Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SJRCA0008

LRB104 14625 SPS 27767 e

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
SC0008

Introduced 1/13/2026, by Sen. John F. Curran

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3

ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3.5 new

Proposes to amend the Legislature Article of the Illinois Constitution. Requires the Chief Justice and the most senior Supreme Court Justice who is not elected from the same political party as the Chief Justice to select 16 commissioners no later than March 1 of the year that follows a federal decennial census to form the Independent Redistricting Commission. Provides that the Independent Redistricting Commission shall adopt and submit to the Legislative Redistricting Commission a redistricting plan for the Legislative Districts, Representative Districts, and Congressional Districts within 30 days after receiving redistricting data from the Census Bureau for the State of Illinois. Allows the Independent Redistricting Commission to adopt and submit separate redistricting plans for the Legislative Districts and Representative Districts and a separate plan for the Congressional Districts. Provides that any redistricting plan enacted by the General Assembly and not vetoed by the Governor shall immediately be filed with the Secretary of State, which shall be presumed valid and shall be published promptly by the Secretary of State. Provides the priorities, in order of importance, for establishing Legislative Districts, Representative Districts, and Congressional Districts. Provides for the eligibility of commissioners, public interaction and public hearings, financing and agency support for the Commission, and compensation and reimbursement for commissioners. Effective upon being declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois Constitutional Amendment Act.

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 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 Section 3 of Article IV and add Section 3.5 to Article IV of the Illinois Constitution as follows:

ARTICLE IV

THE LEGISLATURE

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

(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.

(c) To the extent that any provision of this Section conflicts with any provision of Section 3.5 of this Article, Section 3.5 shall control.

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

(ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3.5 new) SECTION 3.5. PEOPLE'S INDEPENDENT MAPS

(a) No later than March 1 of the year that follows a federal decennial census, 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 16 commissioners to form the 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 2 political parties whose gubernatorial candidates received the greatest number of votes in the last gubernatorial election and 2 of the commissioners shall represent neither of those parties. The 2 Supreme Court Justices responsible for selecting the 16 commissioners shall consider party identification and all campaign contributions in determining a potential commissioner's eligibility. There shall be at least 2 commissioners from each Judicial District.

(b) A person is ineligible to serve on the Independent Redistricting Commission if within the previous 4 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 after serving on the Independent Redistricting Commission 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.

(c) The Independent Redistricting Commission shall act in public meetings by the affirmative votes of 10 commissioners. The Independent Redistricting Commission shall elect its chairperson and vice chairperson, who shall not be affiliated with the same political party. Each meeting of the Independent Redistricting Commission shall be open to the public, and there must be public notice at least 7 days before a meeting. All records of the Independent Redistricting Commission, including all communications to or from the Independent Redistricting Commission regarding the work of the Independent Redistricting Commission, shall be available for public inspection. The Independent Redistricting Commission shall adopt rules governing its procedures. The Independent Redistricting 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.

(d) The Independent Redistricting Commission shall hold at least 10 public hearings throughout the State before adopting a redistricting plan, with a majority occurring before the Independent Redistricting Commission releases any proposed redistricting plan and at least 4 public hearings must occur throughout the State after the release of any proposed redistricting plan.

The Independent Redistricting 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 Independent Redistricting 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 Independent Redistricting Commission must also release population data, geographic data, election data, and any other data used to create the plan, when the Independent Redistricting Commission receives this information. The Independent Redistricting Commission must also provide terminals for members of the public to access the data and associated software. During the map drawing process, any member of the public may submit maps for consideration to the Independent Redistricting Commission. Those submissions are public records that are open to comment.

The Independent Redistricting Commission may not adopt a redistricting plan until the Independent Redistricting 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 Independent Redistricting 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 six days after the release of the final plan and its associated compliance report. All proposed and adopted maps and any data used to develop these maps are public records. The Independent Redistricting Commission shall maintain a website or other similar electronic platform to disseminate information about the Independent Redistricting 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 Independent Redistricting Commission for its consideration.

(e) 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 law, 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.

(f) The Independent Redistricting Commission shall adopt and submit to the Legislative Redistricting Commission, established by Section 3 of Article IV, a redistricting plan for the Legislative Districts and Representative Districts within 30 days after the Census Bureau's release of the Legacy Format Summary Redistricting Data File for the State of Illinois. The Independent Redistricting Commission shall adopt and submit to the General Assembly a redistricting plan for the Congressional Districts within 30 days after the Census Bureau's release of the Legacy Format Summary Redistricting Data File for the State of Illinois. The Independent Redistricting Commission may adopt and submit separate redistricting plans for the Legislative Districts and Representative Districts, and a separate plan for the Congressional Districts.

(g) If the Independent Redistricting Commission fails to adopt and submit to the Legislative Redistricting Commission a redistricting plan for the Legislative and Representative Districts within 30 days from the Census Bureau's release of the Legacy Format Summary Redistricting Data File, 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 within 3 days a seventeenth member to the Independent Redistricting Commission. The seventeenth member of the Independent Redistricting Commission must not be affiliated with either major political party. The seventeen-member Independent Redistricting Commission shall adopt and submit to the Legislative Redistricting Commission a redistricting plan for the Legislative Districts and Representative Districts within 10 days after the appointment of the seventeenth member of the Independent Redistricting Commission.

(h) Members of the Independent Redistricting Commission shall be compensated at the rate of $37.50 for each hour the member is engaged in Independent Redistricting Commission business. Members of the Independent Redistricting 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.

(i) Within the first 30 days after the selection of the Independent Redistricting Commission, the Governor shall include in the budget sufficient funding for the Independent Redistricting Commission, the Legislative Redistricting Commission and the Secretary of State to meet the estimated expenses of each of those officers or entities in implementing the redistricting process required by this Section, 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 Legislature shall make the necessary appropriation. The Legislature may make additional appropriations in any year that it determines that the Commission requires additional funding in order to fulfill its duties. The Independent Redistricting Commission and Legislative Redistricting Commission, with fiscal oversight from the Comptroller or its successor, shall be exempt from the Illinois Procurement Code but will have procurement and contracting authority and may hire staff and consultants, for the purposes of this Section.

(j) Any redistricting plan enacted by the Legislative Redistricting Commission shall immediately be filed with the Secretary of State. A redistricting plan filed with the Secretary of State shall be presumed valid and shall be published promptly by the Secretary of State.

(k) Each Independent Redistricting Commission shall be dissolved on the first day of the sixth month to occur after the final redistricting plan is filed with the Secretary of State as provided in subsection (j) of this Section.

SCHEDULE

This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois Constitutional Amendment Act.