The Illinois Senate is the

upper chamber An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restri ...

of the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

, the

legislative branch A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

of the government of the

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the

Illinois Constitution The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970. The current constitution is referred to as the "Constit ...

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. 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. This ensures that the Senate reflects changes made when the General Assembly redistricts itself after each census. 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 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 re ...

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, with each senator having two " associated" representatives. The Illinois Senate convenes at the

Illinois State Capitol The Illinois State Capitol, located in Springfield, Illinois, houses the legislative and executive branches of the government of the U.S. state of Illinois. The current building is the sixth to serve as the capitol building since Illinois was a ...

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest ...

. 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. The number of negative votes does not matter. Therefore, voting present has the same effect on the tally as voting no.

Party summary

Leadership

, the 102nd General Assembly of the Illinois Senate consists of the following leadership:

Majority

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ex ...

: Don Harmon *Majority Leader: Kimberly A. Lightford *Assistant Majority Leader/President Pro Tempore:

Bill Cunningham Bill Cunningham may refer to: People *Bill Cunningham (rugby union) (1874–1927), New Zealand rugby union player * Bill Cunningham (footballer), Irish international footballer active in the 1890s * Bill Cunningham (infielder) (1886–1946), prof ...

*Deputy Majority Leaders: ** Laura Murphy ** Emil Jones III *Assistant Majority Leaders: ** Jacqueline Y. Collins ** Linda Holmes ** Dave Koehler ** Antonio Munoz *Majority Caucus Chair: Mattie Hunter *Majority Caucus Whips: ** Omar Aquino ** Michael Hastings ** Napoleon Harris III ** Julie Morrison

Minority

*Minority Leader: Dan McConchie *Deputy Minority Leader: Sue Rezin *Assistant Minority Leaders: ** Don DeWitte ** Steve McClure ** Jason Plummer **

Chapin Rose Chapin Rose (born December 17, 1973) is a Republican member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 51st district since January 2013. The 51st district includes all or parts of McLean, DeWitt, Macon, Piatt, Shelby, Moultrie, Douglas, Ch ...

*Minority Caucus Chair: Jason Barickman *Minority Caucus Whips: **

Dave Syverson Dave Syverson (born June 29, 1957) is a Republican member of the Illinois Senate representing the 35th district since 2013. Previously, he represented the 34th district from 1993 to 2013. Early life, education and career He was born June 29, 19 ...

** Jil Tracy

Officers

*Secretary of the Senate: Tim Anderson *Assistant Secretary of the Senate: Scott Kaiser *Sergeant-at-Arms: Joe Dominguez *Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Dirk R. Eilers

Members

In 1924, Florence Fifer Bohrer became the body's first female member and Adelbert H. Roberts became its first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

member. In 1977, Earlean Collins became the first African American woman to serve in the Illinois Senate.

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

, later the first African-American President of the United States, served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. , the 102nd General Assembly of the Illinois Senate consists of the following members: * Ɨ Legislator was appointed to the Illinois Senate during session. * ƗƗ Legislator was appointed to the Illinois Senate after being elected, but prior to inauguration day of the General Assembly to which they were elected.

Past composition of the Senate

References

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

* {{Authority control

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

State upper houses in the United States 1818 establishments in Illinois Territory