General Assembly

The General Assembly, also called the legislature, is made up of two groups, “houses,” or “chambers”: the House of Representatives, often called simply the House, and the Senate. The state is divided into 118 “districts,” with one Representative elected from each of these districts. These 118 Representatives make up the House. There are also 59 Senate districts, created by combining every two Representative districts. In other words, Representative districts 1 and 2 make up Senate district 1 and Representative districts 3 and 4 make up Senate district 2, etc. The 59 Senators—one elected from each Senate district—make up the Senate.

Senators are elected to two- or four-year terms. Therefore, in each election year, two-thirds of the seats in the Senate are up for re-election. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, so the entire House is up for re-election every two years.

Members in both chambers must be U.S. citizens at least 21 years old and have resided in their districts for at least two years prior to the election (18 months in the first election after redistricting). Senators or Representatives from the largest party in that chamber make up the “majority caucus” or simply the majority. Members from the second largest party in the chamber make up the “minority caucus” or the minority. For 2009-2010, the Democrats are in the majority in both the House and the Senate.

The Senate President, who is elected by the Senators at the first meeting of the Senate after the general elections, leads the Senate. The person receiving the second highest number of votes is the Minority Leader. For 2009-2010, Democratic Senator John Cullerton of Chicago serves as the Senate President, and Republican Senator Christine Radogno of Lemont is the Minority Leader.

The House leadership is quite similar to that of the Senate, except that the leader in the House is the Speaker of the House, or simply the Speaker. For the 2009-2010 session, Democratic Representative Michael Madigan of Chicago is the Speaker of the House, and Oswego Republican Representative Tom Cross is the House Minority Leader.

The term “General Assembly” (sometimes shortened to GA) is also used to refer to the session in which the legislature is operating. This change in meaning can be a little confusing, but the definition can usually be determined by the context in which it is used. Each session spans two years, starting each odd year, and corresponds with House election cycles (every two years). Each General Assembly is numbered sequentially, beginning from the first meeting of the legislature when Illinois became a state in 1818. The 2009-2010 session is the 96th General Assembly. Bills introduced at any point during a General Assembly are technically active during the entire session, although it is rare for bills not acted upon during the first year to pass in the second year. Bills cannot, however, move between General Assemblies. If a bill does not pass out of the legislature during one General Assembly, it must be re-introduced to start the process again in the new General Assembly. This is not generally a problem and bills are often introduced in numerous General Assemblies until they are finally passed.