South Central Reporter

At least two news outlets have "called out" Gov. J.B. Pritzker for backpedaling after initially promising to veto an "unfair" map outlining the new legislative and congressional districts. 

Champaign News-Gazette columnist Jim Dey and the editorial board for the Wall Street Journal wrote about Pritzker's change of heart. 

According to a release on Sen. Terri Bryant's (R-Murphysboro) website, Dey's column eluded Pritzker was pretending he never promised a veto, while the Wall Street Journal noted he went from calling for an "independent commission" draw up the maps to being alright with one created by "his legislative allies."

"Since the redistricting hearings began, Senate Republicans have insisted on waiting to draw new legislative and congressional boundaries until the complete U.S. Census Bureau data is released," Bryant wrote in a post on her Facebook page. "That report is expected to be released late this summer."

Despite Republican lawmakers wanting to wait for that data, a citizen witness was told information from the American Community Survey (ACS) was being used to allow residents to sketch the proposed district boundaries on a website created by the Senate Democratic Caucus. 

Drawing up these new maps, or redistricting, is a "highly partisan process" in Illinois. 

Republicans have proposed having an evenly split commission draw up the maps.