Bill Text: IL HR0594 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends House Rules 10 and 18. Authorizes each Representative to designate up to 5 bills as member-sponsored initiatives by filing with the Clerk of the House a written motion to have the bill recognized as a member-sponsored initiative and referred to the standing committee or special committee requested in the motion. Provides that any bill that is designated as a member-sponsored initiative by written motion shall be immediately discharged and referred to the standing committee or special committee designated in the motion notwithstanding any other provision of the House Rules. Requires the Chairperson of a committee to order a hearing to be held and a record vote to be taken on each bill that is referred to the committee as a member-sponsored initiative. Prohibits these rules from being suspended.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-06 - Referred to Rules Committee [HR0594 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HR0594-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
the Rules of the House of Representatives of the 103rd General
Assembly are amended by changing Rules 10 and 18 as follows:
(House Rule 10)
10. Committees.
(a) The committees of the House are: (i) the standing
committees listed in Rule 11; (ii) the special committees
created under Rule 13; (iii) any subcommittees created under
these Rules; (iv) the Rules Committee created under Rule 15;
(v) any committees created under Article X or Article XII; and
(vi) any Committee of the Whole. Committees of the Whole shall
consist of all Representatives.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this Rule and subject
to Rules 12 and 13, all committees shall have a Chairperson and
Minority Spokesperson, who may be of the same political party.
A Minority Spokesperson may not be appointed until after a
Chairperson has been appointed. Standing committees that have
Co-Chairpersons from different political parties shall not
have a Minority Spokesperson. Special committees that have
Co-Chairpersons from different political parties shall not
have a Minority Spokesperson. No member may be appointed to

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serve as a Chairperson, Minority Spokesperson, or
Co-Chairperson of any committee unless the member is serving
in at least his or her third term as a member of the General
Assembly, including any terms in which the member was
appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of Representative or
Senator. Each committee may have a Vice-Chairperson appointed
by the Speaker. The number of majority caucus members and
minority caucus members of all committees, except the Rules
Committee created under Rule 15 and as otherwise provided by
these Rules, shall be determined by the Speaker. The Speaker
shall file a notice with the Clerk setting forth the number of
majority caucus and minority caucus members of each committee,
which shall be journalized. A member may be temporarily
replaced on a committee if the member is otherwise
unavailable. The appointment of a member as a temporary
replacement shall remain in effect until (i) the permanent
member who was replaced is in attendance at the hearing and has
been added to the committee roll, (ii) the appointing
authority withdraws the temporary replacement appointment or
appoints a different member to serve as the temporary
replacement, or (iii) the hearing is adjourned or the
authority has expired for a re-convened hearing following a
recess of the committee, whichever occurs first. All leaders
are non-voting ex-officio members of each standing committee
and each special committee, except that the leaders may also
be appointed to standing committees or special committees as

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voting members. The Speaker may also appoint any member of the
majority caucus, and the Minority Leader may appoint any
member of the minority caucus, as a non-voting member of any
standing committee or special committee.
(c) The Chairperson of a committee has the authority to
call the committee to order, designate which legislative
measures and subject matters posted for hearing shall be taken
up and in what order, order a record vote to be taken on each
legislative measure called for a vote, preserve order and
decorum during committee meetings, establish procedural rules
(subject to approval by the Speaker) governing the
presentation and consideration of legislative measures and
subject matters, and generally supervise the affairs of the
committee. Any such procedural rules must be filed with the
Clerk and copies provided to all members of the committee. The
Vice-Chairperson of a committee or other member of the
committee from the majority caucus may preside over its
meetings in the absence or at the direction of the
Chairperson. In the case of standing or special committees
with Co-Chairpersons from different political parties, the
"Chairperson" for purposes of this Rule is the Co-Chairperson
from the majority caucus.
(c-5) Notwithstanding any other provision of these Rules,
the Chairperson of a committee shall order a hearing to be held
and a record vote to be taken on each bill that is referred to
the committee as a member-sponsored initiative under Rule 18.

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This subsection (c-5) may not be suspended.
(d) A vacancy on a committee, or in the position of
Chairperson, Co-Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, or Minority
Spokesperson on a committee, exists when a member resigns from
the position, ceases to be a Representative, or changes
political party affiliation. Resignations and notices of a
change in political party affiliation shall be made in writing
to the Clerk, who shall promptly notify the Speaker and
Minority Leader. Replacement members shall be of the same
political party as that of the member who resigns, and shall be
appointed in the same manner as the original appointment,
except that in the case of a vacancy in the position of
Chairperson or Co-Chairperson, the replacement member need not
be from the same political party. The Speaker or Minority
Leader may appoint a temporary replacement to fill a vacancy
until such time as a permanent member has been appointed. In
the case of vacancies on subcommittees, the parent committee
shall fill the vacancy in the same manner as the original
appointment.
(e) The Chairperson of a committee has the authority to
call meetings of that committee, subject to the approval of
the Speaker. In the case of standing or special committees
with Co-Chairpersons from different political parties, the
Co-Chairperson from the majority caucus has the authority to
call meetings of the special committee, subject to the
approval of the Speaker. Except as otherwise provided by these

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Rules, committee meetings shall be convened in accordance with
Rule 21.
(f) Except for those provisions that may not be suspended,
this This Rule may be suspended only by the affirmative vote of
71 members elected.
(Source: H.R. 36, 103rd G.A.)
(House Rule 18)
18. Referrals to Committees.
(a) All House bills and Senate bills, after being
initially read by the Clerk, are automatically referred to the
Rules Committee.
(b) The Rules Committee may refer any such bill before it
to a standing committee or a special committee. During
even-numbered years, the Rules Committee shall refer to a
standing committee or a special committee only appropriation
bills implementing the budget and bills deemed by the Rules
Committee, by the affirmative vote of a majority of those
appointed, to be of an emergency nature or to be of substantial
importance to the operation of government. This subsection (b)
applies equally to House Bills and Senate Bills introduced
into or received by the House.
(b-5) Notwithstanding subsection (b), the Rules Committee
may refer any legislative measure to a joint committee of the
House and Senate created by joint resolution. That joint

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committee shall report back to the Rules Committee any
recommendation for action made by that joint committee. The
Rules Committee may, at any time, however, refer the
legislative measure to a standing or special committee of the
House.
(c) The Chairperson of a standing committee or a special
committee may refer a subject matter or a legislative measure
pending in that committee to a subcommittee of that committee,
regardless of whether the subject matter or legislative
measure has been posted for hearing.
(d) All legislative measures favorably reported by a
standing committee or a special committee, or discharged from
a standing committee or a special committee under Rule 58,
shall be referred to the House and placed on the appropriate
order of business, which shall appear on the Daily Calendar.
(e) All committee amendments, floor amendments, joint
action motions for final action, conference committee reports,
and motions to table committee amendments, upon filing with
the Clerk, are automatically referred to the Rules Committee.
The Rules Committee may refer any committee amendment to the
standing committee or the special committee to which the bill
or resolution it amends has been referred for its review and
consideration. The Rules Committee may refer any floor
amendment, joint action motion for final action, conference
committee report, or motion to table a committee amendment to
the House or to a standing committee or a special committee for

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its review and consideration. Any floor amendment, joint
action motion for final action, conference committee report,
or motion to table a committee amendment that is not referred
to the House by, or discharged from, the Rules Committee is out
of order, except that any floor amendment, joint action motion
for final action, conference committee report, or motion to
table a committee amendment favorably reported by, or
discharged from, a standing committee or a special committee
is deemed referred to the House by the Rules Committee for
purposes of this Rule.
(f) The Rules Committee may at any time refer or re-refer a
legislative measure from a committee to a Committee of the
Whole or to any other committee. If a bill or resolution is
re-referred from a standing or special committee to a
Committee of the Whole or to any other committee pursuant to
this Rule, any committee amendments pending in the standing or
special committee shall be automatically re-referred with the
bill or resolution.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of these Rules,
any bill pending before the Rules Committee shall be
immediately discharged and referred to a standing committee,
special committee, or order of the Daily Calendar, as provided
in this Rule, if the Principal Sponsor of the bill files a
motion that is signed by no less than three-fifths of the
members of both the majority and minority caucuses, provided
each member signing the motion is a sponsor of the underlying

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bill subject to the motion and the motion specifies the
appropriate standing committee, special committee, or order on
the Daily Calendar to which the bill shall be referred. Such a
motion shall be filed, in writing, with the Clerk. All other
legislative measures may be discharged from the Rules
Committee only by unanimous consent of the House. A bill or
resolution discharged from the Rules Committee shall be
referred as follows: (i) a bill or resolution that was not
previously referred shall be referred to the standing
committee or special committee designated on the motion,
subject to the notice requirement of Rule 21; (ii) a bill or
resolution re-referred to the Rules Committee from a standing
committee or special committee shall be re-referred to that
committee, subject to the notice requirement of Rule 21; and
(iii) a bill or resolution re-referred to the Rules Committee
from an order of business on the Daily Calendar shall be
re-referred to the same order of business, provided the bill
or resolution shall be carried on the Daily Calendar for at
least one legislative day prior to consideration by the House.
Legislative measures, other than bills or resolutions, that
are discharged from the Rules Committee shall be referred as
follows: (i) an amendment, joint action motion for final
action, or conference committee report shall be referred to
the committee that considered the underlying bill or
resolution and (ii) any other legislative measure shall be
referred to the proper order of business on the Daily

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