 On Monday, the Illinois House finished its last of 15 meetings that
accepted public input on redistricting, a process that determines
how political boundaries will be drawn for the next decade.
Redistricting occurs every 10 years to reflect changes in population
statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.
"What we're doing is gathering information from community groups,
organizations, ethnic and racial groups -- anyone who wants to come
forward and speak his or her mind," said state Rep. Barbara Flynn
Currie, D-Chicago, of the hearings.
Currie called the meetings an "information gathering" process and
said the hard work of drawing district lines lies ahead.
But not everyone was satisfied with the conclusion of the
hearings.
Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Charleston, said the committee needs to have
more meetings to be geographically equitable.
"We completely ignored the bottom third of the state of Illinois.
There were no hearings in downstate Illinois," Rose said.
Hearings were conducted in the Champaign, Cicero, McHenry,
Aurora, East St. Louis, Elgin, Rockford, Waukegan, Chicago, Rock
Island, Joliet, Peoria and Springfield regions.
"It's nice to have these hearings where you're getting input on
the front end, but if you don't give people a chance to comment on a
map once it's presented, really this is all for naught," Rose added.
Minority and special interest groups agreed with Rose, with most
asking for a two-week period to review any map put out by the
Legislature.
"We deserve an opportunity to view and comment on the proposed
maps before they're voted upon," said Martin Torres, a policy
analyst for the Latino Policy Forum. "Absent of the opportunity to
view and comment on proposed legislative districts, the Latino
Policy Forum is unconvinced that incumbent legislators will keep the
best interest of the Latino community in mind."
Rabya Kahn, an activist with the Asian American Institute and the
Council of Islamic Organizations Chicago, feared that without a
chance to review maps, the House would separate minority communities
and make it harder to for them to organize.
"This will in turn affect our ability to conduct voter
registration campaigns, mobilize registered voters and educate our
community members about the electoral process," Kahn said.
[to top of second column] |
Changes to the voting map will affect 118 Illinois House
districts, 59 Senate districts and 19 congressional districts.
Political lines must be agreed upon by the Legislature and
governor's office -- both controlled by Democrats.
Yesenia Sanchez, a resident of Franklin Park and an activist with
the West Suburban Action Project, urged the committee to consider a
legislative district that would better represent Illinois' Hispanic
community.
"It is very important we have a very fair and transparent
process. Just as we have shared our map, we are looking and will be
looking for the Legislature to share your maps," Sanchez said.
According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau,
Hispanics and Asians made the greatest gains, with 32.5 percent and
38.6 percent, respectively. They make up about 2.6 million of
Illinois' 12.9 million total population.
Currie, who heads the committee, said it's too early to know
exactly where the lines will be yet. She hasn't ruled out the idea
of more hearings after the maps have been released, but she called
it a matter of time.
"People always think they are going to get done early, and people
being people, we often run up against the deadline," Currie said.
"Given that, I'm not going to make any firm commitments."
The new map must be passed by majority of the Legislature and
signed by Gov. Pat Quinn by June 30 or the decision will be put to a
bipartisan redistricting commission.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By MELISSA LEU]
 |
