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2021 Illinois legislative session

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2021 Illinois legislative session
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General information
Session start:    January 13, 2021

Session end:    June 1, 2021

Leadership
Senate President
Don Harmon (D)

House Speaker
Chris Welch (D)
Majority Leader
Senate: Kimberly Lightford (D)
House: Greg Harris (D)
Minority Leader
Senate: Dan McConchie (R)
House: Jim Durkin (R)

Elections
Next Election:    November 8, 2022

Last Election:    November 3, 2020

Previous legislative sessions
2020 • 2019 • 2018
Other 2021 legislative sessions


In 2021, the Illinois State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 13, 2021, and adjourn on June 1, 2021.

The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2020 elections. Democrats won a 41-18 majority in the Senate and a 73-45 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Democratic state government trifecta. At the start of the 2021 session, Illinois was one of six state legislatures where Democrats had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

The Illinois State Legislature is responsible for redistricting following each census. Legislators were expected to address redistricting as part of the 2021 legislative session. As of the 2020 Census, Illinois was one of 37 states where legislators were responsible for redistricting.

At the beginning of the 2021 legislative session:
  • Democrats held a majority in the Illinois state House and state Senate.
  • Illinois was one of 15 Democratic state government trifectas.
  • Illinois' governor was Democrat J.B. Pritzker.

    • Leadership in 2021

    Illinois State Senate

    Illinois House of Representatives

    Selection of speaker

    On January 13, 2021, Emanuel Welch (D) was elected speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. Welch replaced former House Speaker Michael Madigan (D), the longest serving statehouse speaker in American history and chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party. After several individuals were indicted in what law enforcement described as a scheme to influence Madigan, 19 House Democrats said they would not support Madigan for another term in that position.

    On January 11, 2021, Madigan suspended his campaign for speaker after receiving 51 of the 60 votes necessary to retain the position. After receiving the support of the Legislative Black Caucus, who had previously supported Madigan, and reaching an agreement with fellow contender Rep. Jay Hoffman (D), Welch secured the speakership with 70 votes. [1][2] On February 18, Madigan announced he would resign his seat at the end of February 2021.[3]

    Partisan control in 2021

    See also: State government trifectas

    Illinois was one of 15 Democratic state government trifectas at the start of 2021 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 six state legislatures where Democrats had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. 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 2021 legislative session.

    Illinois State Senate

    Party As of January 2021
         Democratic Party 41
         Republican Party 18
    Total 59

    Illinois House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2021
         Democratic Party 73
         Republican Party 45
    Total 118

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2021 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 in 2021. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Redistricting

    See also: Redistricting in Illinois after the 2020 census

    Redistricting is the process of enacting new district boundaries for elected offices, particularly for offices in the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislatures.

    To learn more about the redistricting process in Illinois after the 2020 census, click here.

    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 2021 legislative session, there were 78 standing committees in Illinois' state government, including 4 joint legislative committees, 27 state Senate committees, and 47 state House committees.

    Joint legislative 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 1995 and 2020, the following occurred in Illinois:

    • Ballots featured 11 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 73 percent (8 of 11) and rejected 27 percent (3 of 11) of the ballot measures.
    • Voters approved 71 percent (5 of 7) and rejected 29 percent (1 of 7) 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 11 8 72.7% 3 27.3% 0.9 1.0 0 5
    Initiatives 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.0 0.0 0 0
    Legislative amendments 7 5 71.4% 2 28.6% 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

    Historical Senate control

    From 1992 to 2020, 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 2020. 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: 1992-2020

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20
    Democrats 27 26 28 27 27 32 31 37 37 35 40 39 37 40 41
    Republicans 32 33 31 32 32 27 27 22 22 23 19 20 22 19 18

    From 1900 to 2020, the Illinois State Senate changed partisan control five times after a general election. Republicans controlled the chamber by large margins 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 elections, 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 majority in 2018 and increased it to 41-18 in 2020. 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.

    Historical House control

    From 1992 to 2020, the Illinois House of Representatives was under Democratic control 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 2020. 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: 1992-2020

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20
    Democrats 67 54 60 62 62 66 65 66 70 64 71 71 67 74 73
    Republicans 51 64 58 56 56 52 53 52 48 54 47 47 51 44 45

    From 1900 to 2020, 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 through 2020.

    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, as Democrats won a 60-58 majority in 1996. Following the 1996 elections, Democrats expanded their majority in the elections through 2008, when they won 70 seats. Republicans saw gains in 2010 as they won six seats and brought the Democratic majority to 64-54.

    However, in 2012, Democrats won back 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 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.

    See also

    Elections Illinois State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ The Hill, "Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan suspends campaign," January 11, 2021
    2. ↑ NBC Chicago, "Illinois House Elects Welch First Black Speaker, First New Leader in Decades, Replacing Madigan," January 13, 2021
    3. ↑ The Chicago Tribune, "Michael Madigan resigns from Illinois House after being ousted as speaker," February 18, 2021
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