SPRINGFIELD - At the urging of Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, an Illinois House committee Wednesday voted unanimously in favor of asking voters if they want to allow California-style recalls of elected officials.

"The fact that recall is even on the books makes all of us as officeholders in the executive branch and every other branch be on our toes - not just on Election Day, but 365 days a year," Quinn told members of the State Government Administration Committee.

State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Woodstock, said he proposed the constitutional amendment because of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's performance, and that he expects overwhelming support for the bill in the House.

"Illinois voters deserve a way to remove an incompetent elected official who has not committed a crime," Franks said. "After what happened last year and the continued problems that this administration is having, I think people would be hard-pressed to vote against a constitutional amendment that would empower the people to recall an elected official that is not doing his or her job."

Many legislators have expressed a desire to provide a system of recalls solely for the purpose of ousting Blagojevich, including state Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Pontiac, who has provided information on the recall amendment proposal to voters.

Blagojevich, who has battled with lawmakers over the past year, has stated in the past that he would be in favor of an amendment to the Illinois Constitution allowing voters to recall elected officials.

If the proposal passes the legislature and is signed by the governor, Illinoisans would vote on whether to adopt the constitutional amendment during the next election.

Assuming voters could gather what Quinn called "a Herculean number of signatures," the question of recall would then appear on the ballot of a special election. A second question on the same ballot would ask voters who should replace the official if they are recalled.

"Only if the electorate at large is truly engaged in the issue does the recall question even appear on the ballot," Quinn said.

Only two governors have ever been recalled in American history - California's Gray Davis in 2003 and North Dakota's Lynn Frazier in 1921.

The legislation is House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 28.