Bill Text: IL HJRCA0018 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Proposes to amend the Legislature Article of the Illinois Constitution. Eliminates the appointment of persons to fill vacancies in the office of State Senator or Representative. Provides that the vacancy is filled at the next general election if the vacancy occurs 180 or fewer days before the next general election. Provides that the vacancy is filled at a special election as provided by law if the vacancy occurs more than 180 days before the next general election. Provides that the person elected to fill a vacancy serves for the remainder of the term. Effective upon being declared adopted.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-05-02 - Tabled Pursuant to Rule 46 [HJRCA0018 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-HJRCA0018-Introduced.html

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96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2009 and 2010 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT HC0018 Introduced 2/13/2009, by Rep. Mike Boland SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 2
Proposes to amend the Legislature Article of the Illinois Constitution. Eliminates the appointment of persons to fill vacancies in the office of State Senator or Representative. Provides that the vacancy is filled at the next general election if the vacancy occurs 180 or fewer days before the next general election. Provides that the vacancy is filled at a special election as provided by law if the vacancy occurs more than 180 days before the next general election. Provides that the person elected to fill a vacancy serves for the remainder of the term. Effective upon being declared adopted.
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A BILL FOR
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HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there shall be submitted to the
electors of the State for adoption or rejection at the general
election next occurring at least 6 months after the adoption of
this resolution a proposition to amend Section 2 of Article IV
of the Illinois Constitution as follows:
ARTICLE IV
THE LEGISLATURE
(ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 2)
SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE COMPOSITION
(a) One Senator shall be elected from each Legislative
District. Immediately following each decennial redistricting,
the General Assembly by law shall divide the Legislative
Districts as equally as possible into three groups. Senators
from one group shall be elected for terms of four years, four
years and two years; Senators from the second group, for terms
of four years, two years and four years; and Senators from the
third group, for terms of two years, four years and four years.
The Legislative Districts in each group shall be distributed
substantially equally over the State.

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(b) Each Legislative District shall be divided into two
Representative Districts. In 1982 and every two years
thereafter one Representative shall be elected from each
Representative District for a term of two years.
(c) To be eligible to serve as a member of the General
Assembly, a person must be a United States citizen, at least 21
years old, and for the two years preceding his election or
appointment a resident of the district which he is to
represent. In the general election following a redistricting, a
candidate for the General Assembly may be elected from any
district which contains a part of the district in which he
resided at the time of the redistricting and reelected if a
resident of the new district he represents for 18 months prior
to reelection.
(d) If a vacancy in the office of Senator or Representative
occurs 180 or fewer days before the next general election, the
vacancy shall be filled at the next general election. If a
vacancy in the office of Senator or Representative occurs more
than 180 days before the next general election, the vacancy
shall be filled at a special election as provided by law. A
person elected to fill a vacancy in office shall serve for the
remainder of the term. Within thirty days after a vacancy
occurs, it shall be filled by appointment as provided by law.
If the vacancy is in a Senatorial office with more than
twenty-eight months remaining in the term, the appointed
Senator shall serve until the next general election, at which

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time a Senator shall be elected to serve for the remainder of
the term. If the vacancy is in a Representative office or in
any other Senatorial office, the appointment shall be for the
remainder of the term. An appointee to fill a vacancy shall be
a member of the same political party as the person he succeeds.
(e) No member of the General Assembly shall receive
compensation as a public officer or employee from any other
governmental entity for time during which he is in attendance
as a member of the General Assembly.
No member of the General Assembly during the term for which
he was elected or appointed shall be appointed to a public
office which shall have been created or the compensation for
which shall have been increased by the General Assembly during
that term.
(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
1980.)
SCHEDULE
This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being
declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois
Constitutional Amendment Act.