Sen. Jason Barickman objected to Democratic leaders not moving forward on a Republican proposal dictating how to conduct the redistricting. | Photo Courtesy of Jason Barickman
Sen. Jason Barickman objected to Democratic leaders not moving forward on a Republican proposal dictating how to conduct the redistricting. | Photo Courtesy of Jason Barickman
Illinois Senate Republican Redistricting Caucus Chair Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) recently called out Democrats in the state Senate for what he considers to be their motives behind efforts to prevent redistricting reform from being considered by lawmakers.
The Bloomington Republican alleged that Democrats are blocking reforms simply to create partisan-based legislative maps.
“Everyone from the Senate President to the Governor has repeatedly expressed their support for redistricting reform. We have a proposal that has had bipartisan support in both chambers,” Barickman said in an April 22 Facebook post. “The only reason to block attempts at reform is to allow one party to produce a purely partisan map. Why else would they would be hiding from this legislation now?”
In a press release that Barickman shared linked to, he discussed the GOP-backed Senate Bill 1325, which would establish an independent redistricting commission appointed by the state Supreme Court. The release states that the language of the bill is identical to a previous state constitutional amendment that was introduced by state Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) in 2019.
The previous attempt for a constitutional amendment received 37 co-sponsors, 18 of them Democrats, according to the press release. No Democrats are co-sponsors of the Republican plan.
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