98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
HC0004

 

Introduced , by Rep. Josh Harms

 

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

    Proposes to amend the Legislature Article of the Illinois Constitution concerning redistricting. Contains provisions relating to division of Senators into 3 groups for assignment of terms, Representative Districts being decoupled from Legislative Districts, appointment of a Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission, criteria for redistricting plans, approval of plans by Senate and House resolutions, appointment of Special Masters, and other matters. Effective upon being declared adopted.


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HC0004LRB098 05287 SSS 35319 e

1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
2
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
4NINETY-EIGHTH 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 2 and 3 of
9Article IV of the Illinois Constitution 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 General Assembly by law shall divide the Legislative
17Districts as equally as possible into three groups. Senators
18from one group shall be elected for terms of four years, four
19years and two years; Senators from the second group, for terms
20of four years, two years and four years; and Senators from the
21third group, for terms of two years, four years and four years.
22The Legislative Districts in each group shall be distributed
23substantially equally over the State.

 

 

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1    (b) Each Legislative District shall be divided into two
2Representative Districts. In 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) On the second Tuesday in February in the year following
13each Federal decennial census year, the President of the
14Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the
15House, and the Minority Leader of the House may each,
16considering the diversity of the State, appoint two members to
17the Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission. On or before
18the second Tuesday in March, one additional member shall be
19elected by a majority of the members appointed, and that member
20shall serve as Chair. Members of the Temporary Redistricting
21Advisory Commission shall not be eligible to be elected to the
22General Assembly or appointed to any office that is subject to
23confirmation by the Senate for ten years after completion of
24service on the Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission. No
25person may serve as a member of the Temporary Redistricting

 

 

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1Advisory Commission who is at the time of appointment, becomes
2at any time during service, or who was at any time during the
3preceding four years (i) a registered lobbyist in Illinois;
4(ii) an employee or contractor of the State of Illinois; (iii)
5an elected official of or a candidate for or appointed member
6of any elected body of: the federal government, the State, a
7unit of local government, a school district or a political
8party; or (iv) an immediate family member of any of the
9foregoing. As used in this Article IV, Section 3, "immediate
10family member" is a person with whom the person has a bona fide
11relationship established through close blood or legal kinship.
12If any member of the Temporary Redistricting Advisory
13Commission shall be unable to fulfill the duties required under
14this Section, then the person who appointed said member, or
15that person's successor, shall appoint a person to fill said
16vacancy within five days of the occurrence of the vacancy.
17    A meeting of a majority of a quorum of the Temporary
18Redistricting Advisory Commission shall be open to the public
19with at least twenty-four hour notice.
20    The Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission shall have
21authority to hire independent private firms for any assistance.
22The Commission shall conduct at least five public hearings on
23separate days around five distinct geographic regions of the
24State before voting on any redistricting plans, and at least
25three of the hearings shall be after receipt of the data from
26the United States Census Bureau. Within three days after

 

 

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1receipt of the data from the United States Census Bureau, the
2Commission shall make that data, together with redistricting
3software, available to the public.
4    (b) The Commission shall approve any redistricting plans by
5a majority vote of its members.
6    The Commission shall establish districts pursuant to a
7mapping process using the following criteria as set forth in
8the following order of priority:
9        (1) Districts shall comply with all Federal laws and
10    shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or
11    abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language
12    minorities to participate in the political process or to
13    diminish their ability to elect representatives of their
14    choice.
15        (2) Districts shall be contiguous.
16        (3) Districts shall be substantially equal in
17    population.
18        (4) Districts shall be compact.
19        (5) District boundaries shall, to the extent
20    practical, follow visible geographic features and
21    municipal boundaries.
22        (6) The plan shall not be drawn to purposefully or
23    significantly favor or discriminate against any political
24    party or group.
25    Party registration, voting history data and incumbency
26shall not be considered in the mapping process, except to

 

 

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1evaluate compliance with the criteria listed in subsections
2(b)(1) and (b)(6). The Commission shall establish definitions
3where applicable for each of the criteria listed in subsections
4(b)(1)-(6).
5    A Representative District need not be entirely within a
6single Legislative District.
7    After preliminary approval of the redistricting plans, the
8Commission shall release the proposed plans to the public,
9conduct at least three public hearings around three distinct
10geographic regions of the State, and submit a report to the
11General Assembly. At any time prior to the submission of a plan
12under subsection (c), any member of the General Assembly or
13general public may submit a plan to be considered by the
14Commission and for public viewing. All documents submitted to
15or plans considered by the Commission shall be made available
16to the public within a reasonable time period.
17    (c) After conducting the required public hearings, the
18Commission shall approve by a majority vote a Representative
19redistricting plan by third Monday in May, which the Chair of
20the Commission shall deliver to the House of Representatives on
21the third business day after approval. The House must take a
22record vote to accept the plan by a House Resolution. The
23Resolution is adopted if it receives the affirmative vote of at
24least two-thirds of the members elected.
25    After conducting the required public hearings, the
26Commission shall approve by a majority vote a Senate

 

 

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1redistricting plan by the third Monday in May, which the Chair
2of the Commission shall deliver to the Senate on the third
3business day after approval. The Senate must take a record vote
4to accept the plan by a Senate Resolution. The Resolution is
5adopted if it receives the affirmative vote of at least
6two-thirds of the members elected.
7    Redistricting plans may not be amended by either chamber.
8An adopted redistricting resolution shall be filed with the
9Secretary of State by the presiding officer of the chamber that
10initiated the resolution. Each chamber shall have until the
11first Monday in June to file a resolution with the Secretary of
12State approving the redistricting plan.
13    (d) If a plan is not adopted by a chamber of the General
14Assembly, the Commission shall approve an alternative
15redistricting plan no later than third Monday in June, and the
16Chair of the Commission shall deliver that plan to the
17appropriate chamber of the General Assembly on the third
18business day after approval. The appropriate chamber of the
19General Assembly shall approve or reject that plan in the same
20manner established by subsection (c). Each chamber shall have
21until the first Monday in July to file a resolution with the
22Secretary of State approving the alternative redistricting
23plan.
24    (e) If a plan is not approved by a chamber of the General
25Assembly by the first Monday in July, the Commission shall
26approve by a majority one of the two previous plans submitted

 

 

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1to the appropriate chamber of the General Assembly under
2subsections (c) and (d). The Chair of the Commission shall file
3the approved redistricting plan for the appropriate chamber
4with the Secretary of State not later than the third Monday in
5July.
6    (f) If at any time the Temporary Redistricting Advisory
7Commission fails to meet one of the deadlines set forth herein,
8the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a Supreme Court
9Judge chosen by the Judges of the Supreme Court who are not of
10the political party of the Chief Justice shall within ten days
11jointly appoint and certify to the Secretary of State one
12person to act as Special Master to generate any maps not
13previously approved. No person may serve as Special Master who
14is not eligible to serve on the Temporary Redistricting
15Advisory Commission. A person who serves as Special Master is
16not eligible to be elected to the General Assembly or appointed
17to any office that is subject to confirmation by the Senate for
18ten years after completion of service as a Special Master. A
19Special Master shall consider all redistricting plans
20delivered by or submitted to the Temporary Redistricting
21Advisory Commission, the Senate, or the House as applicable.
22The Special Master shall have authority to hire independent
23assistance, make available the data received from the United
24States Census Bureau, together with redistricting software, to
25the public within three days of receipt unless the Temporary
26Redistricting Advisory Commission has already done so; shall

 

 

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1conduct at least five public hearings on separate days around
2five distinct geographic regions of the State after receipt of
3the data from the United States Census Bureau and before
4promulgating any preliminary redistricting plans, and shall
5hold at least three public hearings on separate days around
6three distinct geographic regions of the State after
7promulgating any preliminary redistricting plans and before
8finalizing any plan or plans. All documents submitted to or
9utilized by the Special Master shall be made available to the
10public within a reasonable amount of time. The Special Master
11shall file a redistricting plan complying with the criteria set
12forth in subsection 3(b) for the Legislative Districts and
13Representative Districts, as applicable, with the Secretary of
14State not later than September 30.
15    (a) Legislative Districts shall be compact, contiguous and
16substantially equal in population. Representative Districts
17shall be compact, contiguous, and substantially equal in
18population.
19    (b) In the year following each Federal decennial census
20year, the General Assembly by law shall redistrict the
21Legislative Districts and the Representative Districts.
22    If no redistricting plan becomes effective by June 30 of
23that year, a Legislative Redistricting Commission shall be
24constituted not later than July 10. The Commission shall
25consist of eight members, no more than four of whom shall be
26members of the same political party.

 

 

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1    The Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of
2Representatives shall each appoint to the Commission one
3Representative and one person who is not a member of the
4General Assembly. The President and Minority Leader of the
5Senate shall each appoint to the Commission one Senator and one
6person who is not a member of the General Assembly.
7    The members shall be certified to the Secretary of State by
8the appointing authorities. A vacancy on the Commission shall
9be filled within five days by the authority that made the
10original appointment. A Chairman and Vice Chairman shall be
11chosen by a majority of all members of the Commission.
12    Not later than August 10, the Commission shall file with
13the Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at
14least five members.
15    If the Commission fails to file an approved redistricting
16plan, the Supreme Court shall submit the names of two persons,
17not of the same political party, to the Secretary of State not
18later than September 1.
19    Not later than September 5, the Secretary of State publicly
20shall draw by random selection the name of one of the two
21persons to serve as the ninth member of the Commission.
22    Not later than October 5, the Commission shall file with
23the Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at
24least five members.
25    (g) A An approved redistricting resolution or
26redistricting plan filed with the Secretary of State shall be

 

 

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1presumed valid, shall have the force and effect of law and
2shall be published promptly by the Secretary of State.
3    The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive
4jurisdiction over actions concerning redistricting the House
5and Senate, which shall be initiated in the name of the People
6of the State by the Attorney General.
7(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
81980.)
 
9
SCHEDULE
10    The State Board of Elections shall proceed, as soon as all
11the returns are received but no later than 31 days after the
12election, to canvass the votes given for and against this
13Constitutional Amendment, as shown by the abstracts of votes
14cast. If this Constitutional Amendment is approved by either
15three-fifths of those voting on the question or a majority of
16those voting in the election, then the State Board of Elections
17shall declare the adoption of this Constitutional Amendment and
18it shall, upon declaration of its adoption, take effect and
19become a part of the Constitution of this State. This Schedule
20supersedes and applies notwithstanding any statute to the
21contrary, and no other requirements, including without
22limitation proclamation of the results of the vote or notice by
23publication, are necessary for its effectiveness. This
24Constitutional Amendment applies to redistricting beginning in
252021 for the election of members of the General Assembly

 

 

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1beginning in 2022.