Illinois has 59 Senate Districts, with one Senator elected from each. Each Senate District encompasses two House districts. Thus, the House of Representatives has 118 members. As of the 1970 Illinois Constitution, The General Assembly is to convene annually on the second Wednesday of January (special sessions may be called). Generally, all action on bills must be completed by June 30 of each year.

At every session of the General Assembly, both the House of Representatives and the Senate adopt rules for the conduct of their affairs. Following is a brief explanation of the process.

Passage of a Bill
1) An idea is drafted into a "bill" form, assigned a bill number and is announced to the sponsor's chamber (First Reading).
2) The bill is then assigned by the "Committee on Assignment" to the committee which normally considers bills of that general subject area (i.e. pension funds). In even numbered years, after a non-appropriation bill's First Reading, it has to be declared by that chamber's Rules Committee "an emergency" issue or one necessary to the conduct of State business or the bill dies at that stage.
3) Once a bill is assigned to a committee, it is studied by the staff analyst who issues a report to the committee as to what the bill will do if enacted into law, who supports it, who opposes it, etc. Once ready the bill is posted for a hearing and testimony is considered. Generally the committee votes on the bill recommending either: that the bill be passed by the General Assembly in its current form; that it be passed with specific amendments; that it be sent to a subcommittee for further study, or that it not be passed or considered further.
4) When a bill is returned to the chamber floor, its Second Reading amendments are debated and voted on. The full Senate acts on amendments that were approved by the committee that heard the bill. The full House acts only on amendments offered from the floor. If no amendments are offered or after all amendments have been considered, the bill automatically is advanced to Third Reading.
5) Third Reading is where the bill is debated and voted on by the full chamber. Passage is by roll call and requires for most legislation the affirmative vote of a majority of the elected members (30 in the Senate and 60 in the House). Bills designated as "noncontroversial" by the legislative leadership are sometimes accorded special treatment by being placed on the "Consent Calendar" where a number of bills may, by agreement, be passed on the same roll call, although the record will show individual roll calls.

The final version of a bill passed in its chamber of origin is then ready to be introduced in the other chamber by one of its members. It begins the complete cycle of First Reading, committee hearing, etc. all over again in that new chamber. A bill not so introduced dies at this stage.

A bill that has passed both chambers must be presented to the Governor within 30 days of its passage. The Governor then has 60 days beyond that to decide which action he will take. If the Governor fails to take action on a bill before 60 days has expired; the bill automatically becomes law. The Governor may totally veto a bill and return it with his objections. The General Assembly may elect to do one of the following.

• Vote to override the Governor's vote by 3/5 majority vote of both chambers at which point the bill becomes law.
• Fail (or elect not) to override the veto by a 3/5 vote in either chamber, at which point the bill dies.