Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HJRCA0005

LRB104 07326 SPS 17365 e

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
HC0005

Introduced 1/28/2025, by Rep. Ryan Spain - Tony M. McCombie - Dan Ugaste - Amy Elik

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 2

ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3

Proposes to amend the Legislature Article of the Illinois Constitution. Removes the requirement for each Legislative District to be divided into two Representative Districts. Modifies provisions concerning legislative redistricting. Provides specified requirements for each Legislative District, Representative District, and Congressional District for redistricting purposes. Replaces the current method of legislative redistricting. Provides for the creation of a sixteen-member commission, appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the most senior Supreme Court Justice of a different political party, in accordance with specified criteria. Requires the commission to adopt and file with the Secretary of State redistricting plans for Legislative, Representative, and Congressional Districts following a series of public hearings by August 1 of the year following a federal decennial census. Permits the public to submit redistricting plans during the redistricting process for consideration by the Commission. Specifies that, if a redistricting plan is not adopted by August 1 of the year following a federal decennial census, then a seventeenth member shall be appointed to the commission and redistricting plans shall be filed by September 1. Adds provisions concerning the membership of the commission and budgetary matters related to the commission. Effective upon being declared adopted and applicable to redistricting beginning in 2031 and to the election of General Assembly members beginning in 2032.

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the State for adoption or rejection at the general election next occurring at least 6 months after the adoption of this resolution a proposition to amend Article IV of the Illinois Constitution by changing Sections 2 and 3 as follows:

ARTICLE IV

THE LEGISLATURE

(ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 2) SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE COMPOSITION

(a) One Senator shall be elected from each Legislative District. Immediately following each decennial redistricting, the General Assembly by law shall divide the Legislative Districts as equally as possible into three groups. Senators from one group shall be elected for terms of four years, four years and two years; Senators from the second group, for terms of four years, two years and four years; and Senators from the third group, for terms of two years, four years and four years. The Legislative Districts in each group shall be distributed substantially equally over the State.

(b) Each Legislative District shall be divided into two Representative Districts. In 1982 and every two years thereafter one Representative shall be elected from each Representative District for a term of two years.

(c) To be eligible to serve as a member of the General Assembly, a person must be a United States citizen, at least 21 years old, and for the two years preceding his election or appointment a resident of the district which he is to represent. In the general election following a redistricting, a candidate for the General Assembly may be elected from any district which contains a part of the district in which he resided at the time of the redistricting and reelected if a resident of the new district he represents for 18 months prior to reelection.

(d) Within thirty days after a vacancy occurs, it shall be filled by appointment as provided by law. If the vacancy is in a Senatorial office with more than twenty-eight months remaining in the term, the appointed Senator shall serve until the next general election, at which time a Senator shall be elected to serve for the remainder of the term. If the vacancy is in a Representative office or in any other Senatorial office, the appointment shall be for the remainder of the term. An appointee to fill a vacancy shall be a member of the same political party as the person he succeeds.

(e) No member of the General Assembly shall receive compensation as a public officer or employee from any other governmental entity for time during which he is in attendance as a member of the General Assembly.

No member of the General Assembly during the term for which he was elected or appointed shall be appointed to a public office which shall have been created or the compensation for which shall have been increased by the General Assembly during that term.

(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4, 1980.)

(ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3) SECTION 3. LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING

(a) As used in this Section, "consumer price index-u" means the index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor or a successor agency that measures the average change in prices of goods and services purchased by all urban consumers, United States city average, all items, 1982-84=100.

(b) Each Legislative District, Representative District, and Congressional District shall, in the following order of priority:

(1) fully comply with the United States Constitution and federal laws, such as the federal Voting Rights Act;

(2) be substantially equal in population;

(3) provide racial minorities and language minorities with the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect candidates of their choice;

(4) provide racial minorities and language minorities who constitute less than a voting-age majority of a Legislative District, Representative District, or Congressional District with an opportunity to substantially influence the outcome of an election;

(5) be contiguous;

(6) be compact;

(7) respect, to the extent practical, geographic integrity of units of local government;

(8) respect, to the extent practical, communities sharing common social or economic interests; and

(9) not discriminate against or in favor of any political party or individual.

(c) No later than December 30 of the year that each federal decennial census occurs, the Chief Justice and the most senior Supreme Court Justice who is not elected from the same political party as the Chief Justice shall select sixteen commissioners to form an Independent Redistricting Commission. The commissioners shall reflect the ethnic, gender, and racial demographics of Illinois. Fourteen of the commissioners shall represent, in equal number, the two political parties whose gubernatorial candidates received the greatest number of votes in the last gubernatorial election. Two of the commissioners shall represent neither of those parties. The two Justices responsible for selecting the sixteen commissioners shall consider party identification and all campaign contributions in determining a potential commissioner's eligibility. There shall be at least two commissioners from each Judicial District.

(d) A person is ineligible to serve on the Commission if, within the preceding four calendar years, the person or his or her spouse or immediate family member was appointed or elected to a position with the State, federal, or local government; is a State employee; is a lobbyist as defined by law; has an ownership interest in an entity with a State or federal contract; or is appointed or elected to serve a political party. A commissioner is ineligible for a period of 10 years to serve in the General Assembly or to be appointed to a position subject to Senate confirmation. Commissioners must file financial disclosure statements and abide by any ethics requirements established by law.

(e) The Commission shall act in public meetings by the affirmative vote of ten commissioners. The Commission shall elect its chairperson and vice chairperson, who shall not be affiliated with the same political party. Each meeting of the Commission shall be open to the public. There must be public notice at least seven days before a meeting. All records of the Commission, including all communications to or from the Commission regarding the work of the Commission, shall be available for public inspection. The Commission shall adopt rules governing its procedures. The Commission shall be considered a public body subject to the Freedom of Information Act or a successor Act and the Open Meetings Act or a successor Act. Commissioners and staff may not communicate with or receive communications about redistricting matters from anyone outside of a public hearing.

(f) The Commission shall hold at least twenty public hearings throughout the State before adopting a redistricting plan, with a majority of the hearings occurring before the Commission releases any proposed redistricting plan. At least 10 public hearings must occur throughout the State after the release of any proposed redistricting plan.

The Commission must provide a meaningful opportunity for racial minorities and language minorities to participate in the public hearings, including, but not limited to, issuing notices in multiple languages and ensuring that translation services are available at all hearings at the Commission's expense or through partnership with outside organizations. These public hearings must be open to all members of the public and must be planned to encourage attendance and participation across the State, including the use of technology that allows for real-time, virtual participation and feedback during the hearings. When releasing a proposed redistricting plan, the Commission must also release population data, geographic data, election data, and any other data used to create the plan, when the Commission receives this information. The Commission must also provide terminals for members of the public to access the data and associated software. During the redistricting process, any member of the public may submit redistricting proposals for consideration to the Commission. Those submissions are public records that are open to comment.

The Commission may not adopt a redistricting plan until the Commission adopts and publishes a report explaining the plan's compliance with the United States Constitution and Illinois Constitution. Before the adoption of a redistricting plan, the Commission shall release to the public the final plan and its associated compliance report. The meeting to vote on adoption of a redistricting plan shall occur no sooner than thirty days after the release of the final plan and its associated compliance report. All proposed and adopted redistricting plans and any data used to develop these redistricting plans are public records. The Commission shall maintain a website or other similar electronic platform to disseminate information about the Commission, including records of its meetings and hearings, proposed redistricting plans, assessments and reports on plans, and to allow the public to view its meetings and hearings in both live and archived form. The website or electronic platform must allow the public to submit redistricting plans and comments on redistricting plans to the Commission for its consideration.

(g) The Commission shall adopt and file with the Secretary of State a redistricting plan for the Legislative Districts, Representative Districts, and Congressional Districts by August 1 of the year following the federal decennial census. The Commission may adopt separate redistricting plans for the Legislative Districts, the Representative Districts, and the Congressional Districts.

(h) If the Commission fails to adopt and file a redistricting plan by August 1 of the year following a federal decennial census, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the most senior Supreme Court Justice who is not elected from the same political party as the Chief Justice shall appoint, by August 8, a seventeenth member to the Commission. The seventeenth member of the Commission must not be affiliated with either major political party. The seventeen-member Commission shall adopt and file with the Secretary of State redistricting plans for the Legislative Districts, Representative Districts, and Congressional Districts by September 1 of the year following the federal decennial census.

(i) Members of the Commission shall be compensated at the rate of $37.50 for each hour the member is engaged in Commission business. For each succeeding Commission, the rate of compensation shall be adjusted in each year of the federal decennial census by the cumulative change in the consumer price index-u or a successor metric. Members of the Commission are eligible for reimbursement of personal expenses incurred in connection with the duties performed pursuant to this Section. A member's residence is deemed to be the member's post of duty for purposes of reimbursement of expenses.

(j) Within thirty days after the selection of the Independent Redistricting Commission, the Governor shall include in the budget submitted under Section 2 of Article VIII to the General Assembly amounts of funding for the Commission and the Secretary of State that are sufficient to meet the estimated expenses of each of those officers or entities in implementing the redistricting process required by this Section for a three-year period, including, but not limited to, adequate funding for a statewide outreach program to solicit broad public participation in the redistricting process. The Governor shall also make adequate office space available for the operation of the Commission. The General Assembly shall make the necessary appropriation for the Commission, and the appropriation shall be available during the entire 3-year period. The appropriation made shall be equal to the greater of $3,000,000 or the amount expended in accordance with this subsection in the immediately preceding redistricting process, as each amount is adjusted by the cumulative change in inflation based on the consumer price index-u or a successor metric, since the date of the immediately preceding appropriation made in accordance with this subsection. The General Assembly may make additional appropriations in any year that it determines that the Commission requires additional funding in order to fulfill its duties. The Commission, with fiscal oversight from the Comptroller or its successor, shall have procurement and contracting authority and may hire staff and consultants, for the purposes of this Section, including legal representation.

(k) A redistricting plan filed with the Secretary of State shall be presumed valid and shall be published promptly by the Secretary of State.

(l) The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over actions concerning the redistricting of the Congressional, Legislative, and Representative Districts, which shall be initiated in the name of the People of the State by the Attorney General. Each person who resides or is domiciled in the State, or whose executive office or principal place of business is located in the State, may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain any of the relief available.

(a) Legislative Districts shall be compact, contiguous and substantially equal in population. Representative Districts shall be compact, contiguous, and substantially equal in population.

(b) In the year following each Federal decennial census year, the General Assembly by law shall redistrict the Legislative Districts and the Representative Districts.

If no redistricting plan becomes effective by June 30 of that year, a Legislative Redistricting Commission shall be constituted not later than July 10. The Commission shall consist of eight members, no more than four of whom shall be members of the same political party.

The Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives shall each appoint to the Commission one Representative and one person who is not a member of the General Assembly. The President and Minority Leader of the Senate shall each appoint to the Commission one Senator and one person who is not a member of the General Assembly.

The members shall be certified to the Secretary of State by the appointing authorities. A vacancy on the Commission shall be filled within five days by the authority that made the original appointment. A Chairman and Vice Chairman shall be chosen by a majority of all members of the Commission.

Not later than August 10, the Commission shall file with the Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at least five members.

If the Commission fails to file an approved redistricting plan, the Supreme Court shall submit the names of two persons, not of the same political party, to the Secretary of State not later than September 1.

Not later than September 5, the Secretary of State publicly shall draw by random selection the name of one of the two persons to serve as the ninth member of the Commission.

Not later than October 5, the Commission shall file with the Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at least five members.

An approved redistricting plan filed with the Secretary of State shall be presumed valid, shall have the force and effect of law and shall be published promptly by the Secretary of State.

The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over actions concerning redistricting the House and Senate, which shall be initiated in the name of the People of the State by the Attorney General.

(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4, 1980.)

SCHEDULE

This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois Constitutional Amendment Act and applies to redistricting beginning in 2031 and to the election of General Assembly members beginning in 2032.