House approves redistricting amendment, fearing federal Voting Rights Act will be eliminated

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois voters could be asked to amend the state’s redistricting law this fall after the House approved a constitutional amendment fearing federal protections for minority representation will be struck down.

The House voted 74-38 along party lines to pass an amendment that creates a priority list of rules state lawmakers would have to consider when drawing legislative maps that is aimed at ensuring minority representation in the legislature.

The Senate has until May 3 to vote to put the measure on the ballot in November. Constitutional amendments do not need the governor’s signature.

The amendment would establish a priority list stating what factors lawmakers should consider in the redistricting process. It states they should draw districts “to be substantially equal in population; to ensure that no citizen is denied an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of his or her choice on account of race; to create, where practical, racial coalition or influence Districts; to be contiguous; and to the extent practicable, to be compact.”

House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, said he proposed the amendment in response to fears that the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down the provision of the federal Voting Rights Act that bans splitting large minority groups into many districts to dilute their voting power.

“It is undeniable that the U.S Supreme Court is poised to dismantle these protections, and when it does, some states will quickly undertake new gerrymandering schemes aimed at stripping away Black and Latino and other minority representation,” Welch said.

Welch’s proposal nearly directly incorporates language in the federal law that prohibits denying political participation based on race.

Legislative debate

Rep. Theresa Mah, D-Chicago, the first Asian American lawmaker in state history, said she was first elected in part because of the state’s conscious effort to draw a district that consolidated Chicago’s Asian population into one district.

“Prior to our redistricting efforts in 2011, the greater Chinatown community in my district was fragmented into four state House districts, three state Senate districts, three congressional districts and five city wards,” Mah said. “Until then, an entire community’s power was nearly nonexistent and its voice unheard.”

Republicans argued the amendment is in response to a lawsuit they filed last year. They sought to overturn the state’s legislative maps by alleging dozens of districts failed to meet a decades-old Illinois Supreme Court precedent that defined an appropriately compact map. The Illinois Supreme Court ultimately tossed because it was filed too late.

“There is no need to change this constitution, other than to promote further gerrymandering of the maps to where it’s the elected officials picking who their voters are, and not the voters selecting their elected officials,” Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, said.

Republicans argued Democrats are using the amendment to increase their majority in the General Assembly.

“There’s many folks that were here … who don’t represent their hometowns, don’t represent their family, don’t represent their friends that they’ve known their entire lives,” Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, said. “That’s disenfranchisement. I have family that can’t vote for me because they live a mile away.”

Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, said he agrees with Welch that diversity is important, but that lawmakers shouldn’t neglect political diversity. He called it “the embodiment of the corruption of absolute power.”

In 2021, supermajority Democrats locked in their advantage by approving favorable lines during redistricting. Gov. JB Pritzker promised during his 2018 gubernatorial campaign that he would veto partisanly drawn maps, but signed them into law, arguing they aligned with the Voting Rights Act and would “ensure Illinois’ diversity is reflected in the halls of government.”

The amendment would keep the responsibility for drawing maps in the hands of the legislature. Republicans called on Democrats to adopt a constitutional amendment to create an independent redistricting commission.

Millionaire tax uncertain

Meanwhile, the status of an amendment that would enact a 3% surcharge on income over $1 million was uncertain as of Thursday afternoon.

Under Illinois’ constitution, all personal income is taxed at a flat rate, which means taxpayers of all incomes pay the same 4.95% rate. Under the proposed amendment, millionaires, including businesses, would pay an extra 3% on any income that surpasses $1 million.

The amendment’s future was also unclear in the Senate. Like the redistricting measure, it would go to voters and would not need the governor’s signature….

Voters rejected a broader amendment in 2020 to establish a graduated income tax structure in the state. The move was a heavy blow for Pritzker, who spent more than $50 million campaigning for the tax.

This year, the governor has taken a hands-off approach, saying he still supports the concept but that it wasn’t a top priority. He’s instead left it up to the legislature.

Lawmakers have been reluctant to revisit the issue since the 2020 failure. But the idea picked up steam as the federal government has slashed funding to states and enacted tax policy changes that disproportionately benefit the wealthy. Millionaires taxes have been on the books for years in California and New Jersey and were recently enacted in Massachusetts and Washington.

Welch has been working to build support for the amendment since early this year and progressive lawmakers and powerful interest groups like the Illinois Federation of Teachers have lent their support.

A study published by researchers at the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign last month found that a 3% surcharge on income over $1 million would generate $3.8 billion in its first full year and $4.2 billion by 2030 — revenue estimates the researchers labeled as “conservative.”

The nonpartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability pegged the number at $2.1 billion annually but cautioned that it could fluctuate greatly by year.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.