Illinois Senate

The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the Illinois Constitution of 1970, the Illinois Senate is made up of 59 senators elected from individual legislative districts determined by population and redistricted every 10 years; based on the 2020 U.S. census each senator represents approximately 213,347 people.^[1] Senators are divided into three groups, each group having a two-year term at a different part of the decade between censuses, with the rest of the decade being taken up by two four-year terms.^[2] This ensures that the Senate reflects changes made when the General Assembly redistricts itself after each census.

Illinois Senate
Illinois General Assembly
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 11, 2023
Leadership
President	Don Harmon (D) since January 19, 2020
President pro tempore	Bill Cunningham (D) since January 30, 2020
Majority Leader	Kimberly Lightford (D) since January 7, 2019
Minority Leader	John Curran (R) since January 11, 2023
Structure
Seats	59
Political groups	Majority   Democratic (40) Minority   Republican (19)
Length of term	4 years (with one two-year term each decade)
Authority	Illinois Constitution Article IV
Salary	$85,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 8, 2022
Next election	November 5, 2024
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber Illinois State Capitol Springfield, Illinois
Website
Illinois State Senate

Usually, depending on the election year, roughly one-third or two-thirds of Senate seats are contested. On rare occasions (usually after a census), all Senate seats are up for election. In contrast, the Illinois House of Representatives is made up of 118 members with its entire membership elected to two-year terms. House districts are formed by dividing each Senate district in half,^[3] with each senator having two "associated" representatives.

The Illinois Senate convenes at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Its first official working day is the second Wednesday of 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. The Illinois Senate tries impeachments made by the House of Representatives, and can convict impeached officers by a two-thirds vote.

Voting in the Illinois Senate is done by members pushing one of three buttons. Unlike most states, the Illinois Senate allows members to vote yes, no, or present. It takes 30 affirmative votes to pass legislation during final action.^[4][5] The number of negative votes does not matter. Therefore, voting present has the same effect on the tally as voting no.