Illinois General Assembly

Illinois General Assembly
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
Leadership
President of the Senate	Don Harmon (D) since January 19, 2020
Speaker of the House	Chris Welch (D) since January 13, 2021
Structure
Seats	177 voting members 59 senators 118 representatives
State Senate political groups	Democratic (40)   Republican (19)
House of Representatives political groups	Democratic (78)   Republican (40)
Elections
Last general election	November 8, 2022
Next general election	November 5, 2024
Meeting place
Illinois State Capitol Springfield
Website
Illinois General Assembly
Constitution
Constitution of Illinois

The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state. 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 1818. As of 2023^[update], the current General Assembly is the 103rd; the term of an assembly lasts two years.

Under the Illinois Constitution, since 1983 the Senate has had 59 members and the House has had 118 members. In both chambers, all members are elected from single-member districts. Each Senate district is divided into two adjacent House districts.

The General Assembly meets in the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. Its session laws are generally adopted by majority vote in both houses, and upon gaining the assent of the Governor of Illinois. They are published in the official Laws of Illinois.^[1][2]

Two presidents of the United States, Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama, began their political careers in the Illinois General Assembly–– in the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate, respectively.