Metro East Sun

State Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville) called on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to speak up on the maps drawn by his party.

Bourne was with other Republicans during a May 25 news conference urging Pritzker to veto the maps, as he promised during this gubernatorial campaign.

“Today as Sen. Plummer mentioned, I would like to invite the governor to comment on these maps,” she said. “We are headed up to a hearing to talk about public input on the proposed maps and yet we still have nothing but deafening silence from the governor's office on these map proposals.” 

Bourne is still looking forward to the governor attending to this significant state concern.

“We've invited him actually to the hearings we had before the maps and we’re told that he would not be able to attend but I'm hopeful that in the coming days we will hear from Gov. Pritzker on his thoughts on these proposed maps and on whether or not he plans on upholding his promise to veto the maps,” she stated.

Before she ended her speech, she reminded that numerous efforts have been made to involve Illinoisans in the hearings to voice out their insights and regain their trust.

“You know in the last decade probably, Illinoisans have lost a lot of faith in government and this process and this map proposal that we have seen will continue to erode the public's trust in government and in their belief that they can influence the outcomes here in Springfield,” Bourne said. “So, I would like the governor to weigh in on these maps just as we’re asking the people to weigh in on them. Tell us what you're thinking, this is a legitimate question to ask of him as he has made such strong promises on these maps.”

A month ago the governor seemed to have suffered from “retrograde amnesia”  Republican House leader Jim Durkin said sarcastically when Pritzker said he will look to the Legislature for their proposal for a redistricting map and be looking to it for its fairness.