Kankakee Times

State Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) worries about where Springfield goes from here following the recent legislative maps redistricting.

 “There is a very real and concerning lack of trust as a result of this month’s long process that is important to consider in the context of these hearings,” Barickman said at the Aug. 26 House and Senate Joint Redistricting gathering. “A number of us on the Republican side of the aisle embraced very early on any mapmaking process should be done through an independent process.”

Barickman argues even Democrats at one time or another have pushed for the same thing, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker, only to take on a completely different tone when it came time to close the deal.

“Those Democratic members publicly supported that proposal,” he said. “Historically, the governor has supported it. When this process commenced this year, the governor and those Democrats who had previously spoken in favor of the commission abandoned that idea apparently for partisan gain.”

It’s not the first time Barickman has taken the governor to task over what he sees as him reneging on a promise he made to voters. While still a candidate, Pritzker vowed to veto any map he perceived to be drawn along partisan lines.

"Gov. Pritzker, in 2018, you rode into office on a message of reform," Barickman said in a video posted to YouTube. "Many voters around the state cast a vote for you because they believed that our state was plagued with a history of dysfunction. You told them how you would be different; you told them how you were not a part of the machine politics that have plagued the state of Illinois for too many generations"

Barickman has joined Republican lawmakers in calling on the governor to keep his word. They are calling for an independent commission to be convened to work on the maps.

“Pritzker refused to hear the voice of people telling him this was a bad idea and this is a bad map,” Minority House Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) said after the governor officially signed off on the legislation. The law is slated to officially take effect in 2023.