East Central Reporter

Gov. J.B. Pritzker is supporting Democrats as the majority party continues to move forward with the redistricting process. 

The governor has said that he trusts the Democrats to conduct the process fairly, which has angered Republican legislators. 

Many Republican lawmakers doubt the maps can be drawn by politicians without a bias. State Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville), who serves on the Senate Redistricting Committee, sponsored legislation with hopes to combat the district gerrymandering that has plagued Illinois for decades. 

"The work we are doing [in the Senate Redistricting Committee] is vitally important, and we must make sure that the good of Illinois and the families that reside here are put above partisan politics," Plummer said on Facebook April 27. "I'm proud to co-sponsor Senate Bill 1325, which does just that."

Senate Bill 1325 introduces the People's Independent Maps Act, which would strip the redistricting responsibility from Democrats to an independent commission of 16 people chosen by the Illinois Supreme Court. During his campaign for governor, Pritzker vowed to veto a partisan map and supported a fair redistricting process. 

Plummer said the push for fair maps is not new and has been historically bipartisan, but with the remapping duty currently in the hands of the Democratic majority and Pritzker having since about-faced on his veto promise, the senator said he is hearing crickets across the aisle now. 

"A majority of Democrat state senators co-sponsored this concept just last session, but they are hard to find now, when it matters, Plummer said. "Talk is cheap in Springfield."

The appointees to the independent commission would reflect the state's ethnic, gender and racial demographics, and be evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, as well as nonpartisan participants. It would ban lawmakers, state employees and lobbyists from serving on the commission.