Peoria Standard

State Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) claims Democrats can’t be trusted to mean what they say when it comes to the map redistricting process.

"Every committee hearing that we’ve held in the House, whoever has chaired the proceedings has said the exact same thing every time: 'House Democrats are dedicated to transparency and public participation in the redistricting process,'” Butler, a spokesperson on the redistricting committee, said in a video posted to YouTube. “What has happened over the last several days is the opposite of transparency.”

As an example, Butler points to the way he and other Republicans contend Democrats released examples of the maps they’ve worked on in “PDF format straight out of 1990s” and in the dead of night.

“I have asked, all the members of our committee have asked, leader Durkin has asked 'Where’s the data?'” he said. “They released these maps without any data whatsoever, knowing that American Community Survey data is not the data that is needed to draw new boundaries for legislative maps. We need the decennial census data that won’t be out until August to be able to draw these maps.”

In calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to intervene, Butler is now using his own words against him.

“The governor has made numerous commitments about the remap process in Illinois,” Butler said during a recent press conference at the Capitol. "He said he would veto a partisan-drawn map; he said he respects a fair process; he said he wants a redistricting commission. None of that has happened on his watch.”

While the task of drawing new maps normally goes to the party in control, Republican lawmakers are hopeful delays in receiving data will open the door to them having a greater say in the process. Bylaws dictate if a new map is not completed by a June 30 deadline, a bipartisan commission with four members from each party chosen by party leaders will supervise redistricting.

Butler said he wants to see Pritzker make it happen.

I call on the governor to veto these maps which were drawn unfairly," he said. “It speaks volumes that the majority continues to refuse to answer questions about the data. It’s a mockery of the process. It’s why we have called time and time again for openness and fairness, and a redistricting commission that many of us have championed in a bipartisan way over the last decade.”