* A couple of weeks ago, we discussed how Better Government Association President and CEO David Greising’s Tribune op-ed claimed that Senate President Don Harmon “has yet to utter a quotable phrase — on or off script” even though one of the BGA’s lobbyists had said that Harmon “made a big statement by giving up his outside job.”

Greising in the Tribune this week…

One comment [by House Speaker Chris Welch] in particular stood out because, with it, the new speaker laid down a marker on an issue that has ramifications across state government: fixing the state’s badly gerrymandered electoral maps.

Welch’s comment — stating that he will view any proposed map based on its impact on equitable representation — is important because it is the first by a major player in the mapmaking process to specifically state a nonnegotiable demand.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he won’t approve a gerrymandered map, but he so far has declined to be specific about the parameters for his decision. Senate President Don Harmon hasn’t pinned himself down either.

* Tribune last week…

Like House Speaker Welch, Harmon said “a fair map is one that reflects the diversity of our state” and “provides for fair and equal representation of all communities.”

Harmon quote from NPR Illinois…

I think Speaker Welch hit the nail on the head when he said a fair map is one that reflects the diversity of our state. I would like to see everybody at the table — all communities of interest — heard, and through a thorough and thoughtful redistricting process, come up with a map that fairly and equally represents the communities across the state.

* Recent Pritzker quote…

The governor’s “view is that legislative maps should reflect Illinois’ gender, racial, and geographic diversity, along with preserving the Voting Rights Act decisions that help ensure racial and language minorities are fully represented in the electoral process,” Jordan Abudayyeh, Pritzker’s spokesperson, said in a statement to Playbook.