Sangamon Sun

State Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield) looked out at the sparse audience gathered for an Aug. 27, House Redistricting Committee Hearing in Collinsville and couldn’t help but feel all the empty seats are part of the Democrats' overall plan.

Butler said advocacy groups have complained the public isn't given enough notice prior to scheduled hearings.

"Rep. Amy Elik and I are here in Collinsville in person and there are no people here from the public," Butler said. "I think that underscores the concerns that the advocacy groups had about the length of time we’ve had to discuss these things.”

In June, Butler joined Republican colleagues in complaining about the way Democratic lawmakers had held hearings for the redistricting process.

“I think what we have here today is the culmination of a foregone conclusion among the Democrats in Illinois – a bad deal for the public – but it's a deal between Gov. Pritzker and the General Assembly to push through partisan maps and push aside their concerns that they have voiced for several months now about these maps,” he said in a video posted to YouTube after the governor officially signed off on the new maps. “They pushed aside these concerns to solidify their own political monopoly in Illinois.”

While still a candidate, Pritzker vowed to veto any maps drawn along partisan lines. Butler said he took note of the way the governor told reporters he hadn’t had a chance to review the maps not long before officially signing off on them

“Well, obviously, the governor didn't need to review the maps,” he said. “If he had not reviewed them last night and signed them today, it was a foregone conclusion what he had in mind. In fact, he probably just could have come to the chambers of the legislature and signed them as soon as they were voted upon.”

Butler laments nothing seems to change with Democrats, especially when it comes to many of them being willing to do almost anything they feel they need to in order to maintain their power.

“What we have here today is the governor going back on his word, the Democrats continuing to do the same old playbook that they've had for generations to the detriment of the people of Illinois,” he said. “This is a sad day in the history of Illinois. We had an opportunity in this 10-year cycle to move forward in a positive fashion. But, Governor, you let us down. You let the people down.”