97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
SC0050

 

Introduced 2/9/2012, by Sen. Thomas Johnson

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 2
ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3

    Proposes to amend the Legislature Article of the Illinois Constitution. Provides that the boundaries of Legislative and Representative districts may be separate. Requires that both types of districts, in addition to being compact, contiguous, and substantially equal in population, must reflect minority voting strengths, promote competition, and consider political boundaries. Replaces the current method of redistricting of the Senate and House of Representatives with the following: a commission, appointed by the legislative leaders and in accordance with scoring criteria provided by law, shall score separate Legislative District and Representative District maps submitted by the public; the Senate and House, each by a three-fifths vote, shall adopt one of the 3 maps with the best scores for its districts; and the Secretary of State shall certify the map with the best score if a chamber fails to adopt a map. Specifies the schedule for redistricting activities. Effective upon being declared adopted and applicable to redistricting beginning in 2021 and to the election of General Assembly members beginning in 2022.


LRB097 20238 JDS 65691 e

 

SC0050LRB097 20238 JDS 65691 e

1
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
2
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL
4ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
5CONCURRING HEREIN, that there shall be submitted to the
6electors of the State for adoption or rejection at the general
7election next occurring at least 6 months after the adoption of
8this resolution a proposition to amend Article 4 of the
9Illinois Constitution by changing Sections 2 and 3 as follows:
 
10
ARTICLE IV
11
THE LEGISLATURE

12    (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 2)
13SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE COMPOSITION
14    (a) One Senator shall be elected from each Legislative
15District. Immediately following each decennial redistricting,
16the Senate, by resolution, General Assembly by law shall divide
17the Legislative Districts as equally as possible into three
18groups. Senators from one group shall be elected for terms of
19four years, four years and two years; Senators from the second
20group, for terms of four years, two years and four years; and
21Senators from the third group, for terms of two years, four
22years and four years. The Legislative Districts in each group
23shall be distributed substantially equally over the State.

 

 

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1    (b) Each Legislative District shall be divided into two
2Representative Districts. In 2022 1982 and every two years
3thereafter one Representative shall be elected from each
4Representative District for a term of two years.
5    (c) To be eligible to serve as a member of the General
6Assembly, a person must be a United States citizen, at least 21
7years old, and for the two years preceding his election or
8appointment a resident of the district which he is to
9represent. In the general election following a redistricting, a
10candidate for the General Assembly may be elected from any
11district which contains a part of the district in which he
12resided at the time of the redistricting and reelected if a
13resident of the new district he represents for 18 months prior
14to reelection.
15    (d) Within thirty days after a vacancy occurs, it shall be
16filled by appointment as provided by law. If the vacancy is in
17a Senatorial office with more than twenty-eight months
18remaining in the term, the appointed Senator shall serve until
19the next general election, at which time a Senator shall be
20elected to serve for the remainder of the term. If the vacancy
21is in a Representative office or in any other Senatorial
22office, the appointment shall be for the remainder of the term.
23An appointee to fill a vacancy shall be a member of the same
24political party as the person he succeeds.
25    (e) No member of the General Assembly shall receive
26compensation as a public officer or employee from any other

 

 

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1governmental entity for time during which he is in attendance
2as a member of the General Assembly.
3    No member of the General Assembly during the term for which
4he was elected or appointed shall be appointed to a public
5office which shall have been created or the compensation for
6which shall have been increased by the General Assembly during
7that term.
8(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
91980.)
 
10    (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3)
11SECTION 3. LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING
12    (a) Legislative Districts shall be compact, be contiguous,
13be and substantially equal in population, reflect minority
14voting strengths, promote competition, and consider political
15boundaries. Representative Districts shall be compact, be
16contiguous, be and substantially equal in population, reflect
17minority voting strengths, promote competition, and consider
18political boundaries. A Representative District need not be
19entirely within a single Legislative District. The General
20Assembly shall establish by law a method to determine a score
21for any map for Legislative or Representative districts.
22    (b) In the year following each Federal decennial census
23year, the General Assembly by law shall redistrict the
24Legislative Districts and the Representative Districts.
25    A If no redistricting plan becomes effective by June 30 of

 

 

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1that year, a Legislative Redistricting Commission shall be
2constituted by March 1 of the year following each Federal
3decennial census year not later than July 10. The Commission
4shall consist of eight members, no more than four of whom shall
5be members of the same political party.
6    The Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of
7Representatives shall each appoint two persons to the
8Commission one Representative and one person who is not a
9member of the General Assembly. The President and Minority
10Leader of the Senate shall each appoint two persons to the
11Commission one Senator and one person who is not a member of
12the General Assembly.
13    The members shall be certified to the Secretary of State by
14the appointing authorities. A vacancy on the Commission shall
15be filled within five days by the authority that made the
16original appointment. A Chairman and Vice Chairman shall be
17chosen by a majority of all members of the Commission. The
18Commission shall provide to the public data and tools to create
19Legislative and Representative districts not later than April
207. The Commission shall accept maps for the redistricting of
21Legislative and Representative districts through May 7.
22    The Commission shall evaluate all submitted maps according
23to criteria set forth in subsection (a) as implemented by law
24and assign each map a score. The Commission shall eliminate
25maps by a majority vote of the members appointed that fail to
26meet federal and State law and shall eliminate maps that are

 

 

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1substantially the same as other maps of equal or better score.
2Not later than May 22 the Commission shall give to the Senate
3the maps for Legislative Districts with the best three scores.
4Not later than May 22 the Commission shall give to the House of
5Representatives the maps for Representative Districts with the
6best three scores.
7    (c) The Senate by a record vote of three-fifths of the
8members elected may adopt a redistricting resolution from the
9three maps for Legislative Districts submitted by the
10Commission. If the Senate has failed to file a redistricting
11resolution with the Secretary of State by June 30, the
12Secretary of State shall certify the redistricting map for
13Legislative Districts that received the best score from the
14Commission.
15    The House by a record vote of three-fifths of the members
16elected may adopt a redistricting resolution from the three
17maps for Representative Districts submitted by the Commission.
18If the House has failed to file a redistricting resolution with
19the Secretary of State by June 30, the Secretary of State shall
20certify the redistricting map for Representative Districts
21that received the best score from the Commission.
22    Not later than August 10, the Commission shall file with
23the Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at
24least five members.
25    If the Commission fails to file an approved redistricting
26plan, the Supreme Court shall submit the names of two persons,

 

 

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1not of the same political party, to the Secretary of State not
2later than September 1.
3    Not later than September 5, the Secretary of State publicly
4shall draw by random selection the name of one of the two
5persons to serve as the ninth member of the Commission.
6    Not later than October 5, the Commission shall file with
7the Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at
8least five members.
9    (d) A An approved redistricting resolution or
10redistricting map plan filed with the Secretary of State shall
11be presumed valid, shall have the force and effect of law and
12shall be published promptly by the Secretary of State.
13    The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive
14jurisdiction over actions concerning redistricting the House
15and Senate, which shall be initiated in the name of the People
16of the State by the Attorney General.
17(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
181980.)
 
19
SCHEDULE
20    This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being
21declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois
22Constitutional Amendment Act and applies to redistricting
23beginning in 2021 and to the election of General Assembly
24members beginning in 2022.