Posted on 05/18/2015 10:09:12 AM PDT by re_tail20
A renewed petition drive aimed at asking voters to take much of the politics out of the drawing of state legislative boundaries was launched Tuesday, nearly a year after a similar effort was struck down by a Cook County judge.
The “independent map amendment” effort, intended to try to change the Illinois Constitution, is an attempt to secure more valid petition signatures and reword the proposal to try to conform with Judge Mary Mikva’s ruling in June, advocates said.
At issue is the every-decade process of redrawing the state’s 118 House and 59 Senate districts to conform to population changes in the U.S. census — a process that now puts a premium on political protection for incumbents and leads to many uncontested legislative elections.
“We believe this reform will lead to more competitive elections, give voters greater choice and ultimately will improve Illinois government and make it more responsive to the citizens of Illinois,” said Dennis FitzSimons, the former chairman and CEO of Tribune Co. and chair of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, who is leading the remap coalition.
“Our state government … will work best when legislators represent and are accountable to the people who elect them and not the politicians who draw the maps,” FitzSimons said.
Other leaders of the broad-based remap effort include former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar and Bill Daley, brother and son of former Chicago mayors and a former chief of staff to Democratic President Barack Obama.
Currently, state lawmakers are charged with drawing a new map that's subject to approval of the governor. That’s what happened after the 2010 census when the Democrat-controlled General Assembly drew a map signed by then-Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat.
Under the constitution, if lawmakers are unable to put together a map that could be signed into law...
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Really hope this group has the clout to make this happen, the first step toward ending one party rule. McCormick Foundation runs Cantigny, the excellent First Division “Big Red One” Museum and the new Freedom Museum.
The name sounds familiar. The daughter of Abner Mikva. He was a member of the House of Representatives and a federal judge. Lots of connections to Zero. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abner_J._Mikva
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.