101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
HC0035

 

Introduced , by Rep. Allen Skillicorn

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 1
ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 2
ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3
ILCON Art. XIV, Sec. 1

    Proposes to amend the Legislature Article of the Illinois Constitution. Provides that the legislative power is vested in a General Assembly consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives, elected by the electors from 102 counties (currently, 59 Legislative Districts) and 118 Representative Districts. Provides that one Senator shall be elected from each county in this State. Provides that the General Assembly shall divide the counties as equally as possible into three groups for electoral purposes. Establishes 118 Representative Districts independent of the number of Legislative Districts (currently, each Legislative District consists of 2 Representative Districts). Provides that no Legislative Districts shall be established following the 2020 decennial census, or any decennial census thereafter, for the purpose of selecting State Senators. Modifies the appointment of members to the Legislative Redistricting Commission to remove appointments made by the President and Minority Leader of the Senate. Makes conforming changes. Effective upon being declared adopted.


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HC0035LRB101 12449 RJF 60591 e

1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
2
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
4HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
5SENATE CONCURRING 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 Sections 1, 2, and 3 of
9Article IV and Section 1 of Article XIV of the Illinois
10Constitution as follows:
 
11
ARTICLE IV
12
THE LEGISLATURE

13    (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 1)
14SECTION 1. LEGISLATURE - POWER AND STRUCTURE
15    The legislative power is vested in a General Assembly
16consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives, elected
17by the electors from 102 counties 59 Legislative Districts and
18118 Representative Districts.
19(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
201980.)
 
21    (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 2)
22SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE COMPOSITION

 

 

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1    (a) One Senator shall be elected from each county in this
2State. Legislative District. Immediately following each
3decennial redistricting, the The General Assembly by law shall
4divide the counties Legislative Districts as equally as
5possible into three groups for electoral purposes. Senators
6from one group shall be elected for terms of four years, four
7years and two years; Senators from the second group, for terms
8of four years, two years and four years; and Senators from the
9third group, for terms of two years, four years and four years.
10The counties Legislative Districts in each group shall be
11distributed substantially equally over the State.
12    (b) Each Legislative District shall be divided into two
13Representative Districts. In 1982 and every two years
14thereafter one Representative shall be elected from each
15Representative District for a term of two years.
16    (c) To be eligible to serve as a member of the General
17Assembly, a person must be a United States citizen, at least 21
18years old, and for the two years preceding his election or
19appointment a resident of the county or district which he is to
20represent. In the general election following a redistricting, a
21candidate for the House of Representatives General Assembly may
22be elected from any district which contains a part of the
23district in which he resided at the time of the redistricting
24and reelected if a resident of the new district he represents
25for 18 months prior to reelection.
26    (d) Within thirty days after a vacancy occurs, it shall be

 

 

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1filled by appointment as provided by law. If the vacancy is in
2a Senatorial office with more than twenty-eight months
3remaining in the term, the appointed Senator shall serve until
4the next general election, at which time a Senator shall be
5elected to serve for the remainder of the term. If the vacancy
6is in a Representative office or in any other Senatorial
7office, the appointment shall be for the remainder of the term.
8An appointee to fill a vacancy shall be a member of the same
9political party as the person he succeeds.
10    (e) No member of the General Assembly shall receive
11compensation as a public officer or employee from any other
12governmental entity for time during which he is in attendance
13as a member of the General Assembly.
14    No member of the General Assembly during the term for which
15he was elected or appointed shall be appointed to a public
16office which shall have been created or the compensation for
17which shall have been increased by the General Assembly during
18that term.
19(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
201980.)
 
21    (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3)
22SECTION 3. LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING
23    (a) Legislative Districts shall be compact, contiguous and
24substantially equal in population. Representative Districts
25shall be compact, contiguous, and substantially equal in

 

 

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1population.
2    (b) In the year following each Federal decennial census
3year, the General Assembly by law shall redistrict the
4Legislative Districts and the Representative Districts. No
5Legislative Districts shall be established following the 2020
6decennial census, or any decennial census thereafter, for the
7purpose of selecting State Senators.
8    If no redistricting plan becomes effective by June 30 of
9that year, a Legislative Redistricting Commission shall be
10constituted not later than July 10. The Commission shall
11consist of eight members, no more than four of whom shall be
12members of the same political party.
13    The Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of
14Representatives shall each appoint to the Commission two
15Representatives and two persons who are not members one
16Representative and one person who is not a member of the
17General Assembly. The President and Minority Leader of the
18Senate shall each appoint to the Commission one Senator and one
19person who is not a member of the General Assembly.
20    The members shall be certified to the Secretary of State by
21the appointing authorities. A vacancy on the Commission shall
22be filled within five days by the authority that made the
23original appointment. A Chairman and Vice Chairman shall be
24chosen by a majority of all members of the Commission.
25    Not later than August 10, the Commission shall file with
26the Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at

 

 

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1least five members.
2    If the Commission fails to file an approved redistricting
3plan, the Supreme Court shall submit the names of two persons,
4not of the same political party, to the Secretary of State not
5later than September 1.
6    Not later than September 5, the Secretary of State publicly
7shall draw by random selection the name of one of the two
8persons to serve as the ninth member of the Commission.
9    Not later than October 5, the Commission shall file with
10the Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at
11least five members.
12    An approved redistricting plan filed with the Secretary of
13State shall be presumed valid, shall have the force and effect
14of law and shall be published promptly by the Secretary of
15State.
16    The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive
17jurisdiction over actions concerning redistricting the House
18and Senate, which shall be initiated in the name of the People
19of the State by the Attorney General.
20(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
211980.)
 
22
ARTICLE XIV
23
CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION

24    (ILCON Art. XIV, Sec. 1)

 

 

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1SECTION 1. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
2    (a) Whenever three-fifths of the members elected to each
3house of the General Assembly so direct, the question of
4whether a Constitutional Convention should be called shall be
5submitted to the electors at the general election next
6occurring at least six months after such legislative direction.
7    (b) If the question of whether a Convention should be
8called is not submitted during any twenty-year period, the
9Secretary of State shall submit such question at the general
10election in the twentieth year following the last submission.
11    (c) The vote on whether to call a Convention shall be on a
12separate ballot. A Convention shall be called if approved by
13three-fifths of those voting on the question or a majority of
14those voting in the election.
15    (d) The General Assembly, at the session following approval
16by the electors, by law shall provide for the Convention and
17for the election of two delegates from each county Legislative
18District; designate the time and place of the Convention's
19first meeting which shall be within three months after the
20election of delegates; fix and provide for the pay of delegates
21and officers; and provide for expenses necessarily incurred by
22the Convention.
23    (e) To be eligible to be a delegate a person must meet the
24same eligibility requirements as a member of the General
25Assembly. Vacancies shall be filled as provided by law.
26    (f) The Convention shall prepare such revision of or

 

 

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1amendments to the Constitution as it deems necessary. Any
2proposed revision or amendments approved by a majority of the
3delegates elected shall be submitted to the electors in such
4manner as the Convention determines, at an election designated
5or called by the Convention occurring not less than two nor
6more than six months after the Convention's adjournment. Any
7revision or amendments proposed by the Convention shall be
8published with explanations, as the Convention provides, at
9least one month preceding the election.
10    (g) The vote on the proposed revision or amendments shall
11be on a separate ballot. Any proposed revision or amendments
12shall become effective, as the Convention provides, if approved
13by a majority of those voting on the question.
14(Source: Illinois Constitution.)
 
15
SCHEDULE
16    This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being
17declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois
18Constitutional Amendment Act.