Back to the drawing board for legislative maps

Posted on February 13, 2019
Sen Minority Leader Bill Brady (R-Bloomington)

 

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD–Another day, another discussion about changing the way Illinois draws its legislative districts. All nineteen Illinois Senate Republicans are on hand for this.

“The ultimate authority in Illinois is the party in power, and it’s time to change that system. We stand here united to join our Democratic colleague Sen. (Julie) Morrison (D-Deerfield),” Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) told a statehouse news conference, “to support Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 4, which takes the politicians out of drawing their own destinies and their own maps.”

An independent commission would redraw the maps after the decennial U.S. Census.

In an e-mailed statement, the spokesman for House Speaker Mike Madigan reminds us that, in general, compliance with the Voting Rights Act has scuttled previous efforts, adding it’s unlikely Madigan has studied Morrison’s proposal yet.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…