Illinois: A police state?

Being a retired educator with a TRS pension, I understand that retirement systems need to be changed, especially since the state, which has underfunded the systems, is at fault for the current conditions we face.

But reading the top story in the March 12 edition of the Daily Herald really bothers me. Solicitor general Carolyn Shapiro's statement that the state can resort to "police powers" to overrule the Constitution really scares me, and it opens the door for other changes that our politicians deem necessary.

This gives our legislators an awful lot of power. Changes to the Constitution require the approval of the Illinois voters.

I really do not think Illinois residents would want a "police state."

William Black

Itasca