The
Pegislative Process: Step Six
Bill goes to the Governor
The
legislature must send the bill to the Governor within 30 days after it
has passed both chambers. Once the bill reaches the Governor’s desk,
he or she has three options.
First,
the Governor can choose to do nothing. If no action is taken within 60
days after the bill reaches the Governor, it automatically becomes law.
Second,
the Governor can sign the bill into law exactly as it is. When a bill
becomes law, by whatever means, it is called a Public Act and is assigned
a Public Act number. All Public Act numbers are in the form XX-YYYY. The
Xs denote the General Assembly in which the bill became law. The Ys are
assigned in the order in which the bill is signed or otherwise becomes
law. So, Public Act 92-0021 was enacted by the 92nd General Assembly and
was the twenty-first bill to become law during that General Assembly.
Third,
the Governor can veto the bill. The Governor has two types of vetoes which
are applicable to IMRF. The first type is the total veto. In this case,
the Governor vetoes the entire bill. The second type is an amendatory
veto. In this case, the Governor makes specific recommendations for changes
to the bill. With an amendatory veto, the Governor is saying that he or
she would sign the bill into law if the changes were made. In either case,
the Governor issues a “veto message.”
In the veto message, the Governor tells what type of veto it is and, for
an amendatory veto, the specific changes he or she is recommending. The
veto message is then forwarded to the General Assembly. The General Assembly
has a few options:
It can do nothing. If so, the bill is considered dead, even in the case
of an amendatory veto.
It
can override the veto. If three-fifths of the members in each of the
chambers votes to override the veto, then it becomes law in the form
in which the bill was originally sent to the Governor.
In
the case of an amendatory veto, the legislature may agree with the recommendations
made by the Governor by a simple majority vote in each of the chambers.
If this happens, the bill becomes law.
IMRF Online provides
a brief summary of IMRF benefits and the adminstration of those benefits.
IMRF members'
and employers' rights and obligations are governed by
Article
7
of the Illinois Pension Code.
Statements in these publications are general,
and the Illinois state law governing IMRF is complex and specific.
If a
conflict arises between information in these publications and the law, all
decisions are based on the law.