Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

Illinois Senate Bill SB1347 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1347 Introduced 1/28/2025, by Sen. Chris Balkema SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: New Act10 ILCS 5/28-7 from Ch. 46, par. 28-7 Creates the Citizens Empowerment Act. Provides that electors may petition for a referendum at the next general election to dissolve a unit of local government. Sets forth the requirements for the petition, together with the form and requirements for the ballot referendum. Provides for the transfer of all real and personal property and any other assets, together with all personnel, contractual obligations, and liabilities of the dissolving unit of local government to the receiving unit of local government. Amends the Election Code to make conforming changes. Effective immediately. LRB104 10778 RTM 20858 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1347 Introduced 1/28/2025, by Sen. Chris Balkema SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: New Act10 ILCS 5/28-7 from Ch. 46, par. 28-7 New Act 10 ILCS 5/28-7 from Ch. 46, par. 28-7 Creates the Citizens Empowerment Act. Provides that electors may petition for a referendum at the next general election to dissolve a unit of local government. Sets forth the requirements for the petition, together with the form and requirements for the ballot referendum. Provides for the transfer of all real and personal property and any other assets, together with all personnel, contractual obligations, and liabilities of the dissolving unit of local government to the receiving unit of local government. Amends the Election Code to make conforming changes. Effective immediately. LRB104 10778 RTM 20858 b LRB104 10778 RTM 20858 b A BILL FOR
2	2	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1347 Introduced 1/28/2025, by Sen. Chris Balkema SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
3	3	New Act10 ILCS 5/28-7 from Ch. 46, par. 28-7 New Act 10 ILCS 5/28-7 from Ch. 46, par. 28-7
4	4	New Act
5	5	10 ILCS 5/28-7 from Ch. 46, par. 28-7
6	6	Creates the Citizens Empowerment Act. Provides that electors may petition for a referendum at the next general election to dissolve a unit of local government. Sets forth the requirements for the petition, together with the form and requirements for the ballot referendum. Provides for the transfer of all real and personal property and any other assets, together with all personnel, contractual obligations, and liabilities of the dissolving unit of local government to the receiving unit of local government. Amends the Election Code to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.
7	7	LRB104 10778 RTM 20858 b LRB104 10778 RTM 20858 b
8	8	LRB104 10778 RTM 20858 b
9	9	A BILL FOR
10	10	SB1347LRB104 10778 RTM 20858 b SB1347 LRB104 10778 RTM 20858 b
11	11	SB1347 LRB104 10778 RTM 20858 b
12	12	1 AN ACT concerning local government.
13	13	2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
14	14	3 represented in the General Assembly:
15	15	4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
16	16	5 Citizens Empowerment Act.
17	17	6 Section 5. Scope. The method of dissolution of a unit of
18	18	7 local government under this Act shall be in addition to any
19	19	8 other method of dissolving a unit of local government provided
20	20	9 by law or otherwise.
21	21	10 Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
22	22	11 "Dissolving unit of local government" means the unit of
23	23	12 local government proposed to be dissolved by referendum under
24	24	13 this Act.
25	25	14 "Electors" means the registered voters of the dissolving
26	26	15 unit of local government and the registered voters of the
27	27	16 receiving unit of local government.
28	28	17 "Receiving unit of local government" means the unit of
29	29	18 local government receiving the rights, duties, and liabilities
30	30	19 of the unit of local government proposed to be dissolved by
31	31	20 referendum under this Act.
32	32	21 Section 15. Petition requirements; notice.
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36	36	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1347 Introduced 1/28/2025, by Sen. Chris Balkema SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
37	37	New Act10 ILCS 5/28-7 from Ch. 46, par. 28-7 New Act 10 ILCS 5/28-7 from Ch. 46, par. 28-7
38	38	New Act
39	39	10 ILCS 5/28-7 from Ch. 46, par. 28-7
40	40	Creates the Citizens Empowerment Act. Provides that electors may petition for a referendum at the next general election to dissolve a unit of local government. Sets forth the requirements for the petition, together with the form and requirements for the ballot referendum. Provides for the transfer of all real and personal property and any other assets, together with all personnel, contractual obligations, and liabilities of the dissolving unit of local government to the receiving unit of local government. Amends the Election Code to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.
41	41	LRB104 10778 RTM 20858 b LRB104 10778 RTM 20858 b
42	42	LRB104 10778 RTM 20858 b
43	43	A BILL FOR
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49	49	New Act
50	50	10 ILCS 5/28-7 from Ch. 46, par. 28-7
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69	69	1 (a) Subject to the petition requirements of Section 28-3
70	70	2 of the Election Code, petitions for a referendum to dissolve
71	71	3 any unit of local government must be filed both with the
72	72	4 governing board of the dissolving unit of local government and
73	73	5 the governing board of the receiving unit of local government
74	74	6 not less than 122 days prior to a general election. Petitions
75	75	7 must include:
76	76	8 (1) the dissolving unit of local government;
77	77	9 (2) the receiving unit of local government;
78	78	10 (3) the date of dissolution;
79	79	11 (4) the signatures of a number of electors equal to or
80	80	12 greater than 5% of the total votes cast in the preceding
81	81	13 general election; and
82	82	14 (5) an affidavit of publication attesting that notice
83	83	15 of the petition to dissolve a unit of local government was
84	84	16 published in a newspaper of general circulation within the
85	85	17 territory of the dissolving unit of local government and
86	86	18 the receiving unit of local government at least 122 days
87	87	19 and no more than 152 days prior to the general election at
88	88	20 which the referendum is to be voted upon.
89	89	21 All signatures gathered under paragraph (4) of this
90	90	22 subsection (a) must be signed within 365 days prior to the
91	91	23 filing of a petition. A unit of local government may, by
92	92	24 ordinance or resolution, limit the time signatures must be
93	93	25 signed to less than 365 days prior to the filing of the
94	94	26 petition but no less than 180 days before the filing of a
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105	105	1 petition. If either the dissolving unit of local government or
106	106	2 receiving unit of local government has such an ordinance or
107	107	3 resolution, the petition shall not be placed on the ballot if
108	108	4 any signatures do not meet the requirements of any ordinance
109	109	5 or resolution.
110	110	6 (b) The proposed date of dissolution shall be at least 90
111	111	7 days after the date of the election at which the referendum is
112	112	8 to be voted upon.
113	113	9 (c) The parties filing a petition under this Section shall
114	114	10 give notice in substantially the following form:
115	115	11 NOTICE OF PETITION TO DISSOLVE (dissolving unit of local
116	116	12 government).
117	117	13 Residents of (dissolving unit of local government) and
118	118	14 (receiving unit of local government) are notified that a
119	119	15 petition will be filed with (dissolving unit of local
120	120	16 government) and (receiving unit of local government)
121	121	17 requesting a referendum to dissolve (dissolving unit of
122	122	18 local government) on (date of dissolution) with all real
123	123	19 and personal property, and any other assets, together with
124	124	20 all personnel, contractual obligations, and liabilities
125	125	21 being transferred to (receiving unit of local government).
126	126	22 Section 20. Ballot placement. A petition that meets the
127	127	23 requirements of Section 15 shall be placed on the ballot in the
128	128	24 form provided for in Section 25 at the general election next
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139	139	1 following. Failure to publish the required notice of petition
140	140	2 shall render the petition, and the results of any referendum
141	141	3 held on the petition, null and void.
142	142	4 Section 25. Referendum; voting.
143	143	5 (a) Subject to the requirements of Section 16-7 of the
144	144	6 Election Code, the referendum described in Section 20 shall be
145	145	7 in substantially the following form on the ballot:
146	146	8 -----------
147	147	9 Shall the (dissolving
148	148	10 unit of local government) be
149	149	11 dissolved on (date of dissolution) YES
150	150	12 with all of its property,
151	151	13 assets, personnel, obligations, and -------------------------
152	152	14 liabilities being transferred to
153	153	15 (receiving unit of local government)? NO
154	154	16 -------------------------------------------------------------
155	155	17 (b) The referendum is approved when:
156	156	18 (1) three-fifths of those voting on the amendment or a
157	157	19 majority of those voting in the election from the
158	158	20 dissolving unit of local government approve the
159	159	21 referendum; and
160	160	22 (2) three-fifths of those voting on the amendment or a
161	161	23 majority of those voting in the election from electors of
162	162	24 the receiving unit of local government approve the
163	163	25 referendum.
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174	174	1 Section 30. Dissolution; transfer of rights and duties.
175	175	2 When the dissolution of a unit of local government has been
176	176	3 approved under Section 25:
177	177	4 (a) On or before the date of dissolution, all real and
178	178	5 personal property, and any other assets, together with all
179	179	6 personnel, contractual obligations, and liabilities of the
180	180	7 dissolving unit of local government shall be transferred to
181	181	8 the receiving unit of local government.
182	182	9 (b) On the date of dissolution, the dissolving unit of
183	183	10 local government is dissolved.
184	184	11 (c) On and after the date of dissolution, all rights and
185	185	12 duties of the dissolved unit of local government, including,
186	186	13 but not limited to, the authority to tax (if any), may be
187	187	14 exercised by the governing board of the receiving unit of
188	188	15 local government.
189	189	16 Section 100. The Election Code is amended by changing
190	190	17 Section 28-7 as follows:
191	191	18 (10 ILCS 5/28-7) (from Ch. 46, par. 28-7)
192	192	19 Sec. 28-7. Except as provided in Article 24 of the
193	193	20 Township Code and the Citizens Empowerment Act, in any case in
194	194	21 which Article VII or paragraph (a) of Section 5 of the
195	195	22 Transition Schedule of the Constitution authorizes any action
196	196	23 to be taken by or with respect to any unit of local government,
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207	207	1 as defined in Section 1 of Article VII of the Constitution, by
208	208	2 or subject to approval by referendum, any such public question
209	209	3 shall be initiated in accordance with this Section.
210	210	4 Any such public question may be initiated by the governing
211	211	5 body of the unit of local government by resolution or by the
212	212	6 filing with the clerk or secretary of the governmental unit of
213	213	7 a petition signed by a number of qualified electors equal to or
214	214	8 greater than at least 8% of the total votes cast for candidates
215	215	9 for Governor in the preceding gubernatorial election,
216	216	10 requesting the submission of the proposal for such action to
217	217	11 the voters of the governmental unit at a regular election.
218	218	12 If the action to be taken requires a referendum involving
219	219	13 2 or more units of local government, the proposal shall be
220	220	14 submitted to the voters of such governmental units by the
221	221	15 election authorities with jurisdiction over the territory of
222	222	16 the governmental units. Such multi-unit proposals may be
223	223	17 initiated by appropriate resolutions by the respective
224	224	18 governing bodies or by petitions of the voters of the several
225	225	19 governmental units filed with the respective clerks or
226	226	20 secretaries.
227	227	21 This Section is intended to provide a method of submission
228	228	22 to referendum in all cases of proposals for actions which are
229	229	23 authorized by Article VII of the Constitution by or subject to
230	230	24 approval by referendum and supersedes any conflicting
231	231	25 statutory provisions except those contained in Division 2-5 of
232	232	26 the Counties Code, or Article 24 of the Township Code, or the
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243	243	1 Citizens Empowerment Act.
244	244	2 Referenda provided for in this Section may not be held
245	245	3 more than once in any 23-month period on the same proposition,
246	246	4 provided that in any municipality a referendum to elect not to
247	247	5 be a home rule unit may be held only once within any 47-month
248	248	6 period.
249	249	7 (Source: P.A. 100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 101-230, eff. 8-9-19.)
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