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2019 Illinois legislative session

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Illinois General Assembly

Seal of Illinois.png
General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   None
Session start:   January 9, 2019
Session end:   November 14, 2019
Website:   Official Legislature Page
Leadership
Senate President:   John Cullerton (D)
House Speaker:  Michael J. Madigan (D)
Majority Leader:   Senate: James Clayborne (D)
House: Greg Harris (D)
Minority Leader:   Senate: Bill Brady (R)
House: Jim Durkin (R)
Structure
Members:  59 (Senate), 118 (House)
Length of term:   4 years (Senate), 2 years (House)
Authority:   Art IV, Illinois Constitution
Salary:   $67,836/year + per diem
Elections
Last election:  November 6, 2018
Senate
House
Next election:  November 3, 2020
Senate
House
Redistricting:  Illinois General Assembly has control

Illinois convened its legislative session on January 9, 2019, and legislators remained in session until November 14, 2019. Democrats had a veto-proof supermajority this legislative session, just as they did in 2018. Following the 2018 election, Democrats had a 40-19 majority in the Senate and a 74-44 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Democratic state government trifecta.

At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session:
  • Democrats held a veto-proof supermajority in the Illinois state House and state Senate.
  • Illinois was one of 14 Democratic state government trifectas.
  • Illinois' governor was Democrat J.B. Pritzker.

    • Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2020 state Senate and state House elections.
    Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2018 state Senate and state House elections.

    Partisan control in 2019

    See also: State government trifectas

    Illinois was one of 14 Democratic state government trifectas at the start of 2019 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Illinois was also one of 22 state legislatures one party had a veto-proof supermajority. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Illinois State Legislature in the 2019 legislative session.

    Illinois State Senate

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 40
         Republican Party 19
    Total 59

    From 1992 to 2018, the Illinois State Senate went from being a Republican-controlled chamber to a chamber controlled by Democrats. The table below shows the partisan history of the Illinois State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Illinois State Senate election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 27 26 28 27 27 32 31 37 37 35 40 39 37 40
    Republicans 32 33 31 32 32 27 27 22 22 23 19 20 22 19

    From 1900 to 2018, the Illinois State Senate only changed partisan control five times after a general election. Republicans dominated the chamber from 1900 to 1932, when Democrats took over in the midst of the Great Depression. After that, the chamber flipped control in 1940, 1974, and then 1992, when Republicans took a 32-27 majority.

    The majority Republicans won in 1992 stayed consistently between 31 and 33 members for 10 years. In the 2002 elections, Republicans lost control when Democrats won 32 seats in the chamber. Democrats held their majority in the 2004 elections and then saw large gains during the 2006 and 2008 Democratic waves, where they won 37 seats. In Illinois, a party with 36 seats has a three-fifths supermajority that can override gubernatorial vetoes.

    Democrats fell below 36 seats in 2010 when Republican gains brought them down to 35 seats. However, they saw a resurgence in the 2012 elections, winning 40 seats. They lost seats in the 2014 and 2016 elections, bringing them down to 37, which was still a three-fifths supermajority, but they restored their 40-19 seat control in 2018. The chamber's Republican gains in 2010, 2014, and 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.

    Illinois House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 74
         Republican Party 44
    Total 118

    From 1992 to 2018, the Illinois House of Representatives stayed in Democratic hands except for after the 1994 elections when Republicans held a majority for one cycle. The table below shows the partisan history of the Illinois House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Illinois House of Representatives election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 67 54 60 62 62 66 65 66 70 64 71 71 67 74
    Republicans 51 64 58 56 56 52 53 52 48 54 47 47 51 44

    From 1900 to 2018, the Illinois House of Representatives was a competitive chamber, switching partisan control 15 times. The time period from 1950 to 1980 was particularly competitive as the chamber changed control seven times. After the 1982 elections, Democrats built a majority that would hold power in most years up to 2018.

    Democrats won a 67-51 majority in the 1992 elections. The next year, however, Republicans took control of the Illinois House with a 64-54 majority. That majority lasted just one cycle though, as Democrats won a 60-58 majority in 1996. Following the 1996 elections, Democrats expanded their advantage in the elections through 2008, when they won 70 seats. Republicans saw a resurgence in 2010 as they won six seats and brought the Democratic majority to 64-54.

    However, in 2012 Democrats won back all the seats they lost and more. They ended up with a 71-47 majority, which was enough for a three-fifths supermajority that could override gubernatorial vetoes. Democrats maintained their supermajority in the 2014 elections, despite the national trend toward the Republicans that year. In 2016, Republicans broke the Democratic supermajority when they won 51 seats. However, Democrats regained their supermajority in 2018, controlling 74 seats after the election.

    Leadership in 2019

    Illinois State Senate

    Illinois House of Representatives

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2019 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria yet in 2019. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Illinois state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session, there were 78 standing committees in Illinois' state government, including four joint committees, 27 state Senate committees and 47 state House committees.

    Joint committees


    Senate committees


    House committees


    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the Illinois Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article XIV of the Illinois Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Illinois

    The Illinois Constitution provides four mechanisms for amending the state constitution—a constitutional convention, a legislative process, and a citizen-initiated process.

    Initiative

    See also: Initiated constitutional amendment

    An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.

    In Illinois, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 8% of votes cast for governor in the previous gubernatorial election. Initiated measures in Illinois may only amend Article IV of the Illinois Constitution, which addresses the structure of the Illinois State Legislature. All amendments must be approved by either a majority of those voting in the election or three-fifths of those voting on the amendment itself.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    According to Article XVI, the state Legislature can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot for voters to decide. A 60% vote is required during one legislative session for the Illinois General Assembly to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 71 votes in the Illinois House of Representatives and 36 votes in the Illinois State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

    Convention

    See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

    According to Article XIV of the Illinois Constitution, a question about whether to hold a constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the state's ballot every 20 years starting in 1918. Illinois is one of 14 states that provides for an automatic constitutional convention question. A constitutional convention question can also be placed before the state's voters if 60% of the members of both houses of the Illinois General Assembly vote in the affirmative. If such a question does appear on the ballot, it must be affirmed by a supermajority vote of 60% of those voting on the question or a majority of those who cast a ballot for any office in that election.

    The table below shows the last and next constitutional convention question election years:

    State Interval Last question on the ballot Next question on the ballot
    Illinois 20 years 2008 2028



    Historical context:

    Between 1996 and 2018, the following occurred in Illinois:

    • Ballots featured 10 ballot measures.
    • An average of one measure appeared on statewide general election ballots.
    • An average of between zero and one legislatively referred amendments appeared on statewide general election ballots.
    • Voters approved 80 percent (8 of 10) and rejected 20 percent (2 of 10) of the ballot measures.
    • Voters approved 83 percent (5 of 6) and rejected 17 percent (1 of 6) of referred amendments.
    • Three advisory questions appeared on the ballot.
    • Zero citizen-initiated measures appeared on the ballot.
    Ballot measures in Illinois, 1996-2018
    Type Total number Approved Percent approved Defeated Percent defeated Average Median Minimum Maximum
    All measures 10 8 80.0% 2 20.0% 0.8 0.5 0 5
    Initiatives 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.0 0.0 0 0
    Legislative amendments 6 5 83.3% 1 16.7% 0.5 0.0 0 2
    Advisory questions 3 3 100.0% 0 0.00% 0.3 0.0 0 3


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Illinois.

    Illinois Party Control: 1992-2025
    Nineteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Two years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R D D D D D D D
    Senate D R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
    House D D D R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

    See also

    Elections Illinois State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    External links

    Footnotes

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