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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL
3 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Senate Rules of the
4 96th General Assembly are amended by changing Rules 2-2, 3-1,
5 and 3-8 as follows:
 
6     (Senate Rule 2-2)
7     2-2. Election of the President.
8     (a) Prior to the election of the President, the Governor
9 shall convene the Senate, designate a Temporary Secretary of
10 the Senate, and preside during the nomination and election of
11 the President. As the first item of business each day prior to
12 the election of the President, the Governor shall order the
13 Temporary Secretary to call the roll of the members to
14 establish the presence of a quorum as required by the
15 Constitution. If a majority of those elected are not present,
16 the Senate shall stand adjourned until the hour of 12:00 noon
17 on the next calendar day, excepting weekends and official State
18 Holidays. If a quorum of members is present, the Governor shall
19 then call for nominations of members for the Office of
20 President. All such nominations shall require a second. When
21 the nominations are completed, the Governor shall direct the
22 Temporary Secretary to call the roll of the members to elect
23 the President.
 

 

 

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1     (b) The election of the President shall require the
2 affirmative vote of a majority of those elected. Debate shall
3 not be in order following nominations and preceding or during
4 the vote, and Senators may not explain their vote on the
5 election of the President.
 
6     (c) No bills may be considered and no committees may be
7 appointed or meet prior to the election of the President.
 
8     (d) When a vacancy in the Office of President occurs, the
9 foregoing procedure shall be employed to elect a new President;
10 however, when the Governor is of a political party other than
11 that of the majority caucus, the Assistant Majority Leader
12 having the greatest seniority of service in the Senate shall
13 preside during the nomination and election of the successor
14 President. No legislative measures, other than such
15 nominations and election, may be considered by the Senate
16 during a vacancy in the Office of President.
17 (Source: S.R. 2, 96th G.A.)
 
18     (Senate Rule 3-1)
19     3-1. Committees.
20     (a) The committees of the Senate are: (i) the standing
21 committees listed in Rule 3-4; (ii) special committees created
22 by resolution or notice under Rule 3-3; and (iii) special
23 subcommittees created by standing committees or by special

 

 

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1 committees under Rule 3-3. Subcommittees may not create
2 subcommittees.
 
3     (b) All committees shall have a Chairperson and Minority
4 Spokesperson, who shall not be of the same caucus, except as
5 provided in Rule 3-2. Committees of the whole shall consist of
6 all Senators. The number of majority caucus members and
7 minority caucus members of all standing committees, and all
8 other committees unless otherwise ordered by the Senate in
9 accordance with these Senate Rules, shall be determined by the
10 President. The numbers of majority caucus and minority caucus
11 members shall become final upon the President filing with the
12 Secretary an appropriate notice, which shall be Journalized.
 
13     (c) The Chairperson of a committee shall have the authority
14 to call the committee to order, designate which legislative
15 measures that are assigned to the committee shall be taken up,
16 order the roll call vote to be taken on each legislative
17 measure called for a vote, preserve order and decorum during
18 committee meetings, assign legislative measures to special
19 subcommittees of the parent committee, jointly sign and issue
20 subpoenas with the President, and implement and supervise the
21 business of the committee. The Vice-Chairperson of a committee
22 may preside over its meetings in the absence or at the
23 direction of the Chairperson.
 

 

 

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1     (d) A vacancy on a committee, or in the Chairperson or
2 Minority Spokesperson position on a committee, occurs when a
3 member resigns from that position or ceases to be a Senator.
4 Resignations shall be made in writing to the Secretary, who
5 shall promptly notify the President and Minority Leader. Absent
6 concurrence by a majority of those elected, or as otherwise
7 provided in Rule 3-5, no member who resigns from a committee
8 shall be reappointed to that committee for the remainder of the
9 term. Replacement members shall be of the same caucus as that
10 of the member who resigns, and shall be appointed by the
11 President or Minority Leader, depending upon the caucus of the
12 resigning member. In the case of vacancies on special
13 subcommittees that were created by committees, the parent
14 committee shall fill the vacancy by motion.
 
15     (e) The Chairperson of a committee shall have the authority
16 to call meetings of that committee, subject to the approval of
17 the President in accordance with Rule 2-5(c)(19). Except as
18 otherwise provided by these Senate Rules, committee meetings
19 shall be convened in accordance with Rule 3-11.
20 (Source: S.R. 2, 96th G.A.)
 
21     (Senate Rule 3-8)
22     3-8. Referrals to Committees.
23     (a) All Senate Bills and House Bills shall, after having
24 been initially read by the Secretary, be automatically referred

 

 

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1 to the Committee on Assignments, which may thereafter refer any
2 bill before it to a committee. The Committee on Assignments may
3 refer any resolution before it to a committee. No bill or
4 resolution may be referred to a committee except pursuant to
5 this Rule or Rule 7-17. A standing or special committee may
6 refer a matter pending in that committee to a special
7 subcommittee of that committee.
 
8     (b) All floor amendments, joint action motions for final
9 action, and conference committee reports shall, upon filing
10 with the Secretary, be automatically referred to the Committee
11 on Assignments. No such amendment, joint action motion, or
12 conference committee report may be considered by the Senate
13 unless approved for consideration by the Committee on
14 Assignments. The Committee on Assignments may approve for
15 consideration to the Senate any floor amendment, joint action
16 motion for final action, or conference committee report that:
17 (i) consists of language that has previously been favorably
18 reported to the Senate by a committee; (ii) consists of
19 technical or clarifying language; or (iii) consists of language
20 deemed by the Committee on Assignments to be of an emergency
21 nature, of substantial importance to the operation of
22 government, or in the best interests of Illinois. The Committee
23 on Assignments may refer any floor amendment, joint action
24 motion for final action, or conference committee report to a
25 committee for its review and consideration (in those instances,

 

 

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1 and notwithstanding any other provision of these Senate Rules,
2 the committee may hold a hearing on and consider those
3 legislative measures pursuant to one-hour advance notice). Any
4 floor amendment, joint action motion for final action, or
5 conference committee report that is not approved for
6 consideration or referred by the Committee on Assignments, and
7 is attempted to be acted upon by a committee shall be out of
8 order, except as provided for under Rule 8-4.
 
9     (b-1) A floor amendment filed by the chief sponsor of a
10 bill shall be automatically referred to the standing committee
11 from which the bill was reported (or to another standing
12 committee as the Committee on Assignments may determine) upon
13 adjournment of the Senate on the third regular session day
14 following the day on which the floor amendment was filed,
15 unless (i) the Committee on Assignments referred the floor
16 amendment to a standing committee or acted on the floor
17 amendment in the first instance and referred it to the Senate
18 for consideration; (ii) the bill is no longer pending before
19 the Senate; (iii) the floor amendment deals with the subject of
20 appropriations or State revenue; or (iv) the Committee on
21 Assignments has determined by a majority vote that the floor
22 amendment substantively alters the nature and scope of the
23 underlying bill. If the Committee on Assignments makes a
24 determination under item (iv) of this subsection, then the
25 Committee on Assignments may, in its discretion, (A) refer the

 

 

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1 floor amendment to any standing committee or (B) not refer the
2 floor amendment to any other committee.
 
3     (c) All committee amendments shall, upon filing with the
4 Secretary, be automatically referred to the Committee on
5 Assignments. No committee amendment may be considered by a
6 committee unless the committee amendment is referred to the
7 committee by the Committee on Assignments. Any committee
8 amendment referred by the Committee on Assignments shall be
9 referred to the committee before which the underlying bill or
10 resolution is pending. Any committee amendment that is not
11 referred by the Committee on Assignments to a committee, and is
12 attempted to be acted upon by a committee shall be out of
13 order.
 
14     (c-1) A committee amendment filed by the chief sponsor of a
15 bill shall be automatically referred to the standing committee
16 to which the bill was assigned upon adjournment of the Senate
17 on the third regular session day following the day on which the
18 committee amendment was filed, unless (i) the Committee on
19 Assignments referred the committee amendment to the standing
20 committee to which the bill was assigned; (ii) the bill is no
21 longer pending before the committee; (iii) the committee
22 amendment deals with the subject of appropriations or State
23 revenue; or (iv) the Committee on Assignments has determined by
24 a majority vote that the committee amendment substantively

 

 

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1 alters the nature and scope of the underlying bill. If the
2 Committee on Assignments makes a determination under item (iv)
3 of this subsection, then the Committee on Assignments may, in
4 its discretion, (A) refer both the bill and the committee
5 amendment to any standing committee or (B) not refer the
6 committee amendment to any other committee.
 
7     (d) The Committee on Assignments may at any time re-refer a
8 legislative measure from a committee to a Committee of the
9 Whole or to any other committee.
 
10     (d-5) Notwithstanding any other provision of these Senate
11 Rules, any bill pending before the Committee on Assignments
12 shall be immediately referred to the indicated standing
13 committee if the chief sponsor of the bill files a discharge
14 motion for that bill that is signed by no less than
15 three-fifths of the members of both the majority and minority
16 caucus, and each of the members signing the discharge motion is
17 a sponsor of the bill. This subsection does not apply to bills
18 dealing with the subject of appropriations or State revenue.
 
19     (e) This Rule may be suspended by a vote of three-fifths of
20 the members elected.
21 (Source: S.R. 2, 96th G.A.)