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Illinois General Assembly

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Illinois General Assembly

Seal of Illinois.png
General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   None
Session start:   January 8, 2025
Website:   Official Legislature Page
Leadership
Senate President:   Don Harmon (D)
House Speaker:  Chris Welch (D)
Majority Leader:   Senate: Kimberly Lightford (D)
House: Robyn Gabel (D)
Minority Leader:   Senate: John Curran (R)
House: Tony McCombie (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 5, 2024
Next election:  November 3, 2026
Redistricting:  Illinois General Assembly has control

The Illinois General Assembly is the state legislature of Illinois, created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. It works beside the executive branch led by the state governor and the judicial branch led by the Illinois Supreme Court. The Illinois General Assembly consists of the Illinois House of Representatives, the lower chamber, and the Illinois State Senate, the upper chamber.

The Illinois General Assembly convenes at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. Its first official working day is the second Wednesday in January each year. Its primary duties are to pass bills into law, approve the state budget, confirm appointments to state departments and agencies, act on federal constitutional amendments, and propose constitutional amendments for Illinois. It also has the power to override gubernatorial vetoes through a three-fifths majority vote in each chamber.

Illinois Ballot Question 1 in 1980 altered Section 1 of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution to reduce the number of members of the Illinois House of Representatives from 177 members to 118 members beginning with the elections in 1982.

Illinois has a Democratic state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers. As of September 27, 2025, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 14 Democratic trifectas, and 13 divided governments where neither party holds trifecta control.

In the 2020 election, Republicans had a net gain of two trifectas and two states under divided government became trifectas. Prior to that election, Illinois had a Democratic trifecta. There were 21 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 14 divided governments.

See also: Illinois House of Representatives, Illinois State Senate, Illinois Governor

Elections

2018

See also: Illinois State Senate elections, 2018 and Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2018

Elections for the Illinois State Senate took place in 2018. An open primary election took place on March 20, 2018. The general election was held on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was December 4, 2017.[1]

Elections for the Illinois House of Representatives took place in 2018. An open primary election took place on March 20, 2018. The general election was held on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was December 4, 2017.[2]

Sessions

Article IV of the Illinois Constitution establishes when the General Assembly is to be in session. Section 5 of Article IV states that the General Assembly will convene its regular session on the second Wednesday of January.

Section 5 also creates rules for the convening of special sessions. The section allows the governor of Illinois to convene the General Assembly or the Senate alone. When the governor calls a special session, the General Assembly can generally only deal with matters related to the purpose of the session, as stated by the governor's proclamation of the session, but they can also deal with impeachments or confirmation of appointments. Section 5 also allows the presiding officers of both houses of the General Assembly to convene a special session through joint proclamation.

2025

See also: 2025 Illinois legislative session and Dates of 2025 state legislative sessions

In 2025, the legislature was scheduled to convene on January 8, 2025, and adjourn on May 31, 2025.


Role in state budget

See also: Illinois state budget and finances
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Illinois operates on an annual budget cycle. The sequence of key events in the budget process is:[43][44]

  1. In September and October of the year preceding the start of the new fiscal year, the governor sends budget instructions to state agencies.
  2. In October and November, agencies submit their budget requests to the governor.
  3. Budget hearings with the public are held from February through May.
  4. On the third Wednesday in February, the governor submits his or her proposed budget to the Illinois General Assembly.
  5. The General Assembly passes a budget in May.

Illinois is one of 44 states in which the governor has line item veto authority.[44][45]

The governor is constitutionally required to submit a balanced budget. In turn, the legislature must pass a balanced budget.[44]

Cost-benefit analyses

See also: Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative Cost-Benefit Study
Map showing results of the Pew-MacArthur cost-benefit study

The Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative is a joint project of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation that works to partner with states in implementing cost-benefit analysis models.[46]. The initiative released a report in July 2013 concluding that cost-benefit analysis in policymaking led to more effective uses of public funds. Looking at data from 2008 through 2011, the study's authors found that some states were more likely to use cost-benefit analysis, while others were facing challenges and lagging behind the rest of the nation. The challenges states faced included a lack of time, money, and technical skills needed to conduct comprehensive cost-benefit analyses. Illinois was one of 29 states with mixed results regarding the frequency and effectiveness of its use of cost-benefit analysis.[47]

Ethics and transparency

Following the Money report

See also: "Following the Money" report, 2015

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a consumer-focused nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., released its annual report on state transparency websites in March 2015. The report, entitled "Following the Money," measured how transparent and accountable state websites were with regard to state government spending.[48] According to the report, Illinois received a grade of A- and a numerical score of 93, indicating that Illinois was "Leading" in terms of transparency regarding state spending.[48]

Open States Transparency

See also: Open States' Legislative Data Report Card

The Sunlight Foundation released an "Open Legislative Data Report Card" in March 2013. Illinois was given a grade of C in the report. The report card evaluated how adequate, complete, and accessible legislative data was to the general public. A total of 10 states received an A: Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.[49]

Dual employment and financial disclosure requirements

State ethics regulations regarding dual public employment and income disclosure for legislators vary across the United States. A January 2015 report by the National Council of State Legislatures (NCSL) concluded that legislators in 33 states are not permitted to maintain additional paid government employment during their terms in office.[50] The NCSL published a report in June 2014 that counted 47 states with disclosure requirements for outside income, business associations, and property holdings. The exceptions to these disclosure categories were Idaho, Michigan, and Vermont.[51] Click show on the right side of the table below to compare state policies:

Legislators

Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[52]
SalaryPer diem
$89,250/year$166/day

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Illinois legislators assume office the second Wednesday in January.

Redistricting

See also: Redistricting in Illinois

The Illinois General Assembly is responsible for redistricting. If the General Assembly fails to meet the deadlines to have a redistricting plan in place, an 8-member back-up commission is used. Illinois is one of a few states to enact a hybrid method of redistricting.

2010 census

Illinois received its 2010 local census data on February 14, 2011. The state population increased from about 12.4 million to 12.8 million residents, a 3.3 percent growth.[53] The state's Latino population grew by 33 percent from 2000 to 2010, reaching 2 million. Meanwhile, non-Latino population declined by 0.8 percent.[54]

2011 was the first time under the current state Constitution that one party -- namely the Democrats -- controlled the state House, Senate and governorship during redistricting. A number of Republicans expressed concern that Democrats would draw partisan maps to serve their own interests.[55] Democrats released their proposed Senate map on May 19, 2011, and their House plan the following day. Democrats defended the new maps while being criticized from nearly all sides. Republicans said the maps would likely guarantee a Republican minority for the next decade. The new lines merged a number of current Republican districts, potentially leading to runoffs between incumbents in several districts.[56]

Republicans released counter-proposals on May 26, saying their maps were fairer. Democrats, however, easily passed their plans in both chambers, 35-22 in the Senate, and 64-52 in the House. Governor Pat Quinn (D) signed the new maps into law on June 3.[57]

Senate

The Illinois State Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly. It is made up of 59 senators elected from individual legislative districts determined by population. Each member represented an average of 217,468 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[58] After the 2000 Census, each member represented 210,496.[59] There have been efforts to modify senatorial districts on a geographic basis in order to more accurately reflect the cultural, racial and political makeup of outstate and downstate. In order to avoid complete turnovers in Senate membership, under the Illinois Constitution of 1970, some senators are elected to two-year terms while others are elected to four-year terms. Senate districts are divided into three groups. One or two of these groups are elected every two years for either a two or four-year term. The placement of the two-year term in the decade varies from one district to another, with all districts’ terms defined as 2-4-4, 4-2-4, or 4-4-2.


Party As of September 2025
     Democratic Party 40
     Republican Party 19
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 59

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Illinois State Senate from 1992 to 2013.
Partisan composition of the Illinois State Senate.PNG

House of Representatives

The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. It is made of 118 representatives elected from individual legislative districts for a two-year term with no term limits. Each member represented an average of 108,734 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[60] After the 2000 Census, each member represented 105,248.[61]

Before the Cutback Amendment to the state constitution in 1980, the state was divided into 59 "legislative districts," each of which elected three representatives, yielding a House of 177 members. This unusual system was even more distinctive in that the individual voter was given three legislative votes to cast, and could cast either one vote each for three candidates, all three votes for one candidate (known as a "bullet vote"), or even 1 1/2 votes each for two candidates. After the passage of the Cutback Amendment, this system was abolished and representatives were elected from 118 single member constituencies.

Party As of September 2025
     Democratic Party 78
     Republican Party 40
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 118

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Illinois State House of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.
Partisan composition of the Illinois State House.PNG

Veto overrides

Veto Override Graphic-Democratic Party.png

See also: Veto overrides in state legislatures

State legislatures can override governors' vetoes. Depending on the state, this can be done during the regular legislative session, in a special session following the adjournment of the regular session, or during the next legislative session. The rules for legislative overrides of gubernatorial vetoes in Illinois are listed below.

How many legislators are required to vote for an override? Three-fifths of members in both chambers.

Three fifths of members in both chambers must vote to override a veto, which is 71 of the 118 members in the Illinois House of Representatives and 36 of the 59 members in the Illinois State Senate. Illinois is one of seven states that requires a three-fifths vote from both of its legislative chambers to override a veto.

Are there other special rules?

If the governor uses the line item veto to reduce an appropriation, that reduction can be overturned by a majority vote in both chambers.

Authority: Article IV, Section 9 of the Illinois Constitution.

"The house to which a bill is returned shall immediately enter the Governor's objections upon its journal. If within 15 calendar days after such entry that house by a record vote of three-fifths of the members elected passes the bill, it shall be delivered immediately to the second house. If within 15 calendar days after such delivery the second house by a record vote of three-fifths of the members elected passes the bill, it shall become law."

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

Who Runs the States Project
See also: Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States and Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Illinois

Illinois State Senate: From 1992-2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Illinois State Senate for 12 years while the Republicans were the majority for 10 years. The final 11 years of the study depicted a shift in the Illinois senate with all 11 years being Democratic trifectas.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

Illinois State House of Representatives: From 1992-2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Illinois State House of Representatives for 20 years while the Republicans were the majority for 2 years. The Illinois State House of Representatives is one of 18 state Houses that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. During the final 11 years of the study, Illinois was under Democratic trifectas.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican State Houses of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states had divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Illinois, the Illinois State Senate and the Illinois House of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

Partisan composition of Illinois state government(1992-2013).PNG

SQLI and partisanship

To read the full report on the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) in PDF form, click here.

Illinois was one of eight states to demonstrate a dramatic partisan shift in the 22 years studied. A dramatic shift was defined by a movement of 40 percent or more toward one party over the course of the study period.

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Illinois state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. For a period of two years (1995 and 1996), Illinois had a Republican trifecta between two periods of divided government (1992-1995 and 1997-2002). Between 2003 and 2013, Illinois has had a Democratic trifecta. For four straight years, Illinois was in the top-10 in the SQLI ranking between 1997 and 2000 under divided government. Illinois slipped into the bottom-10 in the ranking in the year 2012 (41st) under a Democratic trifecta. The state had its most precipitous drop in the SQLI ranking between 2006 and 2007, dropping nine spots. Illinois had its biggest leap in the SQLI ranking between 1996 and 1997, rising eight spots in the ranking.

  • SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 27.10
  • SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 11.50
  • SQLI average with divided government: 11.78
Chart displaying the partisanship of Illinois government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

Roles and responsibilities

Amending the constitution

Main article: Amending state constitutions

The Illinois state legislature under Article XIV of the Illinois Constitution can begin the process of amending the state's constitution in two different ways:

  • The legislature can only propose to amend up to three articles of the constitution in any one election.
  • The legislature is not allowed to propose any amendments when a constitutional convention has been called up through the time that an election is held on any proposed amendments or revisions that arise from that convention.

Whether the question at hand is about holding a constitutional convention, ratifying an amendment proposed by the Illinois General Assembly, or adopting an initiated constitutional amendment, these ballot questions are only considered successful if voters say "yes" 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.

Joint Legislative Committees

The Illinois General Assembly utilizes oversight committees and commissions.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Illinois state legislature. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Illinois General Assembly - Google News

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election and campaign finance calendar 2018," accessed August 16, 2017
  2. ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Election and campaign finance calendar 2018," accessed August 16, 2017
  3. ↑ 5 Chicago, "Illinois Lawmakers Cancel Legislative Session Over Coronavirus," March 12, 2020
  4. ↑ MyWabashValley.com, "Illinois Legislature cancels second week of scheduled session," March 18, 2020
  5. ↑ Metropolis Planet, "Senate, House cancel session once again," March 30, 2020
  6. ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Home page," accessed May 18, 2020
  7. ↑ NBC 5 Chicago, "Illinois Lawmakers Return to Springfield for Legislative Session," May 20, 2020
  8. ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Home page," accessed May 26, 2020
  9. ↑ Reuters, "S&P cuts Illinois' credit rating to one notch above junk," June 1, 2017
  10. ↑ NBC Chicago, "What Happens If Illinois Lawmakers Don't Pass a Budget?" June 28, 2017
  11. ↑ U.S. News and World Report, "Illinois Senate Democrats Vote for $5.4 Billion Tax Increase," May 23, 2017
  12. ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Illinois Senate votes to override Rauner veto of income tax hike, budget," July 4, 2017
  13. ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Wisconsin's state budget takes $51 million hit — thanks to Illinois," July 11, 2017
  14. ↑ Politico, "Illinois lawmakers face budget rage," July 5, 2017
  15. ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Madigan sends Rauner message on tax hike vote as talks break down at Capitol," July 1, 2017
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Chicago Sun-Times, "Illinois has state budget, but no school funding plan," July 16, 2017
  17. ↑ NPR Illinois, "Education Desk: Evidence-Based School Funding Model Explained," September 26, 2016
  18. ↑ WTTW, "Education Funding in Illinois: How the Evidence-Based Model Works," September 21, 2016
  19. ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Rauner-CPS feud could hold up school money for rest of state," July 13, 2017
  20. ↑ U.S. News and World Report, "Rauner Aide: Democrats' School Funding Plan a CPS 'Bailout'," May 17, 2017
  21. ↑ U.S. News and World Report, "The Latest: Gov. Rauner Calls School-Funding Special Session," July 24, 2017
  22. ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Next move is Rauner's after Senate sends him school funding bill," July 31, 2017
  23. ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Rauner vetoes education funding plan, Emanuel accuses him of 'fuzzy math'," August 1, 2017
  24. ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Madigan: Attempt to override Rauner's education veto set for next week," August 16, 2017
  25. ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Senate overrides Rauner school funding veto, but House hurdle remains," August 13, 2017
  26. ↑ The Chicago Sun-Times, "Speaker Madigan calls legislators to work — on Governor’s Day," August 9, 2017
  27. ↑ wglt.org, "Illinois House To Vote Next Week On School Funding Override," August 16, 2017
  28. ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Madigan calls off Wednesday session in Springfield; no override vote of Rauner for now," August 23, 2017
  29. ↑ Politico, "SCHOOL funding WINNERS and LOSERS — RAUNER staffing TURMOIL — Saving ABE in CHICAGO," August 25, 2017
  30. ↑ capitolfax.com, "Education funding reform bill gets just 46 votes," August 28, 2017
  31. ↑ capitolfax.com, "On second try, education funding reform passes with 73 votes," August 28, 2017
  32. ↑ capitolfax.com, "React rolls in to passage of education funding reform," August 29, 2017
  33. ↑ NBC Chicago, "Rauner Signs Historic Education Funding Reform Bill," August 31, 2017
  34. ↑ NPR, "Why America's Schools Have A Money Problem," April 18, 2016
  35. ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Main page," accessed February 4, 2021
  36. ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Rauner-Madigan showdown looms in 2015," December 4, 2014
  37. ↑ dailyjournal.net, "Illinois lawmakers focus on budget issues with election-year legislative session set to begin," January 19, 2014(Archived)
  38. ↑ The New York Times, "Illinois Legislature Approves Retiree Benefit Cuts in Troubled Pension System," December 3, 2013
  39. ↑ mymoinfo.com, "May 31, 2013 Illinois Legislators Pass Oil Fracking Bill," May 31, 2013(Archived)
  40. ↑ Foxnews.com, "Illinois passes bill to allow concealed firearms; last U.S. state to have such a ban," June 1, 2013
  41. ↑ npr.org, "Will Ill. Legalize Gay Marriage Before Legislature Adjourns?" May 30, 2013
  42. ↑ ABC.com, "General Assembly to hold special session next week," June 15, 2011
  43. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Experiences with Annual and Biennial Budgeting," accessed February 4, 2021
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 National Association of State Budget Officers, "Budget Processes in the States, Spring 2021," accessed January 24, 2023
  45. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Separation of Powers: Executive Veto Powers," accessed January 26, 2024
  46. ↑ Pew Charitable Trusts, "State Work," accessed June 6, 2014
  47. ↑ Pew Charitable Trusts, "States’ Use of Cost-Benefit Analysis," July 29, 2013
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 U.S. Public Interest Research Group, "Following the Money 2015 Report," accessed April 4, 2016
  49. ↑ Sunlight Foundation, "Ten Principles for Opening Up Government Information," accessed June 16, 2013
  50. ↑ National Council of State Legislatures, "Dual employment: regulating public jobs for legislators - 50 state table," January 2015
  51. ↑ National Council of State Legislatures, "Ethics: personal financial disclosure for state legislators: income requirements," June 2014
  52. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  53. ↑ The Daily Journal, "Census: Cook County losses slow Illinois population growth ," February 15, 2011 (dead link)
  54. ↑ prnewswire.com, "Latinos Fuel Illinois Population Growth," February 17, 2011
  55. ↑ IllinoisWatchdog.org, "Minorities could have more influence in new political map," March 7, 2011
  56. ↑ Lake County News-Sun, "State House Democrats reveal new legislative map," May 21, 2011
  57. ↑ My FOX Chicago, "Gov. Pat Quinn Signs Off on New Illinois Legislative Maps," June 3, 2011
  58. ↑ census.gov, "Population Distribution and Change: 2000 to 2010," accessed May 15, 2014
  59. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "States Ranked by Population: 2000," April 2, 2001
  60. ↑ census.gov, "Population Distribution and Change: 2000 to 2010," accessed May 15, 2014
  61. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "States Ranked by Population: 2000," April 2, 2001
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