State Representatives Tim Butler, Ryan Spain and Jackie Haas held a press conference Tuesday afternoon to propose legislation creating an Independent Redistricting Commission and called for action during the upcoming Lame Duck Session.
“The most basic protection against gerrymandering, and the partisan corruption it fosters, is to have a process in place to ensure all citizens are fairly represented,” said Rep. Butler. “Establishing an independent commission, removed from partisan politics and subject to public scrutiny is not only logical, but it is overwhelmingly supported by the public. Nearly 600,000 Illinoisans supported an independent commission ballot initiative in 2016. Although Illinoisans were not given the chance to vote for it, there is no reason we can’t create the commission through legislative statute instead. We can act during the coming Lame Duck Session, and the Governor can prove he was serious about his pledge to support fairly drawn maps by calling on both sides of the aisle to act now.”
The legislation, which is substantially similar to the 2016 ballot initiate and HJRCA 10 proposed in 2019, would create the Independent Redistricting Commission, comprised of 11 members, charged with proposing a legislative map. The commission would be required to hold public hearings both before and after releasing their proposed plan. The legislative map would need to receive the favorable vote of at least seven commissioners, including two from each political party whose candidate for Governor received the most and second-most votes, and two commissioners not affiliated with either political party.
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