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Illinois House of Representatives
Illinois General Assembly
Type
Type	Lower house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 11, 2023
Leadership
Speaker	Chris Welch (D) since January 13, 2021
Speaker pro tempore	Jehan Gordon-Booth (D) since January 21, 2021
Majority Leader	Robyn Gabel (D) since January 12, 2023
Minority Leader	Tony McCombie (R) since January 11, 2023
Structure
Seats	118
Political groups	Majority   Democratic (78) Minority   Republican (40)
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Article IV, Illinois Constitution
Salary	$67,836/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 8, 2022
Next election	November 5, 2024
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
House of Representatives Chamber Illinois State Capitol Springfield, Illinois
Website
Illinois House of Representatives
Rules
Rules of the House of Representatives of the 103rd General Assembly

The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representatives elected from individual legislative districts for two-year terms with no limits; redistricted every 10 years, based on the 2010 U.S. census each representative represents approximately 108,734 people.

The house has the power to pass bills and impeach Illinois officeholders. Lawmakers must be at least 21 years of age and a resident of the district in which they serve for at least two years.

President Abraham Lincoln began his career in politics in the Illinois House of Representatives.

History

The Illinois General Assembly was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The candidates for office split into political parties in the 1830s, initially as the Democratic and Whig parties, until the Whig candidates reorganized as Republicans in the 1850s.

Abraham Lincoln began his political career in the Illinois House of Representatives as a member of the Whig party in 1834. He served there until 1842. Although Republicans held the majority of seats in the Illinois House after 1860, in the next election it returned to the Democrats. The Democratic Party-led legislature worked to frame a new state constitution that was ultimately rejected by voters After the 1862 election, the Democratic-led Illinois House of Representatives passed resolutions denouncing the federal government's conduct of the war and urging an immediate armistice and peace convention, leading the Republican governor to suspend the legislature for the first time in the state's history. In 1864, Republicans swept the state legislature and at the time of Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theater, Illinois stood as a solidly Republican state.

State House of Representatives elected through Cumulative voting from 1870 to 1980. The use of that system was meant to secure a degree of representation for minority blacks and the non-dominant party through use of multi-member districts and special type of multiple voting.

From 1870 to 1980, Illinois's lower house had several unique features:

• The House had 177 members. The state was divided into 59 legislative districts, each of which elected one senator and three representatives.
• Elections for the state house were conducted using cumulative voting; each individual voter was given three votes to cast for House seats, and they could distribute them to three candidates (one vote each), one candidate (receiving three votes—this was called a bullet vote) or two candidates (each receiving 1½ votes).
• Though not constitutionally mandated, the two parties had an informal agreement that they would only run two candidates per district. Thus, in most districts, only four candidates were running for three seats. This not only all but guaranteed that the district's minority party would win a seat (particularly outside Chicago), but usually assured that each party would have significant representation—a minimum of one-third of the seats (59 out of 177)—in the House. (The only historic exception to the minimum 59 seat rule was in 1875 and during WWI.)

Cutback Amendment of 1980

The Cutback Amendment was proposed to abolish Illinois's use of Cumulative Voting and multi-member districts.

Since its passage in 1980, representatives have been elected from 118 single-member districts formed by dividing the 59 Senate districts in half, a method known as nesting. Each senator is "associated" with two representatives.

Since the adoption of the Cutback Amendment, there have been proposals by some major political figures in Illinois to bring back multi-member districts. A task force led by former governor Jim Edgar and former federal judge Abner Mikva issued a report in 2001 calling for the revival of cumulative voting, in part because it appears that such a system increases the representation of racial minorities in elected office. The Chicago Tribune editorialized in 1995 that the multi-member districts elected with cumulative voting produced better legislators. Others have argued that the now-abandoned system provided for greater stability in the lower house.

The Democratic Party won a majority of House seats in 1982. Except for a brief two-year period of Republican control from 1995 to 1997, the Democrats have held the majority since then.

Firsts

The first two African-American legislators in Illinois were John W. E. Thomas, first elected in 1876, and George French Ecton, elected in 1886. In 1922, Lottie Holman O'Neill became the first woman elected to the Illinois House of Representatives (she was elected in the first election in which women could vote or run for election). In 1958, Floy Clements became the first African American woman to serve as state Representative. In 1982, Joseph Berrios became the first Hispanic American state representative. Theresa Mah became the first Asian American to serve in the Illinois House when she was sworn into office January 10, 2017.

Powers

The Illinois House of Representatives meets at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. It is required to convene on the second Wednesday of January each year. Along with the Illinois Senate and governor, it is vested with the power to make laws, come up with a state budget, act on federal constitutional amendments, and propose constitutional amendments to the state constitution. The Illinois House of Representatives also holds the power to impeach executive and judicial officials.

Qualifications

A person must be a U.S. citizen and two-year resident of an electoral district of at least 21 years of age to serve in the Illinois House of Representatives. Members of the House cannot hold other public offices or receive appointments by the governor while in office.

Composition of the House

Leadership

The current Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives is Emanuel Chris Welch, a Democrat from Hillside, who represents the 7th district. The Democratic Party of Illinois currently holds a super-majority of seats in the House. Under the Constitution of Illinois, the office of minority leader is recognized for the purpose of making certain appointments. Tony McCombie, of Savanna, who represents the 89th district, currently holds that post. Both leaders appointed their leadership teams shortly after the start of the 103rd General Assembly.

Officers

• Clerk of the House: John W. Hollman
• Chief Doorkeeper: Lee A. Crawford
• Parliamentarian: James Hartmann
• Assistant Clerk of the House: Bradley S. Bolin

Members

As of June 5, 2024, the 103rd General Assembly of the Illinois House of Representatives consists of the following members:

• Ɨ Legislator was appointed to the Illinois House of Representatives during session.
• ƗƗ Legislator was appointed to the Illinois House of Representatives after being elected, but prior to inauguration day of the General Assembly to which they were elected.

Past composition of the House of Representatives

References

1. "Archived copy" (PDF). 2010.census.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. White Jr., Ronald C. (2009). A. Lincoln: A Biography. Random House, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4000-6499-1, p. 59.
3. ^ VandeCreek, Drew E. Politics in Illinois and the Union During the Civil War Archived June 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine (accessed May 28, 2013)
4. "Cumulative Voting – Illinois". November 26, 2008.
5. "FairVote - Illinois' Drive to Revive Cumulative Voting". Archive.fairvote.org. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
6. "FairVote - Black Representation Under Cumulative Voting in Illinois". Archive.fairvote.org. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
7. "Cumulative Voting - Illinois | The New Rules Project". Newrules.org. January 12, 2005. Archived from the original on January 5, 2011. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
8. Hyneman, Charles S.; Morgan, Julian D. "HeinOnline". Illinois Law Review. 32. HeinOnline: 12. Archived from the original on June 6, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
9. Joens, David A. From Slave to State Legislator: John WE Thomas, Illinois' First African American Lawmaker. SIU Press, 2012.
10. "Illinois Women in Congress and General Assembly" (PDF). Springfield, Illinois: Illinois General Assembly Legislative Research Unit. February 11, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
11. Bone, Jan, ed. (June 1974). "Commission on the Status of Women. Report and Recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly" (PDF). Springfield, Illinois: Illinois Commission on the Status of Women. p. 26. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
12. Fremon, David K. (December 1991). "How first Hispanic congressional district remaps Chicago politics". Illinois Issues. Springfield, Illinois: Sangamon State University. pp. 22–24. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
13. Miller, Rich (April 29, 2016). "How the South Side elected the state's first Asian-American lawmaker". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
14. ^ Constitution of the State of Illinois, Article IV, The Legislature (accessed May 28, 2013)
15. Democrat and former Speaker Michael Madigan (District 22) resigned.
16. Democrat Edward Guerra Kodatt selected to succeed Madigan.
17. Democrat Edward Guerra Kodatt (District 22) resigned.
18. Welch, Emmanuel Chris (January 12, 2023). "Appointments to the House Majority Leadership for the 103rd General Assembly" (PDF). Letter to John W. Hollman (Clerk of the Illinois House of Representatives). Springfield, Illinois: Journal of the Illinois House of Representatives. 103 (2) 4. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
19. McCombie, Tony (January 12, 2023). "Appointments to the House Minority Leadership for the 103rd General Assembly" (PDF). Letter to John W. Hollman (Clerk of the Illinois House of Representatives). Springfield, Illinois: Journal of the Illinois House of Representatives. 103 (2) 3. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
20. Degman, Alex (May 9, 2023). "Rep. Mary Flowers removed from leadership after saying staff member resembled Hitler". NPR Illinois. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
21. Barlow, Sarah E. (ed.). "Biographies of New House Members" (PDF). First Reading. 36 (1). Illinois General Assembly: 2. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
22. ^ Hollman, John W., ed. (February 7, 2023). "Resignations and Appointments" (PDF). House Journal. 103 (5). Illinois House of Representatives: 4–8. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
23. ^ Hollman, John W., ed. (March 30, 2023). "Certificate of Appointment to Fill Vacancy in the Office of Representative in the General Assembly" (PDF). House Journal. 103 (30). Illinois House of Representatives: 9–11. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
24. ^ Liptrot, Michael; Monaghan, Marc (May 15, 2023). "Neely Du Buclet appointed state representative for 5th District". Hyde Park Herald. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
25. Kapos, Shia (September 13, 2023). "Political divide rears its head". POLITICO. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
26. Zalusky, Steve (June 5, 2024). "Arlington Heights trustee tapped for 53rd District House seat". Daily Herald. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
27. Pfingsten, Patrick (January 14, 2024). "Katz Muhl Appointed to House". The Illinoize. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
28. Miller, Isabel (December 20, 2023). "*** UPDATED x3 *** Isabel's afternoon roundup". Capitol Fax. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
29. Reeder, Scott (January 5, 2022). "Mike Coffey to fill Butler's House seat". Illinois Times. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
30. Brandy, Steve (December 21, 2023). "Brandun Schweizer Sworn In as New 104th District Illinois State Representative". Vermillion County First. Retrieved December 24, 2023.

External links

• Illinois General Assembly - House official government website
• Illinois House Republicans official party website
• Illinois House Democrats official party website
• Legislature of Illinois at Project Vote Smart
• Illinois campaign financing at FollowTheMoney.org
• Illinois House of Representatives at Ballotpedia

39°47′53″N 89°39′18″W / 39.79806°N 89.65500°W / 39.79806; -89.65500

• Illinois General Assembly
• State lower houses in the United States
• 1818 establishments in Illinois