Illinois Fair Map Amendment blocked in committee
Posted By Brandon Reid On April 30, 2010 @ 12:09 pm In Happening Now | No Comments
From press release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill.—House Republican leader state Rep. Tom Cross (R-84) presented the Illinois Fair Map Amendment before a House Committee April 27. Fair Map has received the endorsement of nearly every major newspaper throughout the state. It was suggested by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s (D) reform commission and championed by a plethora of reform groups, including the League of Women Voters, the Illinois Farm Bureau, and the Better Government Association.
Democrat committee members voted against the reform proposal. Meantime, the state will continue the process of allowing legislators to hand pick their constituents through Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 121.
The Illinois Fair Map Amendment would significantly reform Illinois’ redistricting process by removing General Assembly members from the process of drawing their own district boundaries. Allowing political parties and individual legislators the opportunity to determine who they will represent to maintain their political power is an inherent conflict of interest.
Under the Fair Map Amendment, an independent commission, aided by public participation, would be charged with drawing compact, contiguous districts that no longer take into account political data such as constituent voting records or the addresses of current politicians. The measure includes strong protection for minority rights—in fact, the language mirrors the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 and does away with the ridiculous tie-break method of drawing a name out of a hat.
Article printed from The Rock River Times: http://rockrivertimes.com
URL to article: http://rockrivertimes.com/2010/04/30/illinois-fair-map-amendment-blocked-in-committee/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://delicious.com/post?url=http%3A%2F%2Frockrivertimes.com%2F2010%2F04%2F30%2Fillinois-fair-map-amendment-blocked-in-committee%2F&title=Illinois+Fair+Map+Amendment+blocked+in+committee
[2] Image: http://digg.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Frockrivertimes.com%2F2010%2F04%2F30%2Fillinois-fair-map-amendment-blocked-in-committee%2F&title=Illinois+Fair+Map+Amendment+blocked+in+committee&bodytext=From+press+release%0D%0A%0D%0ASPRINGFIELD%2C+Ill.%E2%80%94House+Republican+leader+state+Rep.+Tom+Cross+%28R-84%29+presented+the+Illinois+Fair+Map+Amendment+before+a+House+Committee+April+27.+Fair+Map+has+received+the+endorsement+of+nearly+every+major+newspaper+throughout+the+state.+It+was+suggested+by+Illinois+Gov.+Pat+Quinn%E2%80%99s+%28D%29+refor
[3] Image: http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Frockrivertimes.com%2F2010%2F04%2F30%2Fillinois-fair-map-amendment-blocked-in-committee%2F&t=Illinois+Fair+Map+Amendment+blocked+in+committee
[4] Image: http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Frockrivertimes.com%2F2010%2F04%2F30%2Fillinois-fair-map-amendment-blocked-in-committee%2F&title=Illinois+Fair+Map+Amendment+blocked+in+committee
[5] Image: http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Frockrivertimes.com%2F2010%2F04%2F30%2Fillinois-fair-map-amendment-blocked-in-committee%2F&title=Illinois+Fair+Map+Amendment+blocked+in+committee
[6] Image: http://twitter.com/home/?status=http%3A%2F%2Frockrivertimes.com%2F2010%2F04%2F30%2Fillinois-fair-map-amendment-blocked-in-committee%2F
[7] Image: http://rockrivertimes.com/2010/04/30/illinois-fair-map-amendment-blocked-in-committee/feed
Click here to print.