Remap reboot: Lawmakers to return to Springfield for special one-day session to ‘amend’ legislative maps

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois General Assembly is expected to return to Springfield Aug. 31 for what’s currently slated to be a one-day special session to amend the legislative maps following the release of the latest U.S. Census figures.

Republicans who sued over the maps say returning to Springfield proves their claim that the original versions are unconstitutional.

“There is no way to ‘put the toothpaste back into the tube,’” one Republican leader said.

House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said in a statement the return will be to “amend the legislative map enacted in June to incorporate the latest census data.”

The Hillside Democrat said Democrats “want to make sure every voice is heard and represented” and invited the public to participate in open hearings before the session.

Republicans sued their Democratic counterparts and the Illinois Board of Elections shortly after the new legislative boundaries were signed into law in early June.

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, of Western Springs, said that motion comes “when there is no longer a dispute over the law and the facts.

“The release of the Census data is gameset-match against the Illinois Democrats,” Durkin said. “Now knowing that their original map is unconstitutional, the Democrats are now scrambling to draw a new backroom map on short notice. There is no way to ‘put the toothpaste back into the tube’ as discussed in our summary judgment motion.”

Rather than wait for the official census figures, Democrats had used estimates from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to craft their proposed maps in May.

On Friday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he’s “still committed to making sure that we have a map that reflects the diversity of our state.”