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2022 Illinois legislative session
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| 2022 Illinois legislative session |
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| General information |
| Session start: January 5, 2022 Session end: April 9, 2022 |
| Leadership |
| Senate President Don Harmon (D) House Speaker |
| Elections |
| Next Election: November 8, 2022 Last Election: November 3, 2020 |
| Previous legislative sessions |
| 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
| Other 2022 legislative sessions |
In 2022, the Illinois General Assembly was scheduled to convene on January 5, 2022, and adjourn on April 9, 2022.
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 2022 session, Illinois was one of eight state legislatures where Democrats had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.
Leadership in 2022
Illinois State Senate
- Senate president: Don Harmon (D)
- Majority leader: Kimberly Lightford (D)
- Minority leader: Dan McConchie (R)
Illinois House of Representatives
- Speaker of the House: Chris Welch (D)
- Majority leader: Greg Harris (D)
- Minority leader: Jim Durkin (R)
Partisan control in 2022
- See also: State government trifectas
Illinois was one of 14 Democratic state government trifectas at the start of 2022 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 eight 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 General Assembly in the 2022 legislative session.
Illinois State Senate
| Party | As of January 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 41 | |
| Republican Party | 18 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 59 | |
Illinois House of Representatives
| Party | As of January 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 73 | |
| Republican Party | 45 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 118 | |
Regular session
The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2022 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 2022. This information is provided by BillTrack50.
Standing legislative committees
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 2022 legislative session, there were 79 standing committees in Illinois' state government, including three joint legislative committees, 30 state Senate committees, and 46 state House committees.
Joint legislative committees
- Administrative Rules Committee
- Legislative Audit Commission
- Legislative Ethics Commission
Senate committees
- Agriculture Committee
- Appropriations Committee
- Assignments Committee
- Behavioral and Mental Health
- Commerce Committee
- Committee of the Whole
- Criminal Law Committee
- Education Committee
- Energy and Public Utilities Committee
- Environment and Conservation Committee
- Ethics Committee
- Executive Appointments Committee
- Healthcare Access and Availability Committee
- Human Rights Committee
- Judiciary Committee
- Labor Committee
- Local Government Committee
- Pensions Committee
- Redistricting Committee
- Revenue Committee
- Senate Executive Committee
- Senate Financial Institutions Committee
- Senate Higher Education Committee
- Senate Human Services Committee
- Senate Insurance Committee
- Senate Licensed Activities Committee
- State Government Committee
- Tourism and Hospitality Committee
- Transportation Committee
- Veterans Affairs Committee
House committees
- Adoption & Child Welfare Committee
- Agriculture & Conservation Committee
- Appropriations-Elementary & Secondary Education Committee
- Appropriations-General Service Committee
- Appropriations-Higher Education Committee
- Appropriations-Human Services Committee
- Appropriations-Public Safety Committee
- Child Care Accessibility & Early Childhood Education Committee
- Cities & Villages Committee
- Consumer Protection Committee
- Counties & Townships Committee
- Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, and IT Committee
- Economic Opportunity & Equity Committee
- Elections & Campaign Finance Committee
- Elementary & Secondary Education Charter School Policy Committee
- Elementary & Secondary Education: Administration, Licensing & Charter School Committee
- Elementary & Secondary Education: School Curriculum & Policies Committee
- Energy & Environment Committee
- Ethics & Elections Committee
- Health Care Availability & Accessibility Committee
- Health Care Licenses Committee
- House Executive Committee
- House Financial Institutions Committee
- House Higher Education Committee
- House Human Services Committee
- House Insurance Committee
- Housing Committee
- Immigration & Human Rights Committee
- International Trade & Commerce Committee
- Judiciary - Civil Committee
- Judiciary - Criminal Committee
- Labor & Commerce Committee
- Mental Health & Addiction Committee
- Museums, Arts, & Cultural Enhancements Committee
- Personnel & Pensions Committee
- Police & Fire Committee
- Prescription Drug Affordability & Accessibility Committee
- Public Utilities Committee
- Restorative Justice Committee
- Revenue & Finance Committee
- Rules Committee
- State Government Administration Committee
- Tourism Committee
- Transportation: Regulation, Roads & Bridges Committee
- Transportation: Vehicles & Safety Committee
- Veterans' Affairs Committee
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:
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
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
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
