Senate Minority Leader Sen. Dan McConchie R-Lake Zurich) | File Photo
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Dan McConchie R-Lake Zurich) | File Photo
The Senate minority leader believes it's fair to allow Illinois residents have a chance to have their voices heard during the ongoing legislative redistricting process.
Sen. Dan McConchie's (R-Lake Zurich) comments came during the March 26 Senate Redistricting Northwest Cook County Committee hearing.
"The feedback I've heard has been in regards to the lack of speed and ability to prepare many of the facts that the groups who have talked about community interest within some of these regions have had," McConchie said.
Lawmakers have been holding redistricting hearings in various areas throughout Illinois. Redistricting is necessary after each decennial census to adjust for population changes within district boundaries for the Illinois House and Senate.
"Was it just that not enough notice for the people to be able to participate?" the Republican said. "The big concern is to ensure that there is wide participation in regards to these hearings, and I know that there have been witnesses who have made those concerns. We've simply echoed those concerns."
McConchie isn't the only one suggesting that lawmakers maybe need to pump the brakes on a process they view as not truly being in the state's best interest.
A bipartisan group of legislators and policy watchdogs recently convened to stress the need for a fair map redistricting process across the entire state.
As one of those in attendance, McConchie said, until lawmakers find a way to outlaw gerrymandering, Springfield has little chance of being freed from all its corruption.
More recently, a growing number of GOP lawmakers have been pushing the People's Independent Maps Act as a fair and just solution. The measure would give the state Supreme Court the power to appoint 16 independent citizen commissioners to an independent redistricting commission with 30 days of passage, completely taking the task of map redrawing out of the hands of state lawmakers.
Illinois has 118 House and 59 Senate districts. The Democrats have the majority in both chambers.
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