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1 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
2 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
3 WHEREAS, We are, in the words of President Abraham
4 Lincoln, a "government of the people, by the people, and for
5 the people"; and
6 WHEREAS, An amendment to the Illinois Constitution built
7 upon the Lincoln principles of government will serve to
8 strengthen our democracy; and
9 WHEREAS, The petition rights of our citizens are central
10 to our form of self-government; therefore, be it
11 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
12 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF
13 REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that there shall be
14 submitted to the electors of the State for adoption or
15 rejection at the general election next occurring at least 6
16 months after the adoption of this resolution a proposition to
17 amend Sections 1 and 8 of Article IV of the Constitution as
18 follows:
19 ARTICLE IV
20 THE LEGISLATURE
21 (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 1)
22 SECTION 1. LEGISLATURE - POWER AND STRUCTURE
23 (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the
24 legislative power is vested in a General Assembly consisting
25 of a Senate and a House of Representatives, elected by the
26 electors from 59 Legislative Districts and 118 Representative
27 Districts.
28 (b) The electors reserve to themselves the legislative
29 power to propose bills by petition for consideration by the
30 General Assembly as provided in subsection (b-5) of Section
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1 8.
2 (Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
3 1980.)
4 (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 8)
5 SECTION 8. PASSAGE OF BILLS
6 (a) The enacting clause of the laws of this State shall
7 be: "Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
8 represented in the General Assembly."
9 (b) The General Assembly shall enact laws only by bill.
10 Except as provided in subsection (b-5), bills may originate
11 in either house, but may be amended or rejected by the other.
12 (b-5) Bills may be proposed by a petition signed by a
13 number of electors equal in number to at least 6% of the
14 total votes cast for candidates for Governor in the preceding
15 gubernatorial election. A petition shall contain the text of
16 the bill, shall have been signed by the petitioning electors
17 not more than one year preceding the filing of the petition,
18 and shall be filed with the Secretary of State not earlier
19 than the second Wednesday in January in any year and not
20 later than the fourth Wednesday in March in that year. The
21 procedure for determining the validity and sufficiency of a
22 petition shall be provided by law, but the procedure shall
23 take not longer than 30 days.
24 If a petition is determined to be valid and sufficient as
25 provided by law, the bill proposed by the petition shall be
26 proposed to the members of the House of Representatives by
27 the Speaker of the House of Representatives and to the
28 members of the Senate by the President of the Senate. The
29 bill may not be amended by either house. A record vote of
30 all the members of the House of Representatives and all the
31 members of the Senate shall be taken on the bill not more
32 than 30 days after the petition is determined to be valid and
33 sufficient.
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1 (c) No bill shall become a law without the concurrence
2 of a majority of the members elected to each house. Final
3 passage of a bill shall be by record vote. In the Senate at
4 the request of two members, and in the House at the request
5 of five members, a record vote may be taken on any other
6 occasion. A record vote is a vote by yeas and nays entered on
7 the journal.
8 (d) A bill shall be read by title on three different
9 days in each house. A bill and each amendment thereto shall
10 be reproduced and placed on the desk of each member before
11 final passage.
12 Bills, except bills for appropriations and for the
13 codification, revision or rearrangement of laws, shall be
14 confined to one subject. Appropriation bills shall be limited
15 to the subject of appropriations.
16 A bill expressly amending a law shall set forth
17 completely the sections amended.
18 The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
19 President of the Senate shall sign each bill that passes both
20 houses to certify that the procedural requirements for
21 passage have been met.
22 (Source: Illinois Constitution.)
23 SCHEDULE
24 This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being
25 declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois
26 Constitutional Amendment Act.