Illinois General Assembly, Legislative Research Unit

ABOUT THE LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH UNIT

The Legislative Research Unit was established (as the Illinois Legislative Council) in 1937. As the chief general research agency for the Illinois General Assembly, our statutory duties are to "collect information concerning the government and general welfare of the State, examine the effects of constitutional provisions and previously enacted statutes, consider important issues of public policy and questions of state-wide interest, and perform research and provide information as may be requested by members of the General Assembly . . . ."

LRU provides nonpartisan, objective, documented and timely information. We are authorized to do research only for members of the General Assembly or their staffs. However, several major publications are available to the public (to the extent copies are available), including:

First Reading, a legislative newsletter;
Directory of State Officials, a telephone directory;
Constituent Services Guide;
Tax Handbook for Legislators;
Preface to Lawmaking;
County Data Book;
1970 Illinois Constitution Annotated for Legislators;
three pamphlets, "Laws for Youth", "Laws for Older Adults" and "AIDS and the Law: What you should know"; and
two charts, "How a Bill Becomes Law in Illinois," (English and Spanish) and "Penalties for Crime in Illinois."

Other services include:

a conference for newly elected legislators after each general election, and a conference for legislators' district staff; and
a legislative staff intern program in cooperation with the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Additional resources:

Constitutional Convention Referendum Resources. This page includes numerous hard-to-find documents, and original analysis, including information on the 1970 convention; recommendations of the "Committee of 50" before the 1988 referendum; and costs of the 1970 convention, 1988 estimates, and new estimates for a 2010 convention.

Record of Proceedings, Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention (December 8, 1969-September 3, 1970) (for download only, 174 MB)

Illinois General Assembly Workload. This PDF file contains two tables that together cover the years from 1973 to 2007, giving number of bills introduced, passed, approved, vetoed, or otherwise acted upon. They were compiled by the Legislative Research Unit from the Legislative Synopsis and Digest and, for more recent years, from information posted on the General Assembly's Internet site (www.ilga.gov).

Some documents on this site are in PDF format and will require the Adobe Reader for viewing. Please click on the Get Adobe Reader button to download. If you need assistance with the download, you may call the Legislative Information System at (217) 782-3944.