Redistricting Hearings Continue to Dominate Session, With Little Progress So Far
Senator Christopher Belt (D-Cahokia) presided over a joint House/Senate Redistricting hearing Monday in East St. Louis. Belt and Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) debated the value of census data, but little public progress was made as Democrats appear ready to draw new district lines without official census data.
Maybe it’s the fact that so few people are allowed in the Statehouse during the spring legislative session, including lobbyists working on any assortment of bills, but the decennial redistricting process, and the politics surrounding it, seem to be taking all of the oxygen out from under the Capitol dome.
Some projected some fireworks Monday night at a public hearing in East St. Louis, the only one of more than two dozen held jointly by members of the House and Senate. Republicans had asked Governor JB Pritzker, or a member of his staff, to testify on the Governor’s previous statement about a fair map, but his office apparently declined.
In Monday’s hearing, Sen. Christopher Belt (D-Cahokia), who was chairing the joint session repeatedly sparred with Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) over the accuracy of census data.
“The state of Illinois invested over $50 million, unprecedented, to make sure that we maximize [census] turnout, especially turnout in those groups that are traditionally underrepresented,” Plummer said. “We had the highest turnout ever, from a census, in the state of Illinois, this past census, because of that massive investment.”
Belt said even with the state investment, the state likely undercounted poor and urban areas.
“The underserved communities of East St. Louis, of Venice, of Centreville, of Brooklyn, some of which [are among] the top 10 poorest cities in Illinois, I would say an underserved community that has historically been undercounted, you add to the equation a pandemic that disproportionally impacts those Brown and Black people in those communities, I just can’t see how those numbers are the greatest that we’ve ever had.”
Plummer said estimating data, like the American Community Survey Democrats plan to use, especially for poor or rural communities, hurts them in the end.
“If we use that census data, we’re actually going to make sure that we’re using the best, most accurate data to cover those underrepresented groups,” he said. “The ACS data that’s being proposed is a snapshot in time. It’s not as near as accurate, it doesn’t have the safety valves in place to make sure those traditionally underrepresented groups are represented by following up with them multiple times at their house and by making sure the counts are accurate.”
Both sides appear stuck to their talking points over what data should be used to draw the maps, with the obvious political benefits that come along with it.
Democrats approach the June 30 deadline in the constitution to pass new legislative maps as a mandate, while Republicans want a delay to help them get a seat at the table, or potentially, control of the remapping process.
Democrats, we’re told, are continuing their path forward to pass new legislative maps before the legislature adjourns at the end of May. They expect legal challenges from Republicans no matter what, but believe case law is on their side even if they don’t use the full census data.
It isn’t clear how far the majority party is at drawing maps. We were told by some Democrats in both the House and Senate Monday that they hadn’t seen any draft proposals yet.
Republicans are expected to continue to beat the drum over the final six weeks of the legislative session, especially in an attempt to punish Governor JB Pritzker and numerous legislative Democrats, who have supported an independent redistricting commission in the past. Pritzker even said during the 2018 campaign he would veto any map drawn by politicians.
While hundreds, even thousands of pieces of legislation await action before the end of the legislative session, redistricting continues to be at the top of mind under the Statehouse dome.