Rock Island Today

Lawmakers are divided over the process of redrawing boundaries for the state's legislative and congressional districts after House and Senate Republicans alleged the current process was unfair.

Republican lawmakers' claims come with the party being in the legislative minority for a redistricting process that tends to favor the majority party.

GOP members are pushing a plan they call the People's Independent Map Act, which would blunt Democrats' majority during the redistricting process by having a court-appointed independent citizen commission.

In response, Democratic-Legislature said Republicans are trying to "rig the process" to acquire more political influence.

"Republicans have already been clear that their only goal is to rig the process to elect more right-wing candidates," the House Redistricting Committee chairperson Rep. Lisa Hernandez (D-Cicero) said in a Chicago Sun-Times article on March 31.

The Republican proposal would block lawmakers from severing on the 16-member state Supreme Court-appointed commission and require at least 10 public hearings before approving a redistricting map.

"Over the past several weeks, we have listened and participated in redistricting hearings where we heard witnesses from who testified over and over again on the lack of transparency and communication in this redistricting process," Sen. Win Stoller (R-Peoria) said in a Facebook post on April 2. 

The Peoria Republican said the proposal is about having the new district maps created without benefiting politicians unfairly.

Stroller said a similar proposal last year had support from 18 Senate Democrats and Republicans.

"Given the bipartisan support this legislation had, it is our hope that we can move this legislation through and give the people of Illinois a truly fair map," Stroller said.

Legislative and congressional redistricting happens every 10 years, coinciding with the latest official census data collected. The maps are redrawn to reflect population changes either within a state or those who move to another state.

"Democrats want this; Republicans want this," Rep. Time Butler (R-Springfield) said in a WSILTV report. "The only people who are holding this up are a handful of people who want to draw the maps in the backrooms so that people don't see it."

In an attempt to garner bipartisan support for the bill, Butler has requested Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Democratic leaders to call the proposal for an immediate vote.

The Republican's proposal would appoint an independent commission to draw the maps, which would then be presented to an eight-person commission mandated by the state constitution.

The 16-member independent redistricting committee would be equally split among those who are registered Democrats and Republicans.