Illinois House and Senate Republicans gathered outside of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Office yesterday to voice their displeasure with the state’s remap process.
Republicans have complained that Democrats have controlled the map-making process behind closed doors, and Pritzker has flip-flopped on the issue for having an independent body draw the map.
While running for governor, Pritzker said Illinois lawmakers needed to create the commission, either through a constitutional amendment or legislative statute, like Republicans are trying to do now in the current General Assembly session.
87th District Representative Tim Butler of Springfield says that Pritzker has allowed state Democrats to go back on a promise to use Census Data that cost the state $30 million to collect. You can watch Butler’s full comments here.
Butler has said transparency in the state re-districting process was over once public hearings on the process was complete. Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch stepped back from supporting an independent commission on legislative redistricting in comments last Wednesday to the Illinois Press Association. Welch says he and state Democrats are ensuring representation of minorities when drawing the current map.
Under the Illinois Constitution, lawmakers have until June 30 to draw a new map, but no census data will available for redistricting until August 16th. State Democrats and Republicans continue to clash on whether the deadline can be extended.