South Central Reporter

State Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville)  is sounding the alarm about what she sees as a lack of real progress in the fair map redrawing debate now gripping the state.

“Unfortunately and disappointingly we got through another week in the legislature without any meaningful work on an open, transparent process for redrawing our districts,” Bourne said during a recent legislative session update posted to YouTube. “If anything, the majority party has moved backwards and backtracked on this issue in the last week, culminating in yesterday with those in House Democratic Caucus saying they’re doing the same process as before and mapping in the same room as Mike Madigan did 10 years before.”

With the stakes being as high as they are, the Illinois Republican Senate Caucus recently began taking to social media to keep voters abreast of developments and aware of how things are playing out.

“The remapping process determines which district you live in and who represents you in Springfield and in Washington,” a narrator says in another video posted to YouTube. “Here in Illinois, legislators are responsible for redrawing legislative boundaries every 10 years after the census.”

Due to the delay of federal Census Bureau data largely caused by COVID-19, a bipartisan panel may redraw the maps this year. While the task normally goes to the party in control, Republican lawmakers are hopeful delays in data being available will open the door to them having a greater say in the process. Bylaws dictate if a new map is not completed by a June 30 deadline, a bipartisan commission with four members from each party chosen by party leaders will supervise redistricting.

Bourne argues it’s easy to see how the process can be made fairer and more in line with the way most residents have indicated they would like to see things done.

“Voters across the state, the governor and members of majority party have expressed concerns with this process over the last decade and have gone so far as to vote for proposals that would change this process,” she added. “The clock is ticking on this issue. We cannot afford another decade of politicians picking their voters.”