UPDATED: Pritzker Signs Legislative Maps
Governor JB Pritzker signed new Democratic-drawn legislative maps into law Friday.
Breaking a campaign promise to veto a redistricting plan drawn by politicians, Governor JB Pritzker Friday signed a Democratic-drawn redistricting plan into law .
From the Governor’s office:
After reviewing the General Assembly's proposed maps to ensure they align with the landmark Voting Rights Act, Governor JB Pritzker signed three new maps that reflect Illinois' diversity. The maps outline new districts for the General Assembly, Illinois Supreme Court and Cook County Board of Review and preserve minority representation in Illinois' government in accordance with the federal Voting Rights Act.
"Illinois' strength is in our diversity, and these maps help to ensure that communities that have been left out and left behind have fair representation in our government," said Governor JB Pritzker. "These district boundaries align with both the federal and state Voting Rights Acts, which help to ensure our diverse communities have electoral power and fair representation."
A landmark achievement of the civil rights movement, the Voting Rights Act prohibits practices and procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color or membership in a protected language minority group. Building on and strengthening that consequential law, the Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2011 ensures redistricting plans are crafted in a way that preserves clusters of minority voters if they are of size or cohesion to exert collective electoral power. The maps signed into law today meet those requirements to adequately preserve minority representation and reflect the diversity of our state.
The district boundaries also account for population changes in the state, particularly in the regions that saw the most population loss as recorded by U.S. Census' American Community Survey. In addition, the General Assembly held more than 50 public hearings statewide.
Detailed summaries of each individual House and Senate district, including communities of interest, geographic descriptions, and demographic data were adopted by both the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate and are contained in House Resolution 359 and Senate Resolution 326 respectively.
The General Assembly Redistricting Act of 2021 (HB 2777), the Judicial Districts Act of 2021 (SB 642) and the Cook County Board of Review Redistricting Act of 2021 (SB 2661) take effect immediately.
Republicans, though, immediately criticized the Governor. The GOP has been trying to pressure Pritzker into vetoing the map.
Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington), the GOP lead on the Senate Redistricting Committee:
“When JB Pritzker was a candidate for Governor, he made a lot of promises. He told us he was different, that he was a reformer, and that he would veto any map drawn by lawmakers. Today he broke his promise to voters and joins the all-too-long list of Illinois politicians who promise one thing and then do another. The people of Illinois deserve a fair, transparent process that allows them to choose their representatives in Government. Pritzker turned his back on them and chose instead to use his signature to further enshrine the broken status quo of politicians picking their voters.”
UPDATE (1:07 P.M.):
Statement from House Speaker Chris Welch:
"Today was a win for the people of this great state. With Governor Pritzker's signature, people of Illinois can be confident in a legislative map that is reflective of the diversity that we see in every corner of our state. Not only does this map adhere to state and federal laws, but it is a product of more than 50 public hearings where citizens came to tell us what their communities look like to them. We also have new Illinois Supreme Court boundaries for the first time in more than half a century that accounts for population change and demographic shifts, as well as a new map for the Cook County Board of Review ensuring more equal representation for taxpayers in those districts. I am so proud of Leader Lisa Hernandez, D-Cicero, and the rest of the Redistricting Committee, who worked tirelessly to make sure that Illinois remains a model for the nation for minority representation."
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UPDATE (1:28 P.M.):
Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy:
“Governor Pritzker lied to the people of Illinois when he pledged to veto a politician-drawn map. Governor Pritzker promised to take politicians out of the mapmaking process and hand it over to an independent commission that would be required to follow the Voting Rights Act and protect minority representation. Instead, he let politicians pick their own voters, split up numerous communities of interest, and use faulty data all in an effort to rig the system for those already in power. Pritzker didn’t keep his word and cannot be trusted.
Pritzker was asked in 2018 by Capitol Fax publisher Rich Miller whether he would veto a map in “any way drafted or created by legislators, political party leaders and/or their staffs or allies?” The Governor responded, saying, “Yes, I will pledge to veto.”
Today, after finishing up numerous one-on-one interviews with media outlets this week, he didn’t veto. He signed off on the maps created by “legislators, political party leaders and/or their staffs.”
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UPDATE (1:31 P.M.):
Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods):
“Today, Gov. Pritzker affirmed to all Illinois families why they can’t trust him to run the state,” said Illinois Senate Republican Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods).
“By signing this map, created using flawed data and drawn by political insiders, the governor broke the promise he made to the people of Illinois. He also proved that he cares more about keeping power for his political friends than fair elections where the people of Illinois can pick their elected officials, instead of politicians picking their voters. He proved today that he’s just another old-school, tax-raising politician who cannot be trusted.”
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UPDATE (1:51 P.M.):
From Madeleine Doubek at CHANGE Illinois:
Today, Governor J.B. Pritzker’s actions speak louder than his broken promises.
Since becoming a candidate for governor, J.B. Pritzker promised voters over and over again that backroom map-making deals were done, that he would support an independent commission to draw maps, and that he would veto partisan maps. After breaking his promises on independent maps, failing to endorse Fair Maps constitutional amendments with widespread bipartisan support, and reneging on his pledges to veto partisan maps, Pritzker wasted no time signing into law partisan maps that erase nearly 42,000 Illinoisans. The American Community Survey data used to create Illinois House and Senate maps undercount Illinoisans and do not give them representation. That is not fair by any definition. Pritzker can continue to hope that voters have widespread amnesia, but we know Illinoisans deserve more credit than that.
Why is it that the Governor and supermajority lawmakers are waiting for full census data to draw congressional districts, but they will not even attempt to do the same for our state house and senate districts? They are fooling no one.
As was evident from the final redistricting hearings and statements issued in response to the Illinois General Assembly’s map proposals, diverse communities across the state -- representing Black, Latinx, Asian-American, Muslim, Jewish, elderly, young, urban, and rural -- rejected these maps. These maps do not give us equitable representation for the next 10 years. These maps signed by Governor Pritzker simply do not reflect the community input so many Illinoisans tried repeatedly to give to their elected officials.
CHANGE Illinois and its partners will continue to assess all options available to ensure communities across our great state are not disenfranchised for another decade at the expense of self-interested partisan power plays.
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UPDATE (2:05 P.M.):
A tweet from Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville), who may challenge Pritzker next year:
“The Governor lied to the people of #IL, plain and simple. He said he would veto any maps drawn by lawmakers, but instead he signed them, perpetuating a corrupt and broken system. Governor Pritzker is the latest in a long line of failed Illinois politicians who have broken their word.”
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UPDATE (2:21 P.M.):
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) in a Zoom news conference this afternoon:
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