HB4881ham001 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Jay C. Hoffman

Filed: 3/29/2004

09300HB4881ham001 LRB093 20917 DRH 49106 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4881

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4881 on page 16, line 25, by replacing "Section 18c-1201.1," with "Sections 18c-1201.1 and 18c-1201.2,"; and

on page 27, line 16, by replacing "rights of" with "rights, or change in the collective bargaining unit, of"; and

on page 27, below line 22, by inserting the following:

"(625 ILCS 5/18c-1201.2 new)

Sec. 18c-1201.2. Joint Committee on Railroad Safety.

(a) There is created a Joint Committee on Railroad Safety, which is authorized to conduct a review, prior to publication of first notice of the review in the Illinois Register, of each railroad safety rule proposed for adoption, amendment, or repeal by the Department in accordance with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. No proposed rule, amendment, or repealer may be filed with the Secretary of State to initiate first notice of publication unless the rule, amendment, or repealer has been approved by an affirmative vote of 3 members of the Committee. The Committee must also review and approve by an affirmative vote of 3 members all emergency and peremptory rulemakings before adoption by the Department in accordance with the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. The initial transfer of existing rules of the Illinois Commerce Commission to the Illinois Department of Transportation does not require the review and approval by the Committee prescribed by this subsection (a).

(b) The Committee shall be composed of 4 members chosen by the Governor.

The Governor shall appoint 2 members of the same political party with which the Governor is affiliated.

The Governor shall appoint 2 members of the political party whose candidate for Governor in the most recent general election received the second highest number of votes from a list of nominees submitted by the first State executive officer, in the order indicated, affiliated with that political party: Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Treasurer. If none of the State executive officers listed is affiliated with that political party, the nominating State officer shall be the first State executive officer, in the order indicated, affiliated with an established political party other than that of the Governor.

(c) The nominating State officer shall submit in writing to the Governor 3 names of qualified persons for each membership on the Committee to be appointed from the political party of that officer. The Governor may reject any or all of the nominees on the list and may request an additional list. The second list shall be submitted by the nominating officer and shall contain 3 new names of qualified persons for each remaining appointment, except that if the Governor expressly reserves any nominee's name from the first list, that nominee shall not be replaced on the second list. The second list shall be final.

(d) Whenever all the State executive officers designated in subsection (b) are affiliated with the same political party as that of the Governor, all 4 members of the Committee to be appointed that year, from both designated political parties, shall be appointed by the Governor without nominations.

(e) The Governor shall submit in writing to the President of the Senate the name of each person appointed to the Committee, and shall designate the term for which the appointment is made and the name of the member whom the appointee is to succeed.

(f) Of the members initially appointed to the Committee under this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, one member affiliated with each political party shall serve a term commencing July 1, 2005 and ending July 1, 2007, and the other initial members shall serve terms commencing July 1, 2005 and ending July 1, 2009.

The terms of subsequent members of the Committee shall be 4 years commencing on July 1 of the year in which the appointments are made.

A member shall serve until his or her successor is duly appointed and has qualified. An appointee may not enter upon the duties of office until all members required to be appointed in that year have been confirmed by the Senate by record vote under subsection (g).

(g) All appointments of members to the Committee are subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. Appointments by the Governor under subsection (b) require the advice and consent of a 3/5 vote of the members elected to the Senate. Appointments by the Governor under subsection (d) require the advice and consent of a 2/3 vote of the members elected to the Senate.

(h) An appointment to fill each vacancy on the Committee shall be made under subsection (b) or (d) in the same manner as the appointment of members for new terms. Each appointment to fill a vacancy shall be for the completion of the term of that position.

The Governor shall make an appointment to fill each vacancy and shall submit it to the President of the Senate within 30 days of the occurrence of the vacancy, or within 30 days of the submission of a list of nominees to him or her under subsection (c), whichever is later. A nominating State officer shall submit to the Governor the required list of nominees to fill a vacancy within 15 days of the occurrence of the vacancy. If the Governor does not fill a vacancy required to be filled under subsection (c) within the required 30 days, the nominating State officer shall make the appointment from among the nominees he or she previously submitted.

(i) One member of the Committee shall be elected by the members of the Committee to be Chairman and shall serve as Chairman of the Committee for a term ending July 1, 2007. On July 1 of 2007 and on July 1 of each succeeding odd-numbered year, a Chairman shall be elected by the members of the Committee for a 2-year term ending July 1 of the next odd-numbered year. If July 1 of any odd-numbered year does not fall on a business day, the election shall be held on the next business day. The Chairman elected for each 2-year term may not be of the same political party affiliation as the prior Chairman. Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of Chairman, a new Chairman of the same political party affiliation shall be elected for the remainder of the vacating Chairman's term. Whenever a Chairman is elected, the Committee shall elect, from among its members, a Vice Chairman, who may not be of the same political party affiliation as the Chairman.

Upon the confirmation of all of the members of the Committee initially appointed under this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, the Governor shall designate one of the members as interim Chairman, who shall preside over the Committee until a Chairman is elected under this subsection (i).

(j) A member of the Committee may serve no more than 4 years on the Committee. Committee members shall receive no compensation, but shall be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses.

The Senate must confirm or reject appointments within 30 session days or 60 calendar days after they are submitted by the Governor, whichever occurs first. Except in the case of appointments to fill vacancies, the confirmation time period specified in this Section does not commence until all appointments required to be made in that year have been submitted by the Governor.

(k) If the Department submits a rulemaking to the Committee for approval in accordance with subsection (a), the Department shall state the specific statutory authority or other requirement under which the rulemaking is necessary and any other relevant information the Committee may require.

(l) The Committee's powers and duties shall not include projects or appropriations."; and

on page 39, by replacing lines 15 through 25 with the following:

"in either direction from each grade crossing. The Department Commission shall have power, upon its own motion, or upon complaint, and after having made proper investigation, to require the installation of adequate and appropriate luminous reflective warning signs, luminous flashing signals, crossing gates illuminated at night, or other protective devices in order to promote and safeguard the health and safety of the public. The installation of luminous flashing signal or crossing gate devices at a grade crossing does not displace or preempt a railroad's common law duty to provide any additional warning devices which may be necessary to adequately alert motorists or pedestrians of approaching trains. Nothing in this Act prohibits a railroad from unilaterally initiating the installation of luminous flashing signals or automatic crossing gates at public grade crossings, if engineering and construction plans are first submitted to, and approved by, the Department. Luminous flashing signal or crossing gate devices installed at grade crossings, which have been approved by the Commission, shall be deemed adequate and appropriate. The Department Commission shall have authority to"; and

on page 41, line 14, after the period, by inserting "The Department may not utilize federal funding for the installation or improvement of passive or reflectorized crossbuck signs or other warning signs at or near any public grade crossing. The Department may not utilize any federal funding for the installation of luminous flashing signals at grade crossings, unless the devices are installed in conjunction with automatic crossing gates."; and

on page 51, lines 15 and 16, by replacing "July 1, 2004." with "January 1, 2005.".