Bill Text: IL SJRCA0010 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Proposes to amend the Legislature Article of the Illinois Constitution. Removes the requirement for each Legislative District to be divided into 2 Representative Districts. Modifies provisions concerning legislative redistricting. Provides specified requirements for each Legislative District, Representative District, and Congressional District for redistricting purposes. Replaces the current method of legislative redistricting with a 17-member Commission, appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the most senior Supreme Court Justice of a different political party in accordance with specified criteria. Specifies requirements for the Commission concerning redistricting plans. Adds provisions concerning the membership of the Commission and budgetary matters related to the Commission. Provides the Supreme Court with original and exclusive jurisdiction over redistricting matters. Defines terms. Makes conforming and other changes. Effective upon being declared adopted and applicable to redistricting beginning in 2031 and to the election of General Assembly members beginning in 2032.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-03-30 - Referred to Assignments [SJRCA0010 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SJRCA0010-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT SC0010 Introduced 3/30/2023, by Sen. Dan McConchie SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 2
ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3
Proposes to amend the Legislature Article of the Illinois Constitution. Removes the requirement for each Legislative District to be divided into 2 Representative Districts. Modifies provisions concerning legislative redistricting. Provides specified requirements for each Legislative District, Representative District, and Congressional District for redistricting purposes. Replaces the current method of legislative redistricting with a 17-member Commission, appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the most senior Supreme Court Justice of a different political party in accordance with specified criteria. Specifies requirements for the Commission concerning redistricting plans. Adds provisions concerning the membership of the Commission and budgetary matters related to the Commission. Provides the Supreme Court with original and exclusive jurisdiction over redistricting matters. Defines terms. Makes conforming and other changes. Effective upon being declared adopted and applicable to redistricting beginning in 2031 and to the election of General Assembly members beginning in 2032.
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SC0010 LRB103 31657 DTM 60146 e
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that there shall be
submitted to the electors of the State for adoption or
rejection at the general election next occurring at least 6
months after the adoption of this resolution a proposition to
amend Article IV of the Illinois Constitution by changing
Sections 2 and 3 as follows:
ARTICLE IV
THE LEGISLATURE
(ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 2)
SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE COMPOSITION
(a) One Senator shall be elected from each Legislative
District. Immediately following each decennial redistricting,
the General Assembly by law shall divide the Legislative
Districts as equally as possible into three groups. Senators
from one group shall be elected for terms of four years, four
years and two years; Senators from the second group, for terms
of four years, two years and four years; and Senators from the
third group, for terms of two years, four years and four years.
The Legislative Districts in each group shall be distributed

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substantially equally over the State.
(b) Each Legislative District shall be divided into two
Representative Districts. In 1982 and every two years
thereafter one Representative shall be elected from each
Representative District for a term of two years.
(c) To be eligible to serve as a member of the General
Assembly, a person must be a United States citizen, at least 21
years old, and for the two years preceding his election or
appointment a resident of the district which he is to
represent. In the general election following a redistricting,
a candidate for the General Assembly may be elected from any
district which contains a part of the district in which he
resided at the time of the redistricting and reelected if a
resident of the new district he represents for 18 months prior
to reelection.
(d) Within thirty days after a vacancy occurs, it shall be
filled by appointment as provided by law. If the vacancy is in
a Senatorial office with more than twenty-eight months
remaining in the term, the appointed Senator shall serve until
the next general election, at which time a Senator shall be
elected to serve for the remainder of the term. If the vacancy
is in a Representative office or in any other Senatorial
office, the appointment shall be for the remainder of the
term. An appointee to fill a vacancy shall be a member of the
same political party as the person he succeeds.
(e) No member of the General Assembly shall receive

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compensation as a public officer or employee from any other
governmental entity for time during which he is in attendance
as a member of the General Assembly.
No member of the General Assembly during the term for
which he was elected or appointed shall be appointed to a
public office which shall have been created or the
compensation for which shall have been increased by the
General Assembly during that term.
(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
1980.)
(ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 3)
SECTION 3. LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING
(a) As used in this Section:
"Coalition districts" means districts in which more than
one group of racial minorities or language minorities may form
a coalition to elect the candidate of the coalition's choice.
"Crossover districts" means districts in which a racial
minority or language minority constitutes less than a majority
of the voting-age population, but where this minority, at
least potentially, is large enough to elect the candidate of
its choice with help from voters who are members of the
majority who cross over to support the minority's preferred
candidate.
"Influence districts" means districts in which a racial
minority or language minority can influence the outcome of an

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election even if its preferred candidate cannot be elected.
"Racial minorities or language minorities", in either the
singular or the plural, means the same class of voters who are
members of a race, color, or language minority group receiving
protection under the federal Voting Rights Act.
(b) Each Legislative District, Representative District,
and Congressional District shall, in the following order of
priority:
(1) fully comply with the United States Constitution
and federal laws, such as the federal Voting Rights Act;
(2) be substantially equal in population;
(3) provide racial minorities and language minorities
with the equal opportunity to participate in the political
process and elect candidates of their choice;
(4) provide racial minorities and language minorities
who constitute less than a voting-age majority of a
Legislative District, Representative District, or
Congressional District with an opportunity to
substantially influence the outcome of an election through
the creation of crossover districts, coalition districts,
or influence districts;
(5) be contiguous;
(6) be compact;
(7) respect, to the extent practical, geographic
integrity of units of local government;
(8) respect, to the extent practical, communities

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sharing common social or economic interests; and
(9) not discriminate against or in favor of any
political party or individual.
(c) No later than March 1 of 2031, the Chief Justice and
the most senior Supreme Court Justice who is not elected from
the same political party as the Chief Justice shall select 17
commissioners to form an Independent Redistricting Commission.
The Commission formed in 2031 shall redraw each Legislative
District, Representative District, and Congressional District
for 2032. Thereafter, redistricting shall occur every year
following the federal decennial census.
The commissioners shall reflect the ethnic, gender, and
racial demographics of Illinois to reflect the demographic
data provided by the decennial census, each commissioner shall
be a voter who has been continuously affiliated in Illinois
with the same political party or unaffiliated with a political
party and who has not changed political party affiliation for
5 or more years immediately preceding the date of his or her
appointment. Fourteen of the commissioners shall represent, in
equal number, the two political parties whose gubernatorial
candidates received the greatest number of votes in the last
gubernatorial election and 3 of the commissioners must
represent neither of those parties. No more than one
commissioner shall be from the same Congressional District. If
the total number of Congressional Districts equal less than
17, then at-large commissioners will be appointed to fill

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vacancies, and no more than 2 commissioners shall be from the
same Congressional District. The 2 Justices responsible for
selecting the 17 commissioners shall consider party
identification and all campaign contributions in determining a
potential commissioner's eligibility.
(d) A person is ineligible to serve on the Commission if
within the previous 5 calendar years the person or his or her
spouse or immediate family member, including his or her
parents, children, step-children, or siblings, is or has been:
(1) appointed or elected to a position with the State,
federal, or local government;
(2) a candidate for State, federal or local office;
(3) a paid consultant or employee of a State, federal,
or local elected official or political candidate, of a
federal, State, or local political candidate's campaign,
or of a political action committee or any other
electioneering entity;
(4) a State, federal, or local lobbyist as defined by
law;
(5) an individual with an ownership interest in an
entity with a State, federal, or local government
contract; or
(6) appointed or elected to serve a State, federal, or
local political party.
(e) A commissioner is ineligible for a period of 10 years
to serve in the General Assembly or to be appointed to a

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position subject to Senate confirmation.
(f) Commissioners must file financial disclosure
statements and abide by any ethics requirements established by
law.
(g) Each prospective applicant for commissioner shall
attest under oath that they meet the qualifications set forth
in this Section, and attest either that they affiliate with
one of the 2 political parties whose gubernatorial candidates
received the 2 greatest number of votes in the last
gubernatorial election, and if so, identify the party with
which they affiliate, or that they do not affiliate with
either of the major parties.
(h) Any vacancy, whether created by removal, resignation,
death, or absence, in the 17 commission positions shall be
filled within the 30 days after the vacancy occurs, from the
pool of applicants of the same political party as the vacating
nominee that was remaining as of the end of the commissioner
selection process. If none of those remaining applicants are
available for service, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
and the most senior Supreme Court Judge of a different
political party shall fill the vacancy from a new application
pool created to maintain the partisan balance of the
commission and to the extent possible, to keep the geographic
and racial demographics of the commission the same as it was
prior to the vacancy.
(i) The Commission shall act in public meetings by the

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affirmative vote of 11 commissioners. The Commission shall
elect its chairperson and vice chairperson, who shall not be
affiliated with the same political party. Each meeting of the
Commission shall be open to the public and there must be public
notice at least 7 days before a meeting. All records of the
Commission, including all communications to or from the
Commission regarding the work of the Commission, shall be
available for public inspection. The Commission shall adopt
rules governing its procedures. The Commission shall be
considered a public body subject to the Freedom of Information
Act or a successor Act and the Open Meetings Act or a successor
Act.
(j) In each year in which the federal decennial census is
taken but in which the United States Bureau of the Census
allocates incarcerated persons as residents of correctional
facilities, the Secretary of State shall request that each
agency that operates a federal correctional facility in this
State that incarcerates persons convicted of a criminal
offense to provide the Secretary of State with a report that
includes the last known place of residence prior to
incarceration of each inmate, except an inmate whose last
known place of residence is outside of Illinois. The Secretary
of State shall deliver such report to the Commission by
December 30 of that same year. For purposes of reapportionment
and redistricting, the Commission shall count each
incarcerated person as residing at his or her last known place

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of residence, rather than at the institution of his or her
incarceration.
(k) The Commission shall hold at least 20 public hearings
throughout the State before adopting a redistricting plan,
with a majority occurring before the Commission releases any
proposed redistricting plan and at least 10 public hearings
must occur throughout the State after the release of any
proposed redistricting plan.
The Commission must provide a meaningful opportunity for
racial minorities and language minorities to participate in
the public hearings, including, but not limited to, issuing
notices in multiple languages and ensuring that translation
services are available at all hearings at the Commission's
expense or through partnership with outside organizations.
These public hearings must be open to all members of the public
and must be planned to encourage attendance and participation
across the State, including the use of technology that allows
for real-time, virtual participation and feedback during the
hearings. When releasing a proposed redistricting plan, the
Commission must also release population data, geographic data,
election data, and any other data used to create the plan, when
the Commission receives this information. The Commission must
also provide terminals for members of the public to access the
data and associated software. During the map drawing process,
any member of the public may submit maps for consideration to
the Commission. The Commission must consider public input and

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respond to it. Those submissions are public records that are
open to comment.
The Commission may not adopt a redistricting plan until
the Commission adopts and publishes a report explaining the
plan's compliance with the United States Constitution and
Illinois Constitution. Before the adoption of a redistricting
plan, the Commission shall release to the public the final
plan and its associated compliance report. The meeting to vote
on adoption of a redistricting plan shall occur no sooner than
30 days after the release of the final plan and its associated
compliance report. All proposed and adopted maps and any data
used to develop these maps are public records. The Commission
shall maintain a website or other similar electronic platform
to disseminate information about the Commission, including
records of its meetings and hearings, proposed redistricting
plans, assessments and reports on plans, and to allow the
public to view its meetings and hearings in both live and
archived form. The website or electronic platform must allow
the public to submit redistricting plans and comments on
redistricting plans to the Commission for its consideration.
(l) The Commission shall adopt and file with the Secretary
of State a redistricting plan for the Legislative Districts,
Representative Districts, and Congressional Districts by
September 1 of 2031 and in every year following the federal
decennial census thereafter. The Commission may adopt separate
redistricting plans for the Legislative Districts, the

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Representative Districts, and the Congressional Districts.
(m) Members of the Commission shall be compensated as
provided by law.
(n) Within the first 30 days after the selection of the
Independent Redistricting Commission, the Governor shall
include in the budget submitted under Section 2 of Article
VIII to the General Assembly amounts of funding that are
sufficient to meet the estimated expenses for the operation of
the Commission. The Governor shall also make adequate office
space available for the operation of the Commission. The
General Assembly shall make the necessary appropriation in the
State budget. The General Assembly may make additional
appropriations in any year that it determines that the
Commission requires additional funding in order to fulfill its
duties. The Commission, with fiscal oversight from the
Comptroller or its successor, shall have procurement and
contracting authority and may hire staff and consultants, for
the purposes of this Section, including legal representation.
(o) A redistricting plan filed with the Secretary of State
shall be presumed valid and shall be published promptly by the
Secretary of State.
(p) The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive
jurisdiction over actions concerning the redistricting of the
Congressional, Legislative, and Representative Districts,
which shall be initiated in the name of the People of the State
by the Attorney General. Each person who resides or is

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domiciled in the State, or whose executive office or principal
place of business is located in the State, may bring an action
in a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain any of the
relief available.
(a) Legislative Districts shall be compact, contiguous and
substantially equal in population. Representative Districts
shall be compact, contiguous, and substantially equal in
population.
(b) In the year following each Federal decennial census
year, the General Assembly by law shall redistrict the
Legislative Districts and the Representative Districts.
If no redistricting plan becomes effective by June 30 of
that year, a Legislative Redistricting Commission shall be
constituted not later than July 10. The Commission shall
consist of eight members, no more than four of whom shall be
members of the same political party.
The Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of
Representatives shall each appoint to the Commission one
Representative and one person who is not a member of the
General Assembly. The President and Minority Leader of the
Senate shall each appoint to the Commission one Senator and
one person who is not a member of the General Assembly.
The members shall be certified to the Secretary of State
by the appointing authorities. A vacancy on the Commission
shall be filled within five days by the authority that made the
original appointment. A Chairman and Vice Chairman shall be

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chosen by a majority of all members of the Commission.
Not later than August 10, the Commission shall file with
the Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at
least five members.
If the Commission fails to file an approved redistricting
plan, the Supreme Court shall submit the names of two persons,
not of the same political party, to the Secretary of State not
later than September 1.
Not later than September 5, the Secretary of State
publicly shall draw by random selection the name of one of the
two persons to serve as the ninth member of the Commission.
Not later than October 5, the Commission shall file with
the Secretary of State a redistricting plan approved by at
least five members.
An approved redistricting plan filed with the Secretary of
State shall be presumed valid, shall have the force and effect
of law and shall be published promptly by the Secretary of
State.
The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive
jurisdiction over actions concerning redistricting the House
and Senate, which shall be initiated in the name of the People
of the State by the Attorney General.
(Source: Amendment adopted at general election November 4,
1980.)
SCHEDULE

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This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being
declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois
Constitutional Amendment Act and applies to redistricting
beginning in 2031 and to the election of General Assembly
members beginning in 2032.