Illinois General Assembly, with no GOP votes, approves congressional remap - The State Journal-Register
Illinois Democrats who control the General Assembly finalized a new map for U.S. House districts shortly after midnight Thursday in party-line votes and emotional debates, sending the measure to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for his signature.
The action was the last piece of legislation debated before lawmakers adjourned the fall "veto session."
“This is a fair map, and it reflects the diversity of Illinois,” Senate President Don Harmon, R-Oak Park, said before the Senate voted 41-18 and the House followed with a vote of 41-18 on House Bill 1291.
The map was the fourth version Democrats put forward over the past two weeks after considering public input.
The final version of the map, the one that received a vote, was made public about 7 p.m. Thursday. There were no public hearings held on the final map, but it was similar to a map that received a Senate committee hearing earlier in the day.
More:Latest congressional map would further split up central Illinois communities, Butler says
Republicans and some good-government groups criticized the Democratic-led redistricting process for lack of transparency and said the map will split up communities for partisan gain, lead to fewer contested races and the election of more candidates unwilling to compromise and make voters more cynical.
“This will be the most gerrymandered map in the country,” said state Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore.
The House, mostly on partisan lines, also voted Thursday to approve a change in the wording of the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act, following Senate approval Wednesday of Senate Bill 1169.
If enacted in law, the amendment to Senate Bill 1169 is intended to prevent the more than 40-year-old law from being used as a legal defense by people required by state and local governmental mandates and private employers to get COVID-19 vaccinations or submit to COVID-19 tests.
The General Assembly also approved and sent to Pritzker’s desk a bill that would retroactively extend the life of the Enos Park tax-increment financing district. The extension was sought by Springfield officials after the TIF expired in December 2020.
State Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, called the TIF extension “a significant win for Springfield and the Mid-Illinois Medical District.” She commended Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder and Sangamon County Treasurer Joe Aiello “for working together to craft an agreement that allowed this legislation to move forward.”
Republicans who have called for a nonpartisan commission to draw state legislative and congressional district maps said the public hearings on the congressional map attracted sparse input because hearings were held at inconvenient times, in many cases lacked draft maps for the public to comment on and were rushed.
However, Harmon said the use of Zoom made it easier than ever for the public to take part in redistricting hearings.
The new map was criticized by Republicans for what they considered Democrats’ efforts to reduce the number of Republicans from Illinois in Congress from five to three.
GOP lawmakers say Illinois Democrats in Congress likely would increase by one from 13 to 14. The state’s total seats in the U.S. House will drop from 18 to 17 in 2022 because of the state’s population loss between 2010 and 2020.
Under the new map, U.S. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap, no longer would represent parts of Springfield and Sangamon County. He would be in the same district with fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Channahon.
Current 13th Congressional District Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, wouldn’t be put in a district with another incumbent. But Davis, a four-term incumbent, would represent less of Springfield under the new 15th District that would be formed under the bill.
The map would create a 13th District without an incumbent but considered friendly to a potential Democratic candidate because it would link Champaign-Urbana, most of Springfield and much of the Metro East area, including East St. Louis.
State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, said the map would further split communities, including those in the Springfield area, into sections represented by different members of Congress.
The interests of those communities would suffer by diminishing voting power and splitting the communities among multiple members of Congress, Butler said.
He said Chatham, Sherman and Williamsville currently are in the 18th Congressional District, represented by LaHood, while Rochester is split between the current 18th District and the 13th District.
Under the new map, Chatham and Rochester would be in the new 13th District, while Sherman and Williamsville would be in the new 15th District.
In a committee hearing earlier Thursday, state Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, asked Harmon why it makes sense for Peoria, Bloomington and Rockford to be in one new district and Springfield, Champaign and East Saint Louis in another district.
“They are all downstate urban areas,” responded Harmon, D-Oak Park.
Barickman then asked Harmon how much politics played a role in the way the map was drawn.
“We chose to unite communities of interest that shared political philosophies and policy objectives," Harmon responded. "… We tried to draw a map that reflects the diversity of the state of Illinois and the many communities of interest.”
Republicans have said the map further separates downstate urban areas that lean Democratic from their surrounding rural areas that lean Republican even though people in rural areas surrounding urban areas often share interests and consider themselves part of one community.
Pritzker commended the General Assembly for passing the change to the Right of Conscience Act.
“We have effective tools to fight this pandemic — namely, vaccines, masks and testing — and all of our communities are safer when we use the public health and workplace protocols we know to work, the governor said in a statement.
“Ultimately, this means we can keep kids in school, businesses open, neighbors safe and continue on the path to bring this pandemic to an end.”
Pritzker, a Democrat, noted that the bill wouldn’t supersede federally protected rights for people to cite religious or health exemptions.
Because Democratic leaders couldn’t convince enough of their Democratic colleagues to meet the supermajority vote totals needed for the wording to take place immediately, the bill would take effect June 1, 2022.
This story will be updated.
Contact Dean Olsen: [email protected]; (217) 836-1068; twitter.com/DeanOlsenSJR.
source: https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/2021/10/29/illinois-general-assembly-oks-congressional-map-conscience-law-change/6185952001/
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