97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
HC0016

 

Introduced , by Rep. Robert W. Pritchard

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 2
ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 5

    Proposes to amend the Legislature Article of the Illinois Constitution. Provides that, beginning in 2012, Representatives shall first be elected for terms of four years, then for terms of two years, and then for terms of four years. Adds that whenever a seat in the House of Representatives becomes vacant with more than 28 months remaining in the term, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment until the next general election, at which time a replacement shall be elected to serve for the remainder of the term. Provides that the General Assembly shall be a continuous body for a period beginning and ending at noon on the second Wednesday of January of consecutive odd-numbered years. Applies to the terms of Representatives elected in 2012 and thereafter.


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HC0016LRB097 10164 RLJ 50353 e

1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
2
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
4NINETY-SEVENTH 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 5 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.
24    (b) Each Legislative District shall be divided into two

 

 

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1Representative Districts. In 1982 and every two years
2thereafter One Representative shall be elected from each
3Representative District for a term of two years. During each
4ten-year period, beginning with the general election in 2012,
5Representatives shall first be elected for terms of four years,
6then for terms of two years, and then for terms of four years.
7    (c) To be eligible to serve as a member of the General
8Assembly, a person must be a United States citizen, at least 21
9years old, and for the two years preceding his election or
10appointment a resident of the district which he is to
11represent. In the general election following a redistricting, a
12candidate for the General Assembly may be elected from any
13district which contains a part of the district in which he
14resided at the time of the redistricting and reelected if a
15resident of the new district he represents for 18 months prior
16to reelection.
17    (d) Within thirty days after a vacancy occurs, it shall be
18filled by appointment as provided by law. If the vacancy is in
19a Senatorial or Representative office with more than
20twenty-eight months remaining in the term, the appointed
21Senator or Representative shall serve until the next general
22election, at which time a Senator or Representative shall be
23elected to serve for the remainder of the term. If the vacancy
24is in any other Senatorial or a Representative office or in any
25other Senatorial office, the appointment shall be for the
26remainder of the term. An appointee to fill a vacancy shall be

 

 

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1a member of the same political party as the person he succeeds.
2    (e) No member of the General Assembly shall receive
3compensation as a public officer or employee from any other
4governmental entity for time during which he is in attendance
5as a member of the General Assembly.
6    No member of the General Assembly during the term for which
7he was elected or appointed shall be appointed to a public
8office which shall have been created or the compensation for
9which shall have been increased by the General Assembly during
10that term.
11(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
121980.)
 
13    (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 5)
14SECTION 5. SESSIONS
15    (a) The General Assembly shall convene each year on the
16second Wednesday of January. The General Assembly shall be a
17continuous body for a period beginning and ending at noon on
18the second Wednesday of January of consecutive odd-numbered
19years. during the term for which members of the House of
20Representatives are elected.
21    (b) The Governor may convene the General Assembly or the
22Senate alone in special session by a proclamation stating the
23purpose of the session; and only business encompassed by such
24purpose, together with any impeachments or confirmation of
25appointments shall be transacted. Special sessions of the

 

 

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1General Assembly may also be convened by joint proclamation of
2the presiding officers of both houses, issued as provided by
3law.
4    (c) Sessions of each house of the General Assembly and
5meetings of committees, joint committees and legislative
6commissions shall be open to the public. Sessions and committee
7meetings of a house may be closed to the public if two-thirds
8of the members elected to that house determine that the public
9interest so requires; and meetings of joint committees and
10legislative commissions may be so closed if two-thirds of the
11members elected to each house so determine.
12(Source: Illinois Constitution.)
 
13
SCHEDULE
14    This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being
15declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois
16Constitutional Amendment Act and applies to the terms of
17Representatives elected in 2012 and thereafter.