Peoria Standard

Illinois state Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) spent his Memorial Day at the state capital saluting Gold Star mothers.

One of the moms Barickman spoke with was Vonda Rodgers, mother of former Army Sgt. Josh Rodgers.

“What an awesome event, an awesome way for the state to demonstrate the importance of stopping and honoring our fallen heroes,” Rodgers said in a video posted to YouTube. “My son Josh graduated high school and went straight into the Army. He had his goal set on being an Army Ranger. He actually completed Ranger School just two years after he joined.”

Rodgers recalled her son was on his third deployment to Afghanistan when he was killed, adding she’s convinced her son was just where he wanted to be.

“On the night of April 26, (2017) they went into the biggest incident he had an opportunity to participate in,” she said. “It’s what he dreamed of, what he prepared for."

These are busy days for Barickman, who as the Illinois Senate Republican Redistricting Caucus Chair, recently filed Senate Bill 1325, known as the People’s Independent Maps Act. The measure would take the job of drawing redistricting maps out of the hands of politicians and grant power to an Illinois Supreme Court-appointed committee of 16 residents.

"Everyone from the Senate president to the governor has repeatedly expressed their support for redistricting reform," Barickman said in an April 22 Facebook post. "We have a proposal that has had bipartisan support in both chambers. 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?"