Bill Text: IL HB5211 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: 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.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-15 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB5211 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2009-HB5211-Introduced.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning elections.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Sections 2A-1.1 and 7A-1 as follows:
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6 | (10 ILCS 5/2A-1.1) (from Ch. 46, par. 2A-1.1)
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7 | 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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12 | (b) In odd-numbered years, an election to be known as the
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13 | 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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17 | (Source: P.A. 95-6, eff. 6-20-07.)
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18 | (10 ILCS 5/7A-1) (from Ch. 46, par. 7A-1)
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19 | 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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1 | 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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19 | 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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26 | (Source: P.A. 86-1348 .)
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1 | Section 10. The General Assembly Compensation Act is | ||||||
2 | amended by changing Section 4 as follows:
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3 | (25 ILCS 115/4) (from Ch. 63, par. 15.1)
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4 | 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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15 | 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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19 | 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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1 | 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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7 | 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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16 | 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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22 | 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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1 | 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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6 | 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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13 | 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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21 | 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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1 | 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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7 | newsletters,
brochures, certificates,
congratulatory
mailings,
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8 | 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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17 | 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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21 | 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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24 | 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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1 | 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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5 | 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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21 | 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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26 | allowance by 365 and multiplying the quotient by the number of |
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1 | days remaining
in the fiscal year.
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2 | 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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8 | Assembly may encumber or spend any portion of his annual | ||||||
9 | allowance within
the fiscal year.
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10 | 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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15 | 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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19 | 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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25 | Section 15. The Legislative Commission Reorganization Act |
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1 | of 1984 is amended by changing Section 9-2.5 as follows:
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2 | (25 ILCS 130/9-2.5)
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3 | 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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17 | 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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21 | (Source: P.A. 95-6, eff. 6-20-07.)
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