget is a 3% increase in operating dollars for public universities and community colleges, and a $721.6 million appropriation for the Monetary Award Program (MAP). This money will be used to help students at, or below median income attend community college at no cost when their financial aid is paired with federal Pell Grants. The 2025 Spring Enrollment Report shows the third spring-to-spring semester increase over the last six years and brings enrollment at in-state community colleges past pre-pandemic levels to over 283,000 students. Other findings from the report include the following: 40 out of 45 state community colleges experienced an increase in headcount enrollment from Spring 2024 to Spring 2025 Dual Credit programs – allowing high school students to earn college credit – increased 19.8% and has increased 61.9% since Spring 2021 Fix out of six instruction areas experienced an increase in headcount enrollment from 2024, including: Transfer programs: the largest instructional area in the Illinois Community College System – up 8.9% Career and Technical Education programs: increase of 7.6% General Associates programs: 23.4% increase Adult Education: serves students interested in basic skills, GED preparation and English proficiency – increase of 5% 'We know higher education is key to our future, which is why we've made historic investments to make education more accessible,' said Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. 'Now we're seeing a return on our investment with community college enrollment surging. When education is more accessible and affordable, our entire state is stronger.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
