Kankakee Times

A state legislator representing Kankakee is concerned about how some of Illinois' legislative districts are drawn, saying some areas "cut very strange." 

Rep. Jackie Haas' (R-Kankakee) comments came during a recent House Redistricting Committee hearing focused on Kankakee County, where lawmakers gathered public input that may be used in creating new legislative district maps based on population data.  

“If you look at the map of the 79th District, it's a very interesting cutout, and a Mr. (Jake) Salomone said, portions of the district are cut very unusual, and Momence is one of those communities that is cut very strange," Haas said. "And it would certainly serve that community much better and be better represented if it were included in the full 79th, as well as some of the surrounding communities. Momence happens to be where I was born and raised, and I certainly feel that area could be better represented by someone from this area as well.”

As a solution to create fair maps, Republican lawmakers led by Haas and Reps. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) and Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) introduced House Bill 5873, a measure that would pave the way for this decade’s maps to be drawn by an independent committee free from the influence of politicians. 

As part of the plan, an 11-person commission, chosen through a combination of a random draw and four seats decided by legislative leaders, would be created for the job to take partisanship out of the process. 

“This is a great way to do it through statute, to make sure we have an independent commission that draws our maps this year, gets it out of the hands of the leadership of the General Assembly and puts it in a commission of citizens to draw fair and equitable maps,” Butler said in a Jan. 5 State Journal-Register article.

Those efforts, however, have failed to date. Democrats have continued to push forward with the redistricting process since they are the majority. The Legislature has until June 30 to get a map approved to avoid triggering the creation of a bipartisan commission to handle the process.