Sangamon Sun

During the House Redistricting Committee hearing in Decatur on April 7, state Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) agreed with witnesses who stressed the importance of conducting hearings before the new set of maps are drawn this year, allowing state residents a chance to voice their thoughts.  

“I'm glad you pointed out the congressional map from 20 years ago,” Butler told Decatur City Councilwoman Lisa Gregory. “Not only were Decatur and Springfield divided into three districts but a village that I represent in the general assembly, Illiopolis, was also represented by those three members of congress. It is astounding to think of Illiopolis having as much representation as anyone in the country. They crazily had three congressional districts in it. I think that underscores so much about what’s going on with these hearings. People are rightly concerned about dividing communities and dividing neighborhoods for partisan political gain and that's what happened on both sides when both Democrats and Republicans drew them.

Gregory suggested not to divide Decatur into several legislative districts to guarantee ‘political viability.' Redrawing of maps to benefit certain candidates has been criticized.

Boundaries for national and state legislative states are redrawn every 10 years after the census has been conducted. The census results are usually released in April and are used to redraw maps, but are now delayed because of the pandemic. The state constitution has set June 30 to approve the maps.

The state may lose at least one U.S. House seat due to population losses.