Kankakee Times

State Rep. Jackie Haas (R-Kankakee) decried what she claimed is Democratic lawmakers’ eschewing a bipartisan effort to craft Illinois’ new redistricting map.

The Daily Chronicle reported that the state House approved the newly drawn maps 73-43 along party lines, a move Haas and her fellow Republicans have heavily criticized.

"Instead of shifting responsibility to a bipartisan commission to draw the new legislative redistricting map, Democrats have fallen back on the same disingenuous process that produced the initial flawed maps last spring that now need to be re-done,” Haas posted on Facebook. “Over the last week, ‘hearings’ were held that were nothing short of a sham, a disingenuous effort that was intended to merely check a box, not to collect any real input from community groups on what the new map should look like.”

Haas added that the special session commenced without an opportunity to review or provide feedback on two new versions of legislative maps the Democrats released.

The Illinois GOP was not alone in its frustration with the maps.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a Latino civil rights organization, pursued legal action earlier this year on grounds the maps were based on data from the American Community Survey and not the 2020 census, the Daily Chronicle reported.