In an effort to restore credibility to the redistricting process, two lawmakers from Chicago are proposing a constitutional amendment to change how legislative maps are drawn.
The proposal could be the Illinois General Assembly’s last chance to maintain control over the redistricting process as two other competing proposals seek to wrest that power away from the legislature. If any of the three resolutions make it on the ballot for the November general election, they would require 60 percent voter approval to take effect.
Under the current state constitution, the General Assembly draws new electoral districts every 10 years, following the federal census. The current redistricting process has a reputation for the majority party drawing maps to favor its own candidates. For that reason, some people believe the redistricting process should not be in the hands of the General Assembly.
There are two ways an amendment can be placed on the ballot for the November election. One way is to for the General Assembly to approve a resolution. The other option is for an outside organization to submit signatures for a proposal to be placed on the ballot.
Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, and Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Chicago Heights, are sponsoring a resolution which would change the redistricting process but keep it under the legislature’s control. Their resolution passed the Senate with a vote of 39-19 on April 19.
Raoul describes the resolution as “sort of a hybrid between proposals that have suggested that an independent commission should be doing the redistricting and our history of it strictly being just run by the legislature.”
The proposal calls for two commissions. The House redistricting commission would draw the House districts and the Senate redistricting commission would draw the Senate districts. Ultimately, the legislature would maintain the power of drawing the map under this proposal.
Two other proposed redistricting amendments could potentially break the General Assembly’s power over the redistricting process.
Rep. Jack Franks, D-Woodstock, introduced one of those other proposals, a separate remap plan that encourages “true independence” in redistricting. That would mean not having any input from the General Assembly and not allowing any commissioners to be accountable to anyone affiliated with the General Assembly. Franks’ resolution passed in the House May 3 and has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kent Redfield, professor emeritus of political studies and public affairs at University of Illinois Springfield, believes that in the end, only one amendment will make it to the November ballot, and his bet isn’t on the two ideas that came from within the legislature.
“I think it’s likely everyone from the House and the Senate who wants to vote for reform will get a chance to, but I don’t think it’s likely either legislative measure will pass through both chambers,” Redfield said.
Instead, Redfield sees the Independent Map Act as the potential amendment that will be on the ballot in November. He notes that the proposal still has to clear the review process of the State Board of Elections and overcome any potential court challenges.
So far the Independent Maps, a nonpartisan coalition working to change how Illinois legislative maps are drawn, is on track to submit petitions to the State Board of Elections by May 9. Last week, the organization had 550,000 signatures – nearly double the required 290,216 signatures from registered voters needed to put the Independent Map Act on the November ballot.
Like Franks’ proposal, the Independent Maps plan would eliminate the General Assembly’s control of the redistricting process.
Jim Bray, spokesperson for Independent Maps, said the group doesn’t have a position on Raoul’s competing resolution. However, Raoul addressed the Independent Map during the debate over his and Hutchinson’s proposal, saying it wouldn’t protect the voting interests of minority communities.
“The problem with the independent proposal that is floating around is that it does not observe what we’ve embraced as a legislature: allowing communities of interest to have a decent chance to elect someone from their community,” Raoul said prior to the vote on his version. “We have to respect the diversity that we have.”
Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine, opposed Raoul’s and Hutchinson’s plan, saying it would perpetuate the status quo.
“If all of that stuff works or does not work out, the same people who decide the map now are going to decide then,” Murphy said. “There is another process going on right now outside of this building. They’re getting signatures right now to get independent maps, to put a far more independent process in place.”
Contact Brittany Hilderbrand at intern@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in May 5-11, 2016.
