Lake County Gazette

The Illinois Opportunity Project has issued the following press release:

Chicago, IL- Sen. Melinda Bush (D-Grayslake) and Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest) hypocritically refuse to support an independent map-making process that is identical to legislation the senators introduced in 2020. 

“Sens. Morrison and Bush pretend they support good government but have gone missing now that it’s time to actually redraw the legislative maps and take a stand for transparency and fairness,” said Mark Cavers, president of the Illinois Opportunity Project. “Sens. Morrison and Bush’s inaction confirms every negative stereotype of the privileged, power-hungry politician who will say anything to be re-elected.”

Last month, Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie (D-Hawthorn Woods) introduced legislation to create an independent commission to redraw legislative maps instead of leaving the power in the hands of partisan politicians. The legislation is a word-for-word copy of what Sens. Melinda Bush and Julie Morrison sponsored in 2020 when they knew it wouldn’t pass.

When introducing the amendment in 2020, Sen. Melinda Bush stated that “Gerrymandering is ruining our democracy” and after the deadline for the amendment passed, Sen. Julie Morrison suggested making the map available online for the public to review. The two senators refuse to sign on to the current version of the bills. What has changed?

“Either Sens. Morrison and Bush were never serious about reform or they don’t care about reform any longer. Voters deserve to know which it is: do they not care or did they never care,” said Cavers.

The Illinois Opportunity Project is a grassroots organization that believes that empowering and organizing people around our shared values and free-market principles is the most impactful way to change our state and strengthen our communities. More information can be found at www.illinoisopportunity.org.