Illinois Dems embrace gerrymandering in fight for US House

Updated
Oct 29, 2021

In the neck-and-neck fight to keep control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats need help from the few places where state lawmakers can make 2022 difficult for Republicans.

Illinois Democrats delivered Thursday, using their dominance in state government to advance new congressional district maps intended to eliminate two Republican-held districts and send more Democrats to Washington.

To do it, Illinois Democrats have embraced gerrymandering, the practice of drawing district boundaries for political benefit that party leaders including former President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder have railed against as “rigging” elections. The new map is a collection of odd shapes resembling abstract art and, critics say, a symbol of Democrats’ hypocrisy.

“This is a desperate map from a desperate party,” said Adam Kincaid, executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, which coordinates redistricting for the GOP. He called it “America’s most extreme gerrymander.”

Both parties use gerrymandering, though Democrats more actively opposed it after the GOP used the practice in 2011 to create huge advantages for the next decade. Obama traveled to the Illinois Capitol where he once served as a state senator to deliver a speech about America’s broken political system, saying gerrymandering — packing a party’s supporters into one district or dispersing the other party’s voters for political advantage — was the reason nothing could get done in Congress.

Democrats in some states even gave up their own power by pushing for independent commissions to draw boundaries. And Holder became chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which has backed legal challenges to GOP-drawn maps in places like North Carolina and Virginia.

Democrats in Illinois, meanwhile, have done all they can to exert control and ensure it benefits their candidates for elections through 2030. Even with Illinois losing a seat due to population loss, the map was drawn to create a congressional delegation of 14 Democrats and three Republicans starting in 2022, a change from the current 13-5 split. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, a nonpartisan group that evaluates maps, gave Illinois’ maps an “F” grade, saying they give Democrats a significant advantage and are “very uncompetitive.”

The maps — along with maps in other Democrat-controlled states like New York — could be pivotal as Democrats try to hold their narrow majority in next year’s midterms, when the party in the White House has historically performed poorly. Republicans are in charge of the mapmaking known as redistricting in more than twice the number of states as Democrats, including large, growing states like Texas and Florida.

Illinois Democrats defended the maps they released late Thursday and passed a short time later, saying they ensure minorities and other Illinois residents have an equal voice in government.

“I’m proud of this map,” said Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, a sponsor of the redistricting legislation. “This is a fair map and it reflects the diversity of the state of Illinois.” He also said lawmakers chose to unite communities “that shared political philosophies and policy objectives.”

Democrats added a second predominantly Latino district, after census data showed Illinois’ Latino population grew over the past decade. They also maintained three predominantly Black districts.

GOP Reps. Adam Kinzinger, one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach former President Donald Trump, and Darin LaHood were put into the same heavily Republican district, as were GOP Reps. Mike Bost and Mary Miller.

Republican Rep. Rodney Davis, who said he may challenge Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker next year depending on the final map, was drawn into a safe GOP district that meanders from one side of the state to the other. It surrounds another Democrat-leaning district that was carved as a narrow squiggle stretching nearly 200 miles from the home of the University of Illinois to Democrat-friendly communities east of St. Louis. A former aide to Pritzker who worked in the Biden administration, Democrat Nikki Budzinski, is running for the seat.

Not all Democrats are happy. First-term Democratic Rep. Marie Newman was drawn into the same majority-Latino district as Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, a late-in-the-game move that Newman said was done “to appease one person and a small handful of affluent insiders at the expense of workers and working families” in her current district.

Democrats say that move — sacrificing one of their own party — proves the new maps are fair and should survive expected court challenges.

The Illinois Senate approved the maps late Thursday, with all Republicans voting no. The House was expected to consider it later Thursday.

Democrats’ aggressive mapmaking started earlier this year, when they insisted on approving new state legislative maps — which will strengthen their hold on the state House and Senate for another decade — using population estimates rather than census bureau data, making Illinois the only state in the nation to do so. Legislative leaders said they faced a deadline set by the state constitution, but that deadline was only for Democrats to have total control of the process, rather than a bipartisan commission.

Lawmakers had to redo those maps after census data showed they were unconstitional because the districts varied dramatically in population. Lawsuits seeking to have the new maps thrown out are pending.

Pritzker signed both the first set of legislative maps and the do-over maps, despite pledging during his 2018 campaign that he would veto any legislative maps drawn by politicians. He is expected to sign Democrats’ congressional maps as well.

Illinois legislators consider change to health care act

Updated
Oct 29, 2021

The final day of the Illinois General Assembly’s fall session dragged late into the evening Thursday with several high-profile issues unresolved, including a measure to prevent people from using a decades-old state law to skirt coronavirus vaccination mandates by citing moral or religious objections.

The change to the state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act was passed by the House Wednesday on a 64-52 vote but still awaited a vote in the Senate in the final scheduled hours of the session before potentially heading to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk.

The proposal comes as numerous lawsuits across Illinois challenge government and employer vaccination and testing requirements by citing a law originally intended to shield doctors and other health care workers from having to provide abortions or other reproductive services that conflict with their beliefs.

The issue has become a lightning rod amid the ongoing political fracturing over the government’s role in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, though it hasn’t broken cleanly along partisan lines. Seven of the 73 Democrats in the House joined the Republican minority in opposing the measure, and two other members of the majority party voted “present.”

Aside from the right-of-conscience proposal pending in the Senate, by early Thursday evening neither chamber had voted on a new map of the state’s 17 congressional districts, or a Pritzker-backed package of incentives for electric vehicle companies.

The Senate Thursday night voted 44-12 to send the House gambling legislation that, among other changes, would allow limited in-person betting on Illinois college sports teams and create a sportsbook license for Wintrust Arena, the home court of the WNBA champion Chicago Sky.

The change to the Health Care Right of Conscience Act passed through the Senate Executive Committee on Thursday afternoon with a 9-6 vote, with the six Republicans on the panel all voting against the measure.

The Senate GOP, the legislative superminority, has previously expressed its opposition to the bill, a sentiment repeated during Thursday’s committee hearing in a debate between three of the Republicans and Senate President Don Harmon.

“The premise behind this act is the broad premise of freedom to invoke your conscience or your religious belief from being subjected to something you don’t want,” said Sen. Jil Tracy, a Republican from Quincy.

Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat, said he believes the law was “poorly drafted” but said he doesn’t believe the original intent of the law was to excuse someone from doing anything they don’t want to do if they cite moral or religious objections.

“Let’s imagine that your constituent is pulled over under suspicion of drunken driving. Could that constituent tell the officer they would refuse a Breathalyzer test on the Health Care Right of Conscience Act? Could they refuse a field sobriety test because their medical condition is being tested?” Harmon said to Tracy. “That’s the absurd conclusion we reach if you read it as expansively as you are suggesting. This was designed to provide protections to health care providers.”

Republican Sen. Jason Barickman of Bloomington raised a familiar talking point among the Republicans, criticizing Pritzker for sidestepping the legislature by issuing executive orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For how long do you think the governor should be allowed to continually issue these executive orders that seem to circumvent the legislative process that allows us as a coequal branch of government an opportunity to have some input and dialogue in that? How long does that continue?” Barickman asked.

Harmon argued that Pritzker, as a sitting governor, has the authority to issue executive orders in the time of emergencies, a law that was adopted by a previous General Assembly.

“Similarly, a prior General Assembly adopted this law on the Health Care Right of Conscience, and people are using it in a new circumstance that was not foreseen when it was passed,” Harmon said. “I am here with an amendment to this law because I think it is being misapplied.

“Should someone bring forward a bill suggesting that the governor’s use of executive orders are misapplied? We can consider that if that was the majority consensus,” he continued.

Sen. Sue Rezin, a Republican from Morris, asked Harmon how long the change to the act would be enforced and if there was a threshold for doing away with that version of it — such as if Illinois gets to the point where 70% of its population is vaccinated against the COVID-19.

Harmon answered in a defensive tone.

“I don’t know when COVID-19 will no longer be a public health threat. I don’t know what those thresholds are. I don’t know that you know. And I’m fairly certain you’re going to vote ‘no’ on this,” Harmon told Rezin. “So, if you’d like to work with us to fashion an alternative, I’m happy to listen and see if you want to influence the legislative process. But if you’re just opposed to it, then you can be opposed to it.”

As Pritzker prepares for a trip to the Britain next week to promote the state’s efforts to combat climate change and its business climate, his top priority for the fall session was winning approval of a package of incentives to attract electric vehicle manufacturers and suppliers to the state.

The Senate Executive Committee voted 11-0 to send to the full chamber a package creating the Reimagining Electric Vehicles in Illinois, or REV, tax credit program.

Pritzker has aimed to position Illinois a leader in the growing industry, building off the success of the Rivian electric vehicle factory that opened in a former Mitsubishi plant in Normal with state assistance under his predecessor, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Earlier this year, Pritzker announced a $7.9 million tax credit deal that is bringing Montreal-based Lion Electric Co. to the state to build electric buses and trucks in Joliet.

Supporters of the program, which, among other incentives, would allow local governments to offer property tax abatements to electric vehicle manufacturers and suppliers, say it’s necessary to give Illinois a competitive edge in attracting companies.

Democratic Sen. Steve Stadelman of Calendonia, the measure’s sponsor, acknowledged that he has a “parochial interest” in trying to sway automaker Stellantis to transform its Jeep plant in nearby Belvidere into an electric vehicle plant.

But the proposal ultimately could create “thousands of jobs, potentially throughout the state,” Stadelman said.

Testifying on behalf of the Pritzker administration, Deputy Gov. Andy Manar called the plan “a major piece of Gov. Pritzker’s vision of economic growth as we come out of the COVID pandemic as a stronger state.”

“We are not going to heap a mountain of cash on a company to be here,” Manar said. “We’re just not going to do that. That’s not good public policy. But we will have targeted incentives.”

Business interests are divided over the plan, with the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association offering its support but the Illinois Chamber of Commerce expressing concerns that so-called labor peace agreements required under the proposal would cause some major companies to look elsewhere.

“If we want to be in the game, we have to pass the incentive package, and we have to pass it today because these companies have been making decisions and they’re making these decisions between now and the end of the year,” said Mark Denzler, president and CEO of the manufacturers group.

Watch now: Lawmakers approve Illinois congressional redistricting map

Updated
Oct 29, 2021

SPRINGFIELD — Despite some earlier hiccups, Democratic lawmakers approved their proposed congressional redistricting map in the waning hours of the Illinois General Assembly’s fall session.

The map passed the Illinois Senate 41-18 on a partisan roll and 71-43 in the House. It heads to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk. 

Legislative Democrats unveiled a first draft of the congressional map earlier this month and subsequently released two revised maps, each of which would likely result in electing a congressional delegation with 14 Democrats and three Republicans.

But divisions over the level of Latino representation and the pairing of two Democratic incumbents in the Chicago area  threatened the new map’s immediate prospects and for a time opened the possibility that approval could be punted to January, when only a simple majority would be needed.

With an immediate effective date, the legislation needed supermajorities to pass the legislature since it is past May. This meant that Democrats had little wiggle room for defections especially in the House.

One of the sticking points was the status of a second Latino district. The state has long packed Latino communities on Chicago’s Northwest and Southwest sides into one hyper-minority district.

Measure to repeal parental notification law for minors seeking abortion moves forward

The group is among the fastest-growing minority groups in the state. To account for this, a district based on Chicago’s Northwest Side and western suburbs was drawn with about a 47% Latino population in addition to the long-existing Latino majority district.

But some say an influence district is not enough, arguing that a second Latino majority district was necessary.

However, the effort got back on track later in the evening, with Democrats opting to approve the map after some behind-the-scenes negotiations and tweaks to the proposal. 

The largest change came in the Chicago suburbs, where Rep. Marie Newman, D-La Grange, was drawn into a heavily-Latino district with Rep. Chuy Garcia, D-Chicago.

Newman had previously been in the same district as Rep. Sean Casten, D-Downers Grove. 

Senate President Don Harmon, presenting the map in committee Thursday morning, said he hopes “that everyone feels represented for the next 10 years in the General Assembly and in Congress.”

“In the end, we’re going to pass a map and no one is going to be 100% happy with it,” Harmon said. “That is the nature of the legislative process, that is the nature of compromise. We’ve had many, many hearings, we have taken more public input than I think we have ever before in a redistricting cycle. And we’ve listened.”

Here is a rundown of the new downstate-based districts: 

12th — This rural district covers Southern Illinois, including almost everything south of Interstate 70. It also includes some outlying portions of Metro East. This heavily Republican seat includes the homes of Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, and Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland. 

13th — This string bean-shaped district stretches from the Metro East region near St. Louis to Champaign-Urbana, picking up the urban cores Springfield and Decatur in between. It is largely urban in character, but also includes all of Macoupin County and some other rural areas in Central Illinois. The district voted for President Joe Biden by an 11-point margin in 2020. 

No incumbents live in the district. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, who represents the current 13th Congressional District, was drawn into the new 15th Congressional District. Democrats Nikki Budzinski of Springfield and David Palmer of Champaign have announced campaigns for the seat. 

15th — This largely rural Central Illinois district stretches from Iowa to Indiana, picking up outlying areas of Springfield and Decatur and several mid-size towns like Charleston, Jacksonville, Lincoln, Quincy and Taylorville. It includes most rural areas between U.S. Route 136 to the north and Interstate 70 to the south. The district is a safe Republican district and includes the Taylorville home of Davis. 

16th — This rural district jigsaws from the Wisconsin border to just south of Bloomington-Normal. It covers much of rural Central Illinois and wraps around to get outlying parts of the Twin Cities, Peoria and Rockford. 

Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap, and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon, both reside in the district. It is a safe Republican seat. 

17th — This C-shaped district picks up most of Bloomington-Normal, Galesburg, Macomb, Peoria, the Quad Cities and Rockford. Like the 13th, this district connects several urban centers in downstate Illinois. Biden won the district by just under eight points. 

Incumbent Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline, is retiring, leaving the seat open. Republican Esther Joy King, who came within a few points of defeating Bustos in 2020, is running.

Democrat Angie Normoyle, a member of the Rock County Board, and Jonathan Logemann, a Rockford alderman, have announced campaigns. Other Democrats are expected to jump in as well. 

Measure to repeal parental notification law for minors seeking abortion moves forward

Updated
Oct 29, 2021

CHICAGO — A controversial bill that would repeal an Illinois law requiring parents to be notified when a minor seeks an abortion was poised late Wednesday for a possible vote that could send it to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk.

A Democratic-led Illinois House committee voted along party lines to send the measure to the full chamber, a day after the Senate approved it on 32-22 vote that saw a handful of the majority Democrats joining Republicans in opposition.

Both chambers on Wednesday approved a measure that makes minor changes to a law Pritzker signed this summer that creates a fully elected Chicago school board by 2027.

But heading into the final scheduled day of the legislature’s fall session, neither the House nor the Senate by Wednesday evening had voted on two other major items on their agenda: A new map of the state’s congressional districts and a proposal seeking to prevent people from using another decades-old state law to skirt coronavirus vaccination requirements by citing moral or religious objections.

Pritzker’s main fall priority, a package of tax credits and incentives to attract electric vehicle manufacturers and suppliers to the state, likewise had yet to see any movement.

The proposed repeal of the 1995 Parental Notice of Abortion Act passed out of the House Executive Committee on a 9-6 vote, with the Republican minority united in opposition.

“It’s a crazy day,” said Rep. Robert Rita, a Democrat from Blue Island, who oversaw the House committee debate on the proposed parental notification law. “In the short amount of time you’re trying to look at a lot of different requests … or things that we need to do. And it’s all compacted, which make long days, busy days, long committee hearings to allowing the complexity of some of these bills.”

Those pushing for repeal, which Pritzker supports, believe the law does nothing to protect the most vulnerable young people — those who come from unsafe and unstable households. Those in favor of the notification law believe parents shouldn’t be kept in the dark about their children’s well-being, particularly when they decide to have an abortion.

Republican state Rep. Avery Bourne of Morrisonville questioned supporters of the repeal who have argued that most teens who get pregnant consult with a parent about that decision anyway. She also raised concerns that doing away with the notification requirement could prevent parents from knowing if their child had been abused.

“This is clearly an attempt to take away the knowledge of parents and what is happening in their minor (child’s) life,” Bourne said during the committee hearing. “And by the way, something we didn’t get into, but the parents may not know unless this notification happens if they are being abused, if they have been raped, if they are being trafficked, the parents would have no way of knowing other than this notification in many instances.”

The measure’s House sponsor, Democratic Rep. Anna Moeller of Elgin, noted that doctors, nurses and other health care providers are considered “mandated reporters,” meaning they’re required under law to report whether a minor was a victim of abuse or neglect to authorities.

“Having to notify an abusive parent puts that young woman in jeopardy,” Moeller said. “That is the reason why we are here today.”

The law as it stands now allows minors to ask a judge to waive the notification requirement if they fear for their safety. Since 2013, when the law went into effect after years of legal challenges, judges granted more than 99.5% of bypass requests throughout Illinois, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which has argued the law serves no public policy purpose.

Abortion rights advocates have criticized the judicial proceedings for, among other things, forcing pregnant teens to share very personal, and potentially embarrassing, details about their sexual histories.

On Wednesday, former Cook County Judge Susan Fox Gillis testified in favor of the repeal, based in part on her time presiding over such cases.

“My colleagues and I tried to make the process as non-intimidating as we could, keeping the identity of the young woman anonymous, hearing these cases in our chambers instead of in a courtroom, not wearing our robes to lessen their anxiety, and being as accommodating as possible in scheduling these cases,” the former judge said. “But make no mistake: No matter what a judge does, these hearings remain intimidating for young women as they come before us.”

A House vote on the measure was possible as soon as Wednesday evening. The outcome was uncertain as even some Democrats have questioned whether it goes too far in pitting abortion rights against parental rights.

At an unrelated news conference earlier Wednesday, Pritzker sidestepped a question about his influence over Democratic lawmakers in pursuing his agenda on items such as the parental notification repeal and a measure clarifying that the state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Law does not apply to coronavirus vaccination and testing requirements.

He said neither measure was his initiative. The change to the right of conscience law, which has been cited in recent lawsuits challenging vaccination mandates, was proposed by Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office, the governor said.

That proposal to clarify a measure that was largely intended to allow doctors, pharmacists and other health care workers to refrain from performing abortions, dispensing contraceptives or providing other services to which they have a moral or religious objection, has yet to be called for a vote in either chamber.

Pritzker has made his handling of the pandemic a core of his campaign for reelection next year against four announced Republicans who have criticized the Democratic governor for overreach in mandating COVID-19 mitigation.

On Wednesday, Bull Valley Republican Gary Rabine contended Pritzker’s efforts to change the right to conscience law was an admission that his COVID-19 mandates are “illegal.”

“The governor has always known that Illinois’ Right of Conscience Act makes his mandates illegal. That’s why he is now trying to change the law — to make his illegal actions magically legal. This is Stalin-esque behavior from a tyrant,” Rabine said in a statement.

Rabine has said he is not vaccinated and does not need to be because he previously had COVID-19. His position runs counter to guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control. He also has spread misinformation about the safety of the vaccine, falsely claiming “thousands” of people have died from the vaccine alone.

Rabine’s competitors for the Republican nomination for governor are state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf of Waterloo and Jesse Sullivan of Petersburg

Also Wednesday, a day after members of the WNBA champion Chicago Sky visited the Capitol, a Senate committee advanced a measure that would allow the team’s home court, Wintrust Arena, to apply for a sports betting license.

The provision is part of a large gambling package that, among other changes, would allow limited betting on college teams in Illinois, but not on the performance of individual athletes. It also would set a March 5 deadline for the state to begin allowing sports gamblers to register online rather than in person at a sportsbook.

The House passed a similar proposal in the spring, but it stalled in the Senate.

Illinois lawmakers set up votes on controversial abortion notification, ‘right of conscience’ laws

Updated
Oct 29, 2021

Democratic lawmakers in the Illinois House and Senate on Tuesday set up potential votes this week on two lightning rod issues: A measure that would repeal a law requiring a parent to be notified when a minor seeks an abortion and one that seeks to prevent people from using religious or moral objections to skirt coronavirus vaccination requirements.

And with a new Illinois congressional map at the top of the to-do list for the fall session scheduled to end this week, Democrats indicated Tuesday that there will be at least a third revision of their proposed boundaries for the state’s new 17 U.S. House districts.

A Senate committee voted along party lines to send to the full chamber a measure that would repeal a 1995 law requiring a parent or other adult family member to be notified when someone under 18 is going to have an abortion.

Parental consent is not required under current law, and minors can ask a court to waive the notification requirement if they fear for their safety. But Democrats who support abortion rights are eager to secure Illinois’ place as a safe haven for those seeking an abortion as other statesrestrict access and seek to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

“What Illinois is saying, is continuing to say and is continuing to establish itself as is a beacon for individuals to have access to the rights that they deserve,” said the measure’s sponsor, Democratic state Sen. Elgie Sims of Chicago.

A vote on the Senate floor was expected as soon as Tuesday night, but there remained some opposition among the legislature’s majority Democrats, particularly in the House. Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker has expressed support for the proposal.

Opponents of repeal, largely Republican lawmakers, religious leaders and anti-abortion groups, have sought to frame the debate as one about parental rights rather than about abortion access.

GOP Sen. Jil Tracy of Quincy called the repeal proposal “illogical” and said it’s an example of Pritzker’s “radical agenda” that drives wedges between parents and their obligations to their children.

“Of all the human relationships, there’s none stronger than a relationship between parent and a child, and certainly while it lasts an entire lifetime, there is no better time and critical event in the minor years that child needs nurturing and support and counseling from their parents.” Tracy said at a news conference ahead of Tuesday’s committee vote.

A House committee, meanwhile, advanced a Pritzker-backed proposal to revise the state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act, which also has met some resistance among the Democratic supermajority.

The law, in effect since 1998, was passed in large part to allow doctors, pharmacists and other health care workers to refrain from performing abortions, dispensing contraceptives or providing other services to which they have a moral or religious objection.

But it has been used in ongoing lawsuits to resist Pritzker’s COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandates for teachers, health care workers and others.

A federal judge in Chicago is expected to rule Friday on a request to temporarily block state and city vaccine mandates, in part by citing the right of conscience law. A lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of 14 unnamed employees of Northshore University Health System also cites the law in arguing against the hospital system’s alleged refusal to grant religious exemptions to its vaccination requirement.

The measure, sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Robyn Gabel of Evanston, would specify that it is not a violation of the law for the state, an employer or another organization “to take any measures or impose any requirements … to prevent contraction or transmission of COVID-19 or any pathogens that result in COVID-19 or any of its subsequent iterations.”

The House Executive Committee sent the proposal to the full chamber on a 9-6 party-line vote.

Gabel had to assure Republican legislators that she wasn’t trying to change the law but clarify it so that the law can’t be applied in Illinois by people who use it to object to getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

“There’s nothing in it that says it can be used for COVID, so we’re just saying it can’t be,” she said in a question-and-answer session with Republican Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington.

“The law intends to make changes and that’s what has people very, very concerned,” Brady said.

Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, a Republican from Elmhurst, expressed concerns that people cannot refuse the vaccine for religious reasons under the amendment. Gabel tried to explain that the law doesn’t stop someone from invoking a federal religious exemption.

“Now you’re saying, ‘Oh, well we’re upset that people are trying to invoke their right of conscience.’ We’ve always let people invoke their right of conscience, particularly when it involves religious freedom exemptions at the state level,” Mazzochi told Gabel.

The committee also advanced a measure that would tweak a law Pritzker signed this summer, over objections from Mayor Lori Lightfoot, that will create a fully elected Chicago school board by 2027.

The new proposal, sent to the full House on a 9-6 committee vote, would remove a requirement that Chicago’s mayor get City Council approval for appointments of 10 board members and the board president when a partially elected, partially appointed board takes effect after the November 2024 election. The measure also specifies that the board positions will be unpaid.

Judge to rule Friday in federal lawsuit by Chicago workers challenging vaccine mandates

Of all the issues before lawmakers this week, the most pressing is approving a new congressional map before candidates have to begin circulating nominating petitions in January.

State Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez, a Cicero Democrat who chairs the Illinois House redistricting panel, said, “we don’t have a final map,” when asked at a morning committee hearing about procedures to vote on a final plan. Another leading Democrat said privately that additional revisions are expected before the legislature votes.

Democrats unveiled their first plan Oct. 15 and a second version Saturday. The latest version creates the opportunity for a second Latino district in Illinois. It also pits Democratic U.S. Reps. Sean Casten of Downers Grove and Marie Newman against one another in a suburban district and sets up two potential matchups between Republican incumbents: Darren LaHood of Peoria against Adam Kinzinger of Channahon, and Mary Miller of Oakland against Mike Bost of Murphysboro.

The latest version is aimed at giving Illinois Democrats a 14-3 advantage over Republicans, compared to the current 13-5 edge that they hold. Illinois lost one seat due to a decline in population.

Democrats acknowledged that political considerations were taken into account in drafting the map, which is legal. But Republican state Rep. Tom Demmer of Dixon noted that “there are no witnesses from any Black or Latino advocacy groups testifying that these maps make them happy.”

“Perhaps the people who are happy with these maps are only Democratic incumbents, who were consulted in the creation and design of these maps,” Demmer said.

Illinois Senate votes to repeal law requiring parental notification for minors receiving abortions

Updated
Oct 29, 2021

The Illinois Senate voted Tuesday to repeal a decades-old law that requires a parent to be notified when a minor seeks an abortion, an effort by supporters to cement the state’s position as a liberal leader on abortion rights as other states impose greater restrictions on the procedure.

Also Tuesday, a House committee set up a potential vote this week on another lightning-rod issue: a proposal seeking to prevent people from using another decades-old state law to skirt coronavirus vaccination requirements by citing moral or religious objections.

And with a new Illinois congressional map — reflecting population changes from the 2020 federal census — at the top of the legislature’s to-do list for the fall session scheduled to end this week, Democrats indicated Tuesday that there will be at least a third revision of their proposed boundaries for the state’s new 17 U.S. House districts.

The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 32-22 to repeal the parental notification requirement, with four members of the majority party joining Republicans in opposition. Five other Democrats did not vote.

The proposal, which has the support of Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, now goes to the Democratic-controlled House, where its prospects remain uncertain.

Parental consent is not required under current law, and minors can ask a court to waive the notification requirement if they fear for their safety. But Democrats who support abortion rights are eager to secure Illinois’ place as a safe haven for those seeking an abortion as other states restrict access and seek to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

“This is a necessary proposal to move our state forward to protect our young people, often those who cannot protect themselves,” said Democratic state Sen. Elgie Sims of Chicago, the measure’s sponsor.

Opponents of repeal — largely Republican lawmakers, religious leaders and anti-abortion groups — have sought to frame the debate as one about parental rights rather than about abortion access.

GOP Sen. Jil Tracy of Quincy called the repeal proposal “illogical” and said it’s an example of Pritzker’s “radical agenda” that drives wedges between parents and their obligations to their children.

“Of all the human relationships, there’s none stronger than a relationship between parent and a child, and certainly while it lasts an entire lifetime, there is no better time and critical event in the minor years that child needs nurturing and support and counseling from their parents,” Tracy said at a news conference ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

Separately Tuesday, the House Executive Committee advanced a Pritzker-backed proposal to revise the state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act, which also has met some resistance among the Democratic supermajority.

The law, in effect since 1998, was passed in large part to allow doctors, pharmacists and other health care workers to refrain from performing abortions, dispensing contraceptives or providing other services to which they have a moral or religious objection.

But it has been used in ongoing lawsuits to resist Pritzker’s COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandates for teachers, health care workers and others.

A federal judge in Chicago is expected to rule Friday on a request to temporarily block state and city vaccine mandates, in part by citing the right of conscience law. A lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of 14 unnamed employees of Northshore University Health System also cites the law in arguing against the hospital system’s alleged refusal to grant religious exemptions to its vaccination requirement.

The measure, sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Robyn Gabel of Evanston, would specify that it is not a violation of the law for the state, an employer or another organization “to take any measures or impose any requirements … to prevent contraction or transmission of COVID-19 or any pathogens that result in COVID-19 or any of its subsequent iterations.”

The House committee sent the proposal to the full chamber on a 9-6 party-line vote.

Gabel had to assure Republican legislators that she wasn’t trying to change the law but clarify it so that the law can’t be applied in Illinois by people who use it to object to getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

“There’s nothing in (the current law) that says it can be used for COVID, so we’re just saying it can’t be,” she said in a question-and-answer session with Republican Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington.

“The law intends to make changes and that’s what has people very, very concerned,” Brady said.

Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, a Republican from Elmhurst, expressed concerns that people cannot refuse the vaccine for religious reasons under the amendment. Gabel said the law doesn’t stop someone from invoking a federal religious exemption.

“Now you’re saying, ‘Oh, well we’re upset that people are trying to invoke their right of conscience.’ We’ve always let people invoke their right of conscience, particularly when it involves religious freedom exemptions at the state level,” Mazzochi told Gabel.

The committee also advanced a measure that would tweak a law Pritzker signed this summer, over objections from Mayor Lori Lightfoot, that will create a fully elected Chicago school board by 2027.

The new proposal, sent to the full House on a 9-6 committee vote, would remove a requirement that Chicago’s mayor get City Council approval for appointments of 10 board members and the board president when a partially elected, partially appointed board takes effect after the November 2024 election. The measure also specifies that the board positions will be unpaid.

Of all the issues before lawmakers this week, the most pressing is approving a new congressional map before candidates have to begin circulating nominating petitions in January.

State Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez, a Cicero Democrat who chairs the Illinois House redistricting panel, said, “We don’t have a final map,” when asked at a morning committee hearing about procedures to vote on a final plan. Another leading Democrat said privately that additional revisions are expected before the legislature votes.

Democrats unveiled their first plan Oct. 15 and a second version Saturday. The latest version creates the opportunity for a second Latino district in Illinois. It also pits Democratic U.S. Reps. Sean Casten of Downers Grove and Marie Newman against each other in a suburban district and sets up two potential matchups between Republican incumbents: Darren LaHood of Peoria against Adam Kinzinger of Channahon, and Mary Miller of Oakland against Mike Bost of Murphysboro.

The latest version is aimed at giving Illinois Democrats a 14-3 advantage over Republicans, compared with the current 13-5 edge they hold. Illinois lost one seat due to a decline in population.

Democrats acknowledged that political considerations were taken into account in drafting the map, which is legal. But Republican state Rep. Tom Demmer of Dixon noted that “there are no witnesses from any Black or Latino advocacy groups testifying that these maps make them happy.”

“Perhaps the people who are happy with these maps are only Democratic incumbents, who were consulted in the creation and design of these maps,” Demmer said.

Lawmakers release revised redistricting maps

Updated
Oct 29, 2021

SPRINGFIELD — State lawmakers on Saturday released new proposed congressional map boundaries, a move that follows criticism about the process and fairness. 

House Democrats in a statement said the amended version “accounts for public feedback while improving minority influence.”

“The changes made in this updated congressional map will help ensure the diversity of Illinois is reflected in Washington,” said Sen. Omar Aquino, chair of the Senate Redistricting Committee, in a statement. “We appreciate the many advocacy groups and individuals that continue to guide our work with passion and dedication, as we remain focused on the creation of a fair map that will provide equal representation for all.”

Districts are redrawn every decade based on census data. Lawmakers are expected to vote on the new boundaries by the end of the fall veto session next week. 

Democrats, who control the the mapmaking process, released the first draft last month. The version brought criticism from Republicans and good government organizations.

Democratic members of the Illinois delegation also took issue with the shapes of their districts. There also was concern about the lack of a second majority Latino district in the Chicago area despite the group registering significant growth over the past 10 years.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker last week said it was his sense that “the map that was put forward was not intended to be a final product, it was intended to be for discussion.”

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, in a statement about the first map said: “It’s clear Gov. Pritzker and the Democrats will stoop to any low if it means they can keep their corrupt system going.”

The new map positions Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, in the same district as Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland, is against Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro. 

The first map put LaHood and Miller in the same district and Kinzinger with Rep. Marie Newman, D-Western Springs.

Illinois’ congressional delegation is made up of five Republicans and 13 Democrats. But the state is losing a congressional seat due to population loss, bringing the delegation to 17. 

Watch now: After Democratic criticism, Illinois redistricting map poised to change (copy)

Updated
Oct 29, 2021

SPRINGFIELD — When Illinois Democrats released the first draft of their proposed congressional map last week, it was lambasted in familiar corners with Republicans and good government groups decrying it as a partisan gerrymander intended to elect 14 Democrats and only three Republicans.

But the proposal was also the recipient of friendly fire from fellow Democrats, with operatives in Washington saying it did not do enough to shore up vulnerable incumbents and maximize the party’s opportunities elsewhere.

Democratic members of the Illinois delegation also took issue with the potential new shapes of their districts, which are larger — an unavoidable reality since the state lost one congressional seat after the 2020 U.S. Census — and in many cases feature unfamiliar terrain.

And there is some disappointment about the lack of a second majority Latino district in the Chicago area despite the group registering significant growth over the past ten years.

These are some of the issues legislative Democrats will have to work through when they return to Springfield next week to consider the new congressional map, which would set the district boundaries for the next 10years.

Democrats concede that the map is likely to change before a final vote is taken.

“My sense is that the map that was put forward was not intended to be a final product, it was intended to be for discussion,” said Gov. J.B. Pritzker, responding to a question from a reporter at an unrelated event in Bloomington Thursday morning. “Lots of people have discussed as we’ve seen. They’ve seen the maps and wanted to make changes, both current members of Congress from both parties as well as members of the legislature who are going to be voting on it.”

Grading the process 

There’s significant pressure on Springfield Democrats from the national party to maximize opportunities in Illinois, one of the few states where the party has complete control of the redistricting process.

Besides New York, the state is viewed by many as the Democrats’ biggest redistricting weapon, with models showing the possibility of making a delegation currently composed of 13 Democrats and five Republicans one with either a 14-3 or 15-2 split.

With Republican state legislatures expected to gerrymander in states like Florida, North Carolina and Texas, a Democratic gerrymander in Illinois could give the party a fighting chance to maintain a majority in the House. 

The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, a non-partisan group that seeks to eliminate gerrymandering, has given Democrats’ proposed map an “F” grade for partisan fairness. 

The proposal features 14 districts won by President Joe Biden in 2020. However, it leaves some Democratic-held seats vulnerable during election cycles that favor Republicans. 

The 3rd Congressional District, based in the southwest suburbs of Chicago and held by Rep. Marie Newman, D-Western Springs, would stretch out to Interstate 39 under the proposal, picking up significant rural territory, exurban communities like Channahon and Minooka and blue collar communities in the Illinois Valley like LaSalle and Ottawa.

Biden’s margin of victory would decrease from 13 percentage points in the current district to 6 points in the proposed district, which would also include the home of Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon, who has become a national figure due to his criticism of former President Donald Trump.  

Dave Wasserman, House editor for the Cook Political Report, and Frank Calabrese, an Illinois redistricting expert, both say the district as drawn would be considered a “toss up” in 2022. 

Newman said in a statement released last week that it was “abundantly apparent that what has currently been proposed for Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District is not only retrogressive but substantially diminishes the diverse and progressive voices of Chicago’s Southwest Side and suburbs.”

Also vulnerable under the new map is Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville. Her 14th Congressional District, based in the western suburbs and exurbs of Chicago, would pick up the liberal college town DeKalb.

It would move from a district that voted for Biden by two points to eight points, a marginal improvement that could leave the seat vulnerable under the right circumstances. 

The 17th Congressional District, an open seat with the upcoming retirement of Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline, would include less rural areas and more of Peoria and Rockford while picking up Bloomington-Normal. 

It would move from a district that supported Trump by nearly two points to one Biden won by six points. Still, Wasserman said Democrats could have made it a Biden +10 or more district with a more skillful crafting of the map. 

Even if Democrats held those seats, their relative competitiveness could lead to unnecessarily expensive elections, some say. 

“If there’s a creation of four or five competitive districts that are only clearly blue-leaning, it’s going to invite dark money and Republican efforts to come into the Chicagoland media market,” said Andrew Ellison, a Democratic political operative testifying at a House Redistricting Committee hearing on Wednesday. “They will not be afraid to come in …. to run negative ads against all these different candidates. It’s going to create chaos, it’s going to bleed down to some of these legislative races too and create a very negative environment.”

‘They’re more concerned about their own districts’

Some of these concerns lead many to believe that changes are coming before the final map is voted on and sent to Pritzker’s desk. 

Some incumbents from hyper-Democratic seats in Chicago and the suburbs will likely have to “take one for the team” by picking up more rural Republican precincts to shore up more vulnerable members like Newman and Underwood. 

Illinois Democratic members met at the office of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last week to discuss the map, according to a Chicago Sun-Times report. 

The delegation can offer recommendations to state lawmakers, but have no formal control over the process, which is the purview of the General Assembly, per the state constitution. 

“The interesting thing is that for most of the modern era in Illinois, under our new constitution since 1971, congressional redistricting has been an afterthought for the General Assembly,” said Charlie Wheeler, the retired director of the Public Affairs Reporting program at the University of Illinois Springfield. “They’re more concerned about their own districts for the Illinois Senate and the Illinois House.”

In 1971, 1981 and 1991, the legislature punted on congressional redistricting, with a three-judge federal district court in Chicago adopting a redistricting plan for the state in each of those years. 

In 2001, the General Assembly did enact a new congressional map. However, it was largely the product of a deal cut between then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Oswego, and Rep. Bill Lipinski, D-Chicago to protect House incumbents.

The most notorious district drawn that cycle was the C-shaped 17th, which stretched along the Mississippi River from the Quad Cities to Quincy with a tentacle poking out to grab the urban precincts of Springfield and Decatur. 

In 2011, Illinois Democrats had complete control of government in a redistricting year for the first time ever, passing maps that allowed the party to flip a 11-8 GOP-majority congressional delegation into a 12-6 Democratic majority.

In 2021, Democrats will try to go further. 

A map with 15 Biden districts and two Trump is not out of the question, but a 14-3 breakdown is more likely.

At stake are the fates of several GOP members of Congress, especially Reps. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and Kinzinger, who represent downstate communities that have collectively lost population in the last decade. 

And then there’s still the issue of whether or not to create a second Latino majority district.

For the past 30 years, there has been one Latino majority district connecting communities on the Northwest and Southwest sides of Chicago. It’s been colloquially known as the “earmuff” district for its funny shape. 

With Democrats’ fall veto session scheduled to wrap up next week, action on maps is highly likely. Since it’s past May, supermajorities, which Democrats hold in both chambers, will be necessary for passage. 

Heavy workload expected next week as Illinois lawmakers cancel Thursday session

Updated
Oct 29, 2021

SPRINGFIELD — The legislative action was light during the General Assembly’s first week of fall session, and lawmakers in both chambers left town a day early after leadership canceled the Thursday session.

That means bigger items, such as a vote on congressional maps and potential changes to the Health Care Right of Conscience Act and a repeal of the Parental Notice of Abortion Act, will have to wait until next week for substantive action.

Republicans used the light legislative days to make a case against one of the main Democratic agenda items and to push for some of their own — including public safety reforms and checks on the governor’s power — in a series of news conferences.

On Tuesday, the four women in the Senate Republican Caucus made clear their opposition to repealing the Parental Notice of Abortion Act, which requires that a physician give 48 hours notice to a parent or guardian of a person under the age of 18 who intends to get an abortion.

The law does not require the guardian to give consent, and doesn’t apply if an adult family member waives the notice in writing. Additionally, there are exceptions for minors who are victims of physical or sexual abuse or neglect by an adult family member, if the minor is married or emancipated, or if the provider determines there is a medical emergency. A judge can also waive the requirement.

Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, characterized the issue as one of parents’ rights that is independent of “the typical pro-life vs. pro-choice debate.” Parents should have a right to know when their child is going to undergo a major medical procedure such as an abortion, the GOP senators argued.

Sen. Sally Turner, R-Beason, said repealing the parental notice requirement “will not help the minor but may harm the minor.” She said a repeal would “make it easier for sexual predators and sex traffickers to abuse our children.”

The ACLU of Illinois countered that claim Wednesday in a news release, circulating a letter cosigned by several groups that aid sexual assault victims, such as the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation.

“Repealing the Parental Notice of Abortion Act in Illinois would not result in more child trafficking,” the groups wrote in the letter. “It would also not impact the ability for child trafficking victims to be identified.”

They said the Republican claims “rely on an erroneous belief that parents and/or social networks are always safe and healthy individuals in a young person’s life and that, if notified, they would assist in an intervention to help the young person.”

“However, what we know is that victims are often lured into a trafficking or exploitative situation because they lack parental and/or familial support,” they wrote in the letter. “Traffickers often come along to fill such a void in the young person’s life. In fact, traffickers can be and often are the young person’s parents or family members.”

Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, however, argued that the existing exceptions in the law are protection enough for minors who have been abused.

Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, who carries the repeal bill in the House, told Capitol News Illinois she still hopes to call it for a vote next week, although she did not indicate whether she had enough votes lined up in support of the repeal.

Public safety push

While Moeller said next week will be a busy one, there’s been no indication that the majority party Democrats will take up the other two matters pushed by Republicans this week — checks on executive authority and public safety reforms.

Republicans from both chambers gathered outside of the Illinois Police Officers Memorial on the Capitol Grounds Wednesday to push for a reform package spearheaded by former prosecutor and current state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet.

That package includes a bill that would appropriate $100 million to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board to fund grants to local departments for gang violence, carjacking and motor vehicle theft prevention, as well as officer staffing.

Another bill would eliminate good time sentence reductions for someone who brought a weapon to a penal institution or attacked a law officer. Another would require a prosecutor to provide a written explanation if a weapons offense is plea bargained to a lesser sentence.

Rose also touted a “10 and life” provision, requiring a minimum 10-year sentence for aggravated discharge of a firearm, use of a stolen or illegally acquired firearm in an offense, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, armed habitual criminal offenses or aggravated hijacking or carjacking. A second such offense would come with a life sentence.

“We’re not talking about the so called low-level nonviolent offender,” Rose said. “We’re talking about violent offenders who are walking our streets, gun traffickers, carjackers. …The brunt of our effort is to take the violent criminals, the gun traffickers the carjackers, the shooters, off the streets.”

The Republicans were critical of a sweeping criminal justice reform passed by Democrats in January that included an end to cash bail in favor of a to-be-developed system that allows pretrial release based on the offender’s threat level.

The sponsors of some of the main provisions in that January criminal justice package — Sen. Robert Peters and Rep. Justin Slaughter, both Chicago Democrats — wrote an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune this week criticizing the GOP’s public safety push. Their op-ed touted a $65 million investment in the Reimagining Public Safety Act that was passed in the budgeting process this year and is “aimed at strengthening community-based approaches to reducing gun violence.”

The letter also signified the Democrats’ lack of willingness to support the GOP bills which still had not been assigned to a committee as of Wednesday.

“If Republicans in Illinois really want to make our streets safer, they should sit down with us and our partners at the local level, get a better understanding of the work already underway in our communities, and offer a genuine and sincere helping hand,” Slaughter and Peters wrote.

Governor authority

House Republicans held their own news conference Wednesday to push for the passage of House Bill 843, which would limit the governor’s ability to issue consecutive disaster proclamations.

Pritzker has issued successive proclamations due to the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020. In the future, the bill would limit the governor to one 30-day declaration, and if it is extended it would need written approval from three legislative leaders or an affirmative resolution from the General Assembly.

Democrats have shown no indication that they were willing to provide such a check on the governor’s disaster authority, instead allowing him to continue under the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act without intervention.

“Tacit approval is not appropriate in this situation,” Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, who sponsors HB843, said at the news conference. “That does not allow for public hearing and debate that the people of the state get to see and hear and know that their viewpoints are being considered and heard by the people making decisions. It’s still just allowing one person to rule and not allowing the people to have their voice heard.”