96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
SC0040

 

Introduced 2/25/2009, by Sen. Chris Lauzen

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 1
ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 8

    Proposes to amend the Legislature Article of the Illinois Constitution. Authorizes electors to propose bills by petition. Provides for submission of such bills to both houses of the General Assembly and for record votes to be taken. Effective upon being declared adopted.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
2
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

 
 
3     WHEREAS, We are, in the words of President Abraham Lincoln,
4 a "government of the people, by the people, and for the
5 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 to
10 our form of self-government; therefore, be it
 
11     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL
12 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
13 CONCURRING HEREIN, that there shall be submitted to the
14 electors of the State for adoption or rejection at the general
15 election next occurring at least 6 months after the adoption of
16 this resolution a proposition to amend Sections 1 and 8 of
17 Article IV of the Constitution as follows:
 
 
18
ARTICLE IV
19
THE LEGISLATURE

 

 

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1     (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 1)
2 SECTION 1. LEGISLATURE - POWER AND STRUCTURE
3     (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the legislative
4 power is vested in a General Assembly consisting of a Senate
5 and a House of Representatives, elected by the electors from 59
6 Legislative Districts and 118 Representative Districts.
7     (b) The electors reserve to themselves the legislative
8 power to propose bills by petition for consideration by the
9 General Assembly as provided in subsection (b-5) of Section 8.
10 (Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
11 1980.)
 
12     (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 8)
13 SECTION 8. PASSAGE OF BILLS
14     (a) The enacting clause of the laws of this State shall be:
15 "Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
16 represented in the General Assembly."
17     (b) The General Assembly shall enact laws only by bill.
18 Except as provided in subsection (b-5), bills may originate in
19 either house, but may be amended or rejected by the other.
20     (b-5) Bills may be proposed by a petition signed by a
21 number of electors equal in number to at least 6% of the total
22 votes cast for candidates for Governor in the preceding
23 gubernatorial election. A petition shall contain the text of
24 the bill, shall have been signed by the petitioning electors
25 not more than one year preceding the filing of the petition,

 

 

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1 and shall be filed with the Secretary of State not earlier than
2 the second Wednesday in January in any year and not later than
3 the fourth Wednesday in March in that year. The procedure for
4 determining the validity and sufficiency of a petition shall be
5 provided by law, but the procedure shall take not longer than
6 30 days.
7     If a petition is determined to be valid and sufficient as
8 provided by law, the bill proposed by the petition shall be
9 proposed to the members of the House of Representatives by the
10 Speaker of the House of Representatives and to the members of
11 the Senate by the President of the Senate. The bill may not be
12 amended by either house. A record vote of all the members of
13 the House of Representatives and all the members of the Senate
14 shall be taken on the bill not more than 30 days after the
15 petition is determined to be valid and sufficient.
16     (c) No bill shall become a law without the concurrence of a
17 majority of the members elected to each house. Final passage of
18 a bill shall be by record vote. In the Senate at the request of
19 two members, and in the House at the request of five members, a
20 record vote may be taken on any other occasion. A record vote
21 is a vote by yeas and nays entered on the journal.
22     (d) A bill shall be read by title on three different days
23 in each house. A bill and each amendment thereto shall be
24 reproduced and placed on the desk of each member before final
25 passage.
26     Bills, except bills for appropriations and for the

 

 

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1 codification, revision or rearrangement of laws, shall be
2 confined to one subject. Appropriation bills shall be limited
3 to the subject of appropriations.
4     A bill expressly amending a law shall set forth completely
5 the sections amended.
6     The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
7 President of the Senate shall sign each bill that passes both
8 houses to certify that the procedural requirements for passage
9 have been met.
10 (Source: Illinois Constitution.)
 
11
SCHEDULE
12     This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being
13 declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois
14 Constitutional Amendment Act.