Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SB0295

LRB104 04087 BDA 14111 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
SB0295

Introduced 1/24/2025, by Sen. Jil Tracy

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

5 ILCS 420/3A-40

Amends the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act. Provides that, for purposes of determining the partisanship of any person who is appointed by the Governor to an office that either requires specific partisanship or limits the number of appointees from a single political party that may be appointed, the vote of that person in the 3 general primary elections immediately preceding the effective date of the appointment shall determine his or her partisanship for that person's term of office. Provides that a person who did not vote, or who voted but did not request a partisan ballot, in the 3 general primary elections immediately preceding the effective date of the appointment or who voted but requested partisan ballots for 2 or more different political parties in the 3 general primary elections immediately preceding the effective date of the appointment shall be deemed an independent for purposes of determining partisanship for that person's term of office.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Governmental Ethics Act is amended by changing Section 3A-40 as follows:

(5 ILCS 420/3A-40)

Sec. 3A-40. Appointees with expired terms; temporary and acting appointees.

(a) A person who is nominated by the Governor on or after August 26, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-582) for any affected office to which appointment requires the advice and consent of the Senate, who is appointed pursuant to that advice and consent, and whose term of office expires on or after August 26, 2011 shall not continue in office longer than 60 calendar days after the expiration of that term of office. After that 60th day, each such office is considered vacant and shall be filled only pursuant to the law applicable to making appointments to that office, subject to the provisions of this Section.

A person who has been nominated by the Governor before August 26, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-582) for any affected office to which appointment requires the advice and consent of the Senate, who has been appointed pursuant to that advice and consent, and whose term of office has expired shall not continue in office longer than 60 calendar days after the date upon which his or her term of office has expired. After that 60 days, each such office is considered vacant and shall be filled only pursuant to the law applicable to making appointments to that office, subject to the provisions of this Section. If the term of office of a person who is subject to this paragraph expires more than 60 calendar days prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, then that office is considered vacant on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, and that vacancy shall be filled only pursuant to the law applicable to making appointments to that office. For the purposes of this subsection (a), "affected office" means (i) an office in which one receives any form of compensation, including salary or per diem, but not including expense reimbursement, or (ii) membership on the board of trustees of a public university.

(b) A person who is appointed by the Governor on or after August 26, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-582) to serve as a temporary appointee during a recess of the Senate, pursuant to Article V, Section 9(b) of the Illinois Constitution or any other applicable statute, to any office to which appointment requires the advice and consent of the Senate shall not continue in office after the next meeting of the Senate unless the Governor has filed a message with the Secretary of the Senate nominating that person to fill that office on or before that meeting date. After that meeting date, each such office is considered vacant and shall be filled only pursuant to the law applicable to making appointments to that office, subject to the provisions of this Section. Any temporary appointment made pursuant to subsection (b) of Section 9 of Article V of the Illinois Constitution or any applicable statute shall be filed with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Senate. The form of the temporary appointment message shall be established by the Senate under its rules.

For the purposes of this subsection (b), a meeting of the Senate does not include a perfunctory session day as designated by the Senate under its rules. For the purposes of this subsection (b), the Senate is in recess on a day in which it is not in session and does not include a perfunctory session day as designated by the Senate under its rules.

(c) A person who is designated by the Governor on or after August 26, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-582) to serve as an acting appointee to any office to which appointment requires the advice and consent of the Senate shall not continue in office more than 60 calendar days unless the Governor files a message with the Secretary of the Senate nominating that person to fill that office within that 60 days. After that 60 days, each such office is considered vacant and shall be filled only pursuant to the law applicable to making appointments to that office, subject to the provisions of this Section. The Governor shall file with the Secretary of the Senate the name of any person who the Governor designates as an acting appointee under this Section. The form of the message designating an appointee as acting shall be established by the Senate under its rules. No person who has been designated by the Governor to serve as an acting appointee to any office to which appointment requires the advice and consent of the Senate shall, except at the Senate's request, be designated again as an acting appointee for that office at the same session of that Senate, subject to the provisions of this Section.

During the term of a General Assembly, the Governor may not designate a person to serve as an acting appointee to any office to which appointment requires the advice and consent of the Senate if that person's nomination to serve as the appointee for the same office was rejected by the Senate of the same General Assembly.

For the purposes of this subsection (c), "acting appointee" means a person designated by the Governor to serve as an acting director or acting secretary pursuant to Section 5-605 of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. "Acting appointee" also means a person designated by the Governor pursuant to any other statute to serve as an acting holder of any office, to execute the duties and functions of any office, or both.

(d) The provisions of this Section apply notwithstanding any law to the contrary. However, the provisions of this Section do not apply to appointments made under Article 1A of the Election Code or to the appointment of any person to serve as Director of the Illinois Power Agency.

(e) Except as otherwise provided by law, for purposes of determining the partisanship of any person who is appointed by the Governor to an office that either requires specific partisanship or limits the number of appointees from a single political party that may be appointed, the vote of that person in the 3 general primary elections immediately preceding the effective date of the appointment shall determine that person's partisanship for his or her term of office. A person who did not vote, or who voted but did not request a partisan ballot, in the 3 general primary elections immediately preceding the effective date of the appointment or who voted but requested partisan ballots for 2 or more different political parties in the 3 general primary elections immediately preceding the effective date of the appointment shall be deemed an independent for purposes of determining partisanship for that person's term of office. After being appointed to an office, no person shall be disqualified from continuing in that office during the term for which that person was appointed, or for holding over thereafter, based on that person's voting in a general primary election after his or her appointment.

This subsection (e) shall apply to a person who is nominated by the Governor on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly and shall apply to all appointments, including those which are acting or temporary.

(Source: P.A. 97-582, eff. 8-26-11; 97-719, eff. 6-29-12; 98-692, eff. 7-1-14.)