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| 1 | AN ACT creating a commission to study the problems and | ||||||
| 2 | organic laws pertaining to local government.
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| 3 | WHEREAS, Many of the local governmental units in the State | ||||||
| 4 | of Illinois were
established under provisions of the Illinois | ||||||
| 5 | Constitution of 1870; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, There have been rapid changes in the population of | ||||||
| 7 | Illinois in
numbers, in concentration, and in movement, as well | ||||||
| 8 | as vast economic, social,
and technological changes, that | ||||||
| 9 | strain the ability of Illinois local
governments adequately to | ||||||
| 10 | furnish necessary services; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, Illinois local governments were conceived to | ||||||
| 12 | serve a rural society;
in areas not experiencing the impact of | ||||||
| 13 | modern changes, they may be adequate,
but in areas of great | ||||||
| 14 | change, notably the urban areas, they are not
sufficiently | ||||||
| 15 | flexible, do not have adequate powers and financing, and are | ||||||
| 16 | not
responsive to present-day needs in transportation, health, | ||||||
| 17 | water supply, water
pollution, air pollution, recreation, | ||||||
| 18 | disposal of sewage, and disposal of
refuse; and
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| 19 | WHEREAS, The inadequacies in Illinois local governments | ||||||
| 20 | have resulted in the
creation of numerous functional local | ||||||
| 21 | governments all competing for financial
and jurisdictional | ||||||
| 22 | support from the same area; therefore,
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| 23 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||||
| 24 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 25 | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Local | ||||||
| 26 | Government
Consolidation Commission Act.
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| 27 | Section 5. Commission; creation; members. There is created | ||||||
| 28 | a Commission on
Local Government, to consist of
17 members, 3 | ||||||
| 29 | to be members of the Senate appointed by the President of the
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| 30 | Senate, 3 to
be members of the Senate appointed by the Senate | ||||||
| 31 | Minority Leader, 3 to be
members of
the House of | ||||||
| 32 | Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House, 3 to be
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| 1 | members of
the House of Representatives appointed by the House | ||||||
| 2 | Minority Leader, and 5 to
be
citizens of the State appointed by | ||||||
| 3 | the Governor. Of the members appointed by
the Governor, not | ||||||
| 4 | more than 3 shall be
affiliated with the same political party.
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| 5 | Section 10. Study; recommendations. The Commission shall | ||||||
| 6 | make a survey of
the entire structure of
local governments and | ||||||
| 7 | of their organization, powers, jurisdiction, and functions.
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| 8 | Among other things, and without limiting its activities, the | ||||||
| 9 | Commission shall:
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| 10 | (1) Study all laws governing the organization, powers, | ||||||
| 11 | jurisdiction,
and functions of local governments.
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| 12 | (2) Study the inter-relationships of local governments to | ||||||
| 13 | each other and to
federal and State governments.
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| 14 | (3) Formulate specific recommendations for legislation or | ||||||
| 15 | constitutional
amendments to (i) permit effective management | ||||||
| 16 | of local affairs, (ii) encourage
local policy decision making, | ||||||
| 17 | (iii) reduce the multiplicity of local
governments,
(iv) | ||||||
| 18 | eliminate overlapping and duplicating of unnecessary powers, | ||||||
| 19 | (v) increase
efficiency and economy in local governments, and | ||||||
| 20 | (vi) allow optional forms of
local governments and increase | ||||||
| 21 | their authority for cooperation among the levels
of government.
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| 22 | Section 15. Meetings; officers. The members of the | ||||||
| 23 | Commission shall meet and
the Commission
shall be organized | ||||||
| 24 | within 90 days after the effective date of this
Act, and shall | ||||||
| 25 | at that time elect a chair from among the members. The
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| 26 | Commission may adopt its own rules of procedure. The Commission | ||||||
| 27 | may employ or
use the services of specialists in public | ||||||
| 28 | administration and governmental
management and any other | ||||||
| 29 | trained consultants, analysts, investigators, and
assistants | ||||||
| 30 | it may consider necessary, on either a full-time or a part-time
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| 31 | basis.
The Commission shall fix the compensation for any paid | ||||||
| 32 | employees, which shall
be paid from moneys appropriated for | ||||||
| 33 | that purpose.
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| 1 | Section 20. Compensation; expenses. The members of the | ||||||
| 2 | Commission shall
serve without compensation,
but their actual | ||||||
| 3 | traveling and other expenses while engaged in performance of
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| 4 | the duties of the commission shall be paid from moneys | ||||||
| 5 | appropriated
for that purpose.
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| 6 | Section 25. Report. The Commission shall render its final | ||||||
| 7 | report to the
General
Assembly not later than December 31, | ||||||
| 8 | 2006, setting out its findings and
recommendations and | ||||||
| 9 | proposing those measures it considers necessary to effect
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| 10 | essential changes and improvements in the existing laws | ||||||
| 11 | relating to any or
all of the matters enumerated in Section 10 | ||||||
| 12 | of this Act.
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| 13 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
| 14 | becoming law.
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