Kankakee Times

Republican state Sen. Jason Barickman is calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to be the man he said he would be on fair maps when he was campaigning.

”I call on the governor to keep the promise he made when he was campaigning,” Barickman said during a recent Illinois Senate Republican Caucus press conference. “The governor said 'I pledge to veto.' To the 600,000 Illinoisans who signed petitions asking for an independent commission and to the millions of voters who believe that Illinois should no longer have legislators drawing their own districts and picking their own voters, if the governor abandons his promise he would have lied to you. There’s no reason for the governor to break his promise. The country’s trend is clearly moving toward independent commissions.”

Due to the delay of federal Census Bureau data largely caused by COVID-19, a bipartisan panel may need to redraw the maps this year. Republican lawmakers are hoping this will come to mean a fairer process going forward.

Whatever the situation dictates, Barickman knows change ending in a fairer process won’t come easily as Democrats continue to push for the system to stay the same way it’s always been. While redistricting normally goes to the party in control, bylaws dictate if a new map is not completed by a June 30 deadline, a bipartisan commission with four members from each party chosen by party leaders will supervise redistricting.

Barickman says it's clear which direction Democrats plan to move in if the decision is left solely up the party leaders.

”The reality is Gov. Pritzker has trust issues with voters,” he said.” Voters no longer trust that this governor can solve the problems of this state. Joe Biden overwhelmingly won the Illinois vote and Gov. Pritzker’s tax increase proposal was overwhelmingly rejected by voters. Voters not only don’t trust the governor they just don’t trust government. There is an opportunity for the governor to uphold the promise he made to voters.”