Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SJRCA0027
Illinois General Assembly

Previous General Assemblies

Full Text of SJRCA0027  94th General Assembly

SC0027 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

 


 
94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
SC0027

 

Introduced 3/1/2005, by Sen. Chris Lauzen

 

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

    Proposes to amend the Illinois Constitution with respect to legislative powers. Authorizes electors to propose bills by petition. Provides for submission of these bills to both houses of the General Assembly and for record votes to be taken. Effective upon being declared adopted.


LRB094 11607 RCE 42702 e

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SC0027 LRB094 11607 RCE 42702 e

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-FOURTH 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

20     (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 1)
21 SECTION 1. LEGISLATURE - POWER AND STRUCTURE
22     (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the legislative
23 power is vested in a General Assembly consisting of a Senate
24 and a House of Representatives, elected by the electors from 59
25 Legislative Districts and 118 Representative Districts.
26     (b) The electors reserve to themselves the legislative
27 power to propose bills by petition for consideration by the
28 General Assembly as provided in subsection (b-5) of Section 8.

 

 

SC0027 - 2 - LRB094 11607 RCE 42702 e

1 (Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
2 1980.)
 
3     (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 8)
4 SECTION 8. PASSAGE OF BILLS
5     (a) The enacting clause of the laws of this State shall be:
6 "Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
7 represented in the General Assembly."
8     (b) The General Assembly shall enact laws only by bill.
9 Except as provided in subsection (b-5), bills may originate in
10 either house, but may be amended or rejected by the other.
11     (b-5) Bills may be proposed by a petition signed by a
12 number of electors equal in number to at least 6% of the total
13 votes cast for candidates for Governor in the preceding
14 gubernatorial election. A petition shall contain the text of
15 the bill, shall have been signed by the petitioning electors
16 not more than one year preceding the filing of the petition,
17 and shall be filed with the Secretary of State not earlier than
18 the second Wednesday in January in any year and not later than
19 the fourth Wednesday in March in that year. The procedure for
20 determining the validity and sufficiency of a petition shall be
21 provided by law, but the procedure shall take not longer than
22 30 days.
23     If a petition is determined to be valid and sufficient as
24 provided by law, the bill proposed by the petition shall be
25 proposed to the members of the House of Representatives by the
26 Speaker of the House of Representatives and to the members of
27 the Senate by the President of the Senate. The bill may not be
28 amended by either house. A record vote of all the members of
29 the House of Representatives and all the members of the Senate
30 shall be taken on the bill not more than 30 days after the
31 petition is determined to be valid and sufficient.
32     (c) No bill shall become a law without the concurrence of a
33 majority of the members elected to each house. Final passage of
34 a bill shall be by record vote. In the Senate at the request of
35 two members, and in the House at the request of five members, a

 

 

SC0027 - 3 - LRB094 11607 RCE 42702 e

1 record vote may be taken on any other occasion. A record vote
2 is a vote by yeas and nays entered on the journal.
3     (d) A bill shall be read by title on three different days
4 in each house. A bill and each amendment thereto shall be
5 reproduced and placed on the desk of each member before final
6 passage.
7     Bills, except bills for appropriations and for the
8 codification, revision or rearrangement of laws, shall be
9 confined to one subject. Appropriation bills shall be limited
10 to the subject of appropriations.
11     A bill expressly amending a law shall set forth completely
12 the sections amended.
13     The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
14 President of the Senate shall sign each bill that passes both
15 houses to certify that the procedural requirements for passage
16 have been met.
17 (Source: Illinois Constitution.)
 
18
SCHEDULE
19     This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being
20 declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois
21 Constitutional Amendment Act.