SR0164 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0164 LRB096 12085 RCE 24143 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Senate Rules of the 96th General Assembly are amended by changing Rules 2-2, 3-1, and 3-8 as follows:

(Senate Rule 2-2)

2-2. Election of the President.

(a) Prior to the election of the President, the Governor shall convene the Senate, designate a Temporary Secretary of the Senate, and preside during the nomination and election of the President. As the first item of business each day prior to the election of the President, the Governor shall order the Temporary Secretary to call the roll of the members to establish the presence of a quorum as required by the Constitution. If a majority of those elected are not present, the Senate shall stand adjourned until the hour of 12:00 noon on the next calendar day, excepting weekends and official State Holidays. If a quorum of members is present, the Governor shall then call for nominations of members for the Office of President. All such nominations shall require a second. When the nominations are completed, the Governor shall direct the Temporary Secretary to call the roll of the members to elect the President.

(b) The election of the President shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of those elected. Debate shall not be in order following nominations and preceding or during the vote, and Senators may not explain their vote on the election of the President.

(c) No bills may be considered and no committees may be appointed or meet prior to the election of the President.

(d) When a vacancy in the Office of President occurs, the foregoing procedure shall be employed to elect a new President; however, when the Governor is of a political party other than that of the majority caucus, the Assistant Majority Leader having the greatest seniority of service in the Senate shall preside during the nomination and election of the successor President. No legislative measures, other than such nominations and election, may be considered by the Senate during a vacancy in the Office of President.

(Source: S.R. 2, 96th G.A.)

(Senate Rule 3-1)

3-1. Committees.

(a) The committees of the Senate are: (i) the standing committees listed in Rule 3-4; (ii) special committees created by resolution or notice under Rule 3-3; and (iii) special subcommittees created by standing committees or by special committees under Rule 3-3. Subcommittees may not create subcommittees.

(b) All committees shall have a Chairperson and Minority Spokesperson, who shall not be of the same caucus, except as provided in Rule 3-2. Committees of the whole shall consist of all Senators. The number of majority caucus members and minority caucus members of all standing committees, and all other committees unless otherwise ordered by the Senate in accordance with these Senate Rules, shall be determined by the President. The numbers of majority caucus and minority caucus members shall become final upon the President filing with the Secretary an appropriate notice, which shall be Journalized.

(c) The Chairperson of a committee shall have the authority to call the committee to order, designate which legislative measures that are assigned to the committee shall be taken up, order the roll call vote to be taken on each legislative measure called for a vote, preserve order and decorum during committee meetings, assign legislative measures to special subcommittees of the parent committee, jointly sign and issue subpoenas with the President, and implement and supervise the business of the committee. The Vice-Chairperson of a committee may preside over its meetings in the absence or at the direction of the Chairperson.

(d) A vacancy on a committee, or in the Chairperson or Minority Spokesperson position on a committee, occurs when a member resigns from that position or ceases to be a Senator. Resignations shall be made in writing to the Secretary, who shall promptly notify the President and Minority Leader. Absent concurrence by a majority of those elected, or as otherwise provided in Rule 3-5, no member who resigns from a committee shall be reappointed to that committee for the remainder of the term. Replacement members shall be of the same caucus as that of the member who resigns, and shall be appointed by the President or Minority Leader, depending upon the caucus of the resigning member. In the case of vacancies on special subcommittees that were created by committees, the parent committee shall fill the vacancy by motion.

(e) The Chairperson of a committee shall have the authority to call meetings of that committee, subject to the approval of the President in accordance with Rule 2-5(c)(19). Except as otherwise provided by these Senate Rules, committee meetings shall be convened in accordance with Rule 3-11.

(Source: S.R. 2, 96th G.A.)

(Senate Rule 3-8)

3-8. Referrals to Committees.

(a) All Senate Bills and House Bills shall, after having been initially read by the Secretary, be automatically referred to the Committee on Assignments, which may thereafter refer any bill before it to a committee. The Committee on Assignments may refer any resolution before it to a committee. No bill or resolution may be referred to a committee except pursuant to this Rule or Rule 7-17. A standing or special committee may refer a matter pending in that committee to a special subcommittee of that committee.

(b) All floor amendments, joint action motions for final action, and conference committee reports shall, upon filing with the Secretary, be automatically referred to the Committee on Assignments. No such amendment, joint action motion, or conference committee report may be considered by the Senate unless approved for consideration by the Committee on Assignments. The Committee on Assignments may approve for consideration to the Senate any floor amendment, joint action motion for final action, or conference committee report that: (i) consists of language that has previously been favorably reported to the Senate by a committee; (ii) consists of technical or clarifying language; or (iii) consists of language deemed by the Committee on Assignments to be of an emergency nature, of substantial importance to the operation of government, or in the best interests of Illinois. The Committee on Assignments may refer any floor amendment, joint action motion for final action, or conference committee report to a committee for its review and consideration (in those instances, and notwithstanding any other provision of these Senate Rules, the committee may hold a hearing on and consider those legislative measures pursuant to one-hour advance notice). Any floor amendment, joint action motion for final action, or conference committee report that is not approved for consideration or referred by the Committee on Assignments, and is attempted to be acted upon by a committee shall be out of order, except as provided for under Rule 8-4.

(b-1) A floor amendment filed by the chief sponsor of a bill shall be automatically referred to the standing committee from which the bill was reported (or to another standing committee as the Committee on Assignments may determine) upon adjournment of the Senate on the third regular session day following the day on which the floor amendment was filed, unless (i) the Committee on Assignments referred the floor amendment to a standing committee or acted on the floor amendment in the first instance and referred it to the Senate for consideration; (ii) the bill is no longer pending before the Senate; (iii) the floor amendment deals with the subject of appropriations or State revenue; or (iv) the Committee on Assignments has determined by a majority vote that the floor amendment substantively alters the nature and scope of the underlying bill. If the Committee on Assignments makes a determination under item (iv) of this subsection, then the Committee on Assignments may, in its discretion, (A) refer the floor amendment to any standing committee or (B) not refer the floor amendment to any other committee.

(c) All committee amendments shall, upon filing with the Secretary, be automatically referred to the Committee on Assignments. No committee amendment may be considered by a committee unless the committee amendment is referred to the committee by the Committee on Assignments. Any committee amendment referred by the Committee on Assignments shall be referred to the committee before which the underlying bill or resolution is pending. Any committee amendment that is not referred by the Committee on Assignments to a committee, and is attempted to be acted upon by a committee shall be out of order.

(c-1) A committee amendment filed by the chief sponsor of a bill shall be automatically referred to the standing committee to which the bill was assigned upon adjournment of the Senate on the third regular session day following the day on which the committee amendment was filed, unless (i) the Committee on Assignments referred the committee amendment to the standing committee to which the bill was assigned; (ii) the bill is no longer pending before the committee; (iii) the committee amendment deals with the subject of appropriations or State revenue; or (iv) the Committee on Assignments has determined by a majority vote that the committee amendment substantively alters the nature and scope of the underlying bill. If the Committee on Assignments makes a determination under item (iv) of this subsection, then the Committee on Assignments may, in its discretion, (A) refer both the bill and the committee amendment to any standing committee or (B) not refer the committee amendment to any other committee.

(d) The Committee on Assignments may at any time re-refer a legislative measure from a committee to a Committee of the Whole or to any other committee.

(d-5) Notwithstanding any other provision of these Senate Rules, any bill pending before the Committee on Assignments shall be immediately referred to the indicated standing committee if the chief sponsor of the bill files a discharge motion for that bill that is signed by no less than three-fifths of the members of both the majority and minority caucus, and each of the members signing the discharge motion is a sponsor of the bill. This subsection does not apply to bills dealing with the subject of appropriations or State revenue.

(e) This Rule may be suspended by a vote of three-fifths of the members elected.

(Source: S.R. 2, 96th G.A.)