|
Senate Democrats apparently short-circuited the ability of individual senators to offer changes to the once-a-decade redrawing of state and
congressional district boundaries on Sunday.
By passing three "shell" bills to the House which
contained no content, the Senate likely surrendered the opportunity for members
to offer up amendments or changes to the measures.
As the measures were being pushed through during a late
Sunday afternoon session, Deputy Senate Republican Leader Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) said the
"shells" were being rushed through to make it easier for Democrats to
adopt a final map "before anyone has got a chance to catch their breath,
and look at the lines and figure out what's going on."
The Senate action came after the rushed and secretive mapmaking
process drew sharp criticism at both a House hearing on Sunday and a Senate
hearing on Saturday.
The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform testified Sunday
it was inappropriate and inexcusable to hold such few hearings – remarks that
were echoed by fellow reformers, including the League of Women Voters and
Change Illinois.
The public hearings in Chicago also drew criticism from
groups representing minority voters. Silvia Puente, executive director of the
Latino Policy Forum told Senators Saturday that Latino voters "are being
shortchanged by the proposals."
Bruce Crosby, Chairman of the Committee to Preserve Voting
Rights said it was an insult for the majority to rush the map through the
process.
And, Dr. Mujahid Ghazi said
the Asian-American community has not been treated fairly by redistricting in
the past nor by this new map. He said their communities have been
fragmented by the maps, which dilutes their votes and undermines representation
of their views and interests
The gerrymandering of districts in the metro-east area
prompted the Belleville News Democrat to editorialize about "shenanigans
in the rain" and said it "hacks us off" that Democrats "went
around the state, pretending to listen to the people's voices at 15 'hearings.'
The three bills passed on party-line votes in the Senate (SB
1177, SB 1178 and SB 1179) contain nothing more than titles. The maneuver
allows the House to add all the detail to the legislation and then send it back
to the Senate for a single up or down vote with no opportunity for Senators to
offer individual amendments.
|
