Lawmakers in Illinois are set to return to Springfield this month for the annual Veto Session, scheduled for November 12-14 and 19-21. This session allows the General Assembly to review gubernatorial vetoes and revisit unfinished legislation. During the session, legislators can overturn vetoes and work on key legislative items that did not reach the governor’s desk in the Regular Session, held from January through May.
The governor of Illinois holds four types of veto powers: total, amendatory, line-item, and reduction vetoes. A total veto rejects an entire bill, requiring a three-fifths vote in both the House (71 votes) and Senate (36 votes) for an override. With an amendatory veto, the governor can suggest specific changes, which lawmakers may accept with a simple majority or override with a three-fifths vote. The line-item and reduction vetoes allow the governor to modify appropriations bills by removing or reducing specific amounts, which the legislature can restore through majority or supermajority votes, depending on the veto.
Veto Session also provides an opportunity to pass time-sensitive legislation. In 2021, for instance, House Democrats introduced and passed a new congressional map during Veto Session, which moved forward without committee hearings and passed with 71 votes in the House and 41 in the Senate. By contrast, the 2017 Veto Session saw a bipartisan effort to override Governor Rauner’s veto of the Debt Transparency Act, a bill requiring agencies to report liabilities monthly.
Since 1970, the Illinois Veto Session has been held annually, with exceptions in 2015 due to the Budget Impasse and in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s session will be accessible for public viewing on the Illinois General Assembly website, where citizens can follow committee hearings, view schedules, and track pending legislation.