Full Text of HB5211 096th General Assembly
HB5211 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010 HB5211
Introduced 2/3/2010, by Rep. Harry Osterman SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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10 ILCS 5/2A-1.1 |
from Ch. 46, par. 2A-1.1 |
10 ILCS 5/7A-1 |
from Ch. 46, par. 7A-1 |
25 ILCS 115/4 |
from Ch. 63, par. 15.1 |
25 ILCS 130/9-2.5 |
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Amends the Election Code, the General Assembly Compensation Act, and the Legislative Commission Reorganization Act of 1984. Changes the general primary election from the first Tuesday in February of even-numbered years to the fourth Tuesday in April of even-numbered years. Makes conforming changes with respect to (i) filing of declarations of judicial retention and (ii) printing and mailing of legislators' newsletters and brochures.
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A BILL FOR
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HB5211 |
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LRB096 18371 JAM 33748 b |
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| AN ACT concerning elections.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing | 5 |
| Sections 2A-1.1 and 7A-1 as follows:
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| (10 ILCS 5/2A-1.1) (from Ch. 46, par. 2A-1.1)
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| Sec. 2A-1.1. All Elections - Consolidated Schedule. | 8 |
| (a) In
even-numbered years, the general election shall be | 9 |
| held on the first
Tuesday after the first Monday of November; | 10 |
| and an election to be known
as the general primary election | 11 |
| shall be held on the fourth first Tuesday in April February ;
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| (b) In odd-numbered years, an election to be known as the
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| consolidated election shall be held on the first Tuesday in | 14 |
| April except
as provided in Section 2A-1.1a of this Act; and
an | 15 |
| election to be known as the consolidated primary election shall | 16 |
| be
held on the last Tuesday in February.
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| (Source: P.A. 95-6, eff. 6-20-07.)
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| (10 ILCS 5/7A-1) (from Ch. 46, par. 7A-1)
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| Sec. 7A-1.
Any Supreme, Appellate or Circuit Judge who has | 20 |
| been elected
to that office and who seeks to be retained in | 21 |
| that office under subsection
(d) of Section 12 of Article VI of | 22 |
| the Constitution shall file a declaration
of candidacy to |
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| succeed himself in the office of the Secretary of State
on or | 2 |
| before the fourth first Monday in February December before the | 3 |
| general election preceding
the expiration of his term of | 4 |
| office. Within 3 business days thereafter,
the Secretary of | 5 |
| State shall certify to the State Board of Elections the
names | 6 |
| of all incumbent judges who were eligible to stand for | 7 |
| retention at
the next general election but failed to timely | 8 |
| file a declaration of
candidacy to succeed themselves in office | 9 |
| or, having timely filed such a
declaration, withdrew it. The | 10 |
| State Board of Elections may rely upon the
certification from | 11 |
| the Secretary of State (a) to determine when vacancies
in | 12 |
| judicial office exist and (b) to determine the judicial | 13 |
| positions for
which elections will be held. The Secretary of | 14 |
| State, not less
than 63 days before the election, shall certify | 15 |
| the Judge's candidacy to
the proper election officials. The | 16 |
| names of Judges seeking retention shall
be submitted to the | 17 |
| electors, separately and without party designation,
on the sole | 18 |
| question whether each Judge shall be retained in office for
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| another term. The retention elections shall be conducted at | 20 |
| general elections
in the appropriate Judicial District, for | 21 |
| Supreme and Appellate Judges,
and in the circuit for Circuit | 22 |
| Judges. The affirmative vote of three-fifths
of the electors | 23 |
| voting on the question shall elect the Judge to the office
for | 24 |
| a term commencing on the first Monday in December following his | 25 |
| election.
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| (Source: P.A. 86-1348 .)
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| Section 10. The General Assembly Compensation Act is | 2 |
| amended by changing Section 4 as follows: | 3 |
| (25 ILCS 115/4) (from Ch. 63, par. 15.1)
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| Sec. 4. Office allowance. Beginning July 1, 2001, each | 5 |
| member
of the House
of Representatives is authorized to approve | 6 |
| the expenditure of not more than
$61,000 per year and each | 7 |
| member of the
Senate is authorized to approve the
expenditure | 8 |
| of not more than $73,000 per
year to pay for "personal | 9 |
| services",
"contractual services", "commodities", "printing", | 10 |
| "travel",
"operation of automotive equipment", | 11 |
| "telecommunications services", as
defined in the State Finance | 12 |
| Act, and the compensation of one or more
legislative assistants | 13 |
| authorized pursuant to this Section, in connection
with his or | 14 |
| her legislative duties and not in connection with any political
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| campaign.
On July 1, 2002 and on July 1 of each year | 16 |
| thereafter, the amount authorized
per year under this Section | 17 |
| for each member of the Senate and each member of
the House of | 18 |
| Representatives shall be increased by a percentage increase
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| equivalent to the lesser of (i) the increase in the designated | 20 |
| cost of living
index or (ii) 5%. The designated cost of living | 21 |
| index is the index known as
the "Employment Cost Index, Wages | 22 |
| and Salaries, By
Occupation and Industry Groups: State and | 23 |
| Local Government Workers: Public
Administration" as published | 24 |
| by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.
Department of |
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| Labor for the calendar year immediately preceding the year of | 2 |
| the
respective July 1st increase date. The increase shall be | 3 |
| added to the then
current amount, and the adjusted amount so | 4 |
| determined shall be the annual
amount beginning July 1 of the | 5 |
| increase year until July 1 of the next year. No
increase under | 6 |
| this provision shall be less than zero.
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| A member may purchase office equipment if the member | 8 |
| certifies
to the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the | 9 |
| House, as applicable,
that the purchase price, whether paid in | 10 |
| lump sum or installments, amounts
to less than would be charged | 11 |
| for renting or leasing the equipment over
its anticipated | 12 |
| useful life. All such equipment must be purchased through
the | 13 |
| Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House, as | 14 |
| applicable, for
proper identification and verification of | 15 |
| purchase.
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| Each member of the General Assembly is authorized to employ | 17 |
| one or more
legislative assistants, who shall be solely under | 18 |
| the direction and control
of that member, for the purpose of | 19 |
| assisting the member in the performance
of his or her official | 20 |
| duties. A legislative assistant may be employed
pursuant to | 21 |
| this Section as a full-time employee, part-time employee, or
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| contractual employee, at
the discretion of the member. If | 23 |
| employed as a State employee, a
legislative assistant shall | 24 |
| receive employment benefits on the same terms
and conditions | 25 |
| that apply to other employees of the General Assembly.
Each | 26 |
| member shall adopt and implement personnel policies
for |
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| legislative assistants under his or her direction and
control | 2 |
| relating to work time requirements, documentation for | 3 |
| reimbursement for
travel on official State business, | 4 |
| compensation, and the earning and accrual of
State benefits for | 5 |
| those legislative assistants who may be eligible to receive
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| those benefits.
The policies shall also require legislative | 7 |
| assistants to
periodically submit time sheets documenting, in | 8 |
| quarter-hour increments, the
time
spent each day on official | 9 |
| State business.
The
policies shall require the time sheets to | 10 |
| be submitted on paper,
electronically, or both and to be | 11 |
| maintained in either paper or electronic
format by the | 12 |
| applicable fiscal office
for a period of at least 2 years.
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| Contractual employees may satisfy
the time sheets requirement | 14 |
| by complying with the terms of their contract,
which shall | 15 |
| provide for a means of compliance with this requirement.
A | 16 |
| member may
satisfy the requirements of this paragraph by | 17 |
| adopting and implementing the
personnel policies promulgated | 18 |
| by that
member's legislative leader under the State Officials | 19 |
| and Employees Ethics
Act
with respect to that member's | 20 |
| legislative
assistants.
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| As used in this Section the term "personal services" shall | 22 |
| include
contributions of the State under the Federal Insurance | 23 |
| Contribution Act and
under Article 14 of the Illinois Pension | 24 |
| Code. As used in this Section the
term "contractual services" | 25 |
| shall not include improvements to real property
unless those | 26 |
| improvements are the obligation of the lessee under the lease
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| agreement. Beginning July 1, 1989, as used in the Section, the | 2 |
| term "travel"
shall be limited to travel in connection with a | 3 |
| member's legislative duties and
not in connection with any | 4 |
| political campaign. Beginning on the effective
date of this | 5 |
| amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, as
used
in this | 6 |
| Section, the term "printing" includes, but is not limited to,
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| newsletters,
brochures, certificates,
congratulatory
mailings,
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| greeting or welcome messages, anniversary or
birthday cards, | 9 |
| and congratulations for prominent achievement cards. As used
in | 10 |
| this Section, the term "printing" includes fees for | 11 |
| non-substantive
resolutions charged by the Clerk of the House | 12 |
| of Representatives under
subsection (c-5) of Section 1 of the | 13 |
| Legislative Materials Act.
No newsletter or brochure that is | 14 |
| paid for, in whole or in part, with
funds
provided under this | 15 |
| Section may be printed or mailed during a period
beginning | 16 |
| March 15 December 15 of the year of preceding a general primary
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| election and ending the day after the general primary election | 18 |
| and during a
period beginning September 1 of the year of a | 19 |
| general election and ending the
day after the general election, | 20 |
| except that such a newsletter or brochure may
be mailed during
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| those times if it is mailed to a constituent in response to | 22 |
| that constituent's
inquiry concerning the needs of that | 23 |
| constituent or questions raised by that
constituent.
Nothing in
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| this Section shall be construed to authorize expenditures for | 25 |
| lodging and meals
while a member is in attendance at sessions | 26 |
| of the General Assembly.
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| Any utility bill for service provided to a member's | 2 |
| district office for
a period including portions of 2 | 3 |
| consecutive fiscal years may be paid from
funds appropriated | 4 |
| for such expenditure in either fiscal year.
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| If a vacancy occurs in the office of Senator or | 6 |
| Representative in the General
Assembly, any office equipment in | 7 |
| the possession of the vacating member
shall transfer to the | 8 |
| member's successor; if the successor does not want
such | 9 |
| equipment, it shall be transferred to the Secretary of the | 10 |
| Senate or
Clerk of the House of Representatives, as the case | 11 |
| may be, and if not
wanted by other members of the General | 12 |
| Assembly then to the Department of
Central Management Services | 13 |
| for treatment as surplus property under the
State Property | 14 |
| Control Act. Each member, on or before June 30th of each
year, | 15 |
| shall conduct an inventory of all equipment purchased pursuant | 16 |
| to
this Act. Such inventory shall be filed with the Secretary | 17 |
| of the Senate
or the Clerk of the House, as the case may be. | 18 |
| Whenever a vacancy occurs,
the Secretary of the Senate or the | 19 |
| Clerk of the House, as the case may be,
shall conduct an | 20 |
| inventory of equipment purchased.
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| In the event that a member leaves office during his or her | 22 |
| term, any
unexpended or unobligated portion of the allowance | 23 |
| granted under this Section
shall lapse. The vacating member's | 24 |
| successor shall be granted an allowance
in an amount, rounded | 25 |
| to the nearest dollar, computed by dividing the annual
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| allowance by 365 and multiplying the quotient by the number of |
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| days remaining
in the fiscal year.
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| From any appropriation for the purposes of this Section for | 3 |
| a
fiscal year which overlaps 2 General Assemblies, no more than | 4 |
| 1/2 of the
annual allowance per member may be spent or | 5 |
| encumbered by any member of
either the outgoing or incoming | 6 |
| General Assembly, except that any member
of the incoming | 7 |
| General Assembly who was a member of the outgoing General
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| Assembly may encumber or spend any portion of his annual | 9 |
| allowance within
the fiscal year.
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| The appropriation for the annual allowances permitted by | 11 |
| this Section
shall be included in an appropriation to the | 12 |
| President of the Senate and to
the Speaker of the House of | 13 |
| Representatives for their respective members.
The President of | 14 |
| the Senate and the Speaker of the House shall voucher for
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| payment individual members' expenditures from their annual | 16 |
| office
allowances to the State Comptroller, subject to the | 17 |
| authority of the
Comptroller under Section 9 of the State | 18 |
| Comptroller Act.
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| Nothing in this Section prohibits the expenditure of | 20 |
| personal funds or the funds of a political committee controlled | 21 |
| by an officeholder to defray the customary and reasonable | 22 |
| expenses of an officeholder in connection with the performance | 23 |
| of governmental and public service functions. | 24 |
| (Source: P.A. 95-6, eff. 6-20-07; 96-555, eff. 8-18-09.)
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| Section 15. The Legislative Commission Reorganization Act |
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| of 1984 is amended by changing Section 9-2.5 as follows: | 2 |
| (25 ILCS 130/9-2.5)
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| Sec. 9-2.5. Newsletters and brochures. The Legislative | 4 |
| Printing Unit may
not print for any member of the General | 5 |
| Assembly any newsletters or brochures
during the period | 6 |
| beginning March 15 December 15 of the
year of preceding a | 7 |
| general primary election and ending the day after the general | 8 |
| primary
election and during a period beginning September 1 of | 9 |
| the year of a general
election and ending the day after the | 10 |
| general election.
A member of the General Assembly may not | 11 |
| mail, during a period beginning
March 15 December 15 of the | 12 |
| year of preceding a general primary election and ending the day | 13 |
| after
the general primary election and during a period | 14 |
| beginning September 1 of the
year of a general election and | 15 |
| ending the day after the general election, any
newsletters or | 16 |
| brochures
that were printed, at any time, by the Legislative
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| Printing Unit, except that such a newsletter or brochure may be | 18 |
| mailed during
those times if it is mailed to a constituent in | 19 |
| response to that constituent's
inquiry concerning the needs of | 20 |
| that constituent or questions raised by that
constituent.
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| (Source: P.A. 95-6, eff. 6-20-07.)
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