中国城法案州获伊州众议院通过：唐人街选区重划 只剩州长最后一关！ [复制链接]

主流媒体 Illinois Statehouse News 有关此事的报道：

Redistricting measure to offer extra protection to minorities           January 3, 2011

By Diane S.W. Lee   Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD — As a result of a legislative map drawn 10 years ago by Democrats, Chicago’s Chinatown is split up into many districts.

But legislation passed by a House committee on Monday hopes to fix that.

“Despite our best efforts, what came out from the 2001 redistricting process, Chinatown was being divided into three congressional districts, three state senate districts, four representative districts, four city wards and two county commission districts,” C.W. Chan, chairman of Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community, told a panel of House lawmakers on Monday.
（2001年选区重画的选区重画结果是，唐人街被分割得四分五裂：1，在联邦层面，分别归属三个国会选区。2，在州政府层面，分别归属三个伊州参议院选区，四个伊州众议院选区。 3，在芝加哥市政府层面，分别归属四个市政府选区。4，在Cook County 曾米娜，分别归属两个库克郡选区。 侨学网编注）


Senate Bill 3976 would give minorities more protection under the redistricting process.

“All this we attribute to the fact that the (Chinatown) community has been fragmented — as a result we see that kind of decrease in responsiveness and accountability,” Chan said. “And that’s why we are appealing to our legislators to address this situation where for the upcoming redistricting Chinatown can be placed into one single district.”


By law, the map is required to be redrawn every 10 years to reflect the change in population following the release of U.S. Census figures. Democrats currently control both chambers of the legislature and the governor's office, so they will get to draw the state’s legislative and congressional boundaries, thereby shaping elections for the next 10 years.

House sponsor Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, said whichever party draws the map will need to follow the constitutional requirements, which states that the legislative and representative districts need to be “compact, contiguous and substantially equal in population.”

Currie said the map will be required to be drawn from criteria stated in the Illinois constitution, while specific factors will be considered later. Race is one of the factors that will be taken into consideration, Currie said.
“Once you’ve done everything that the federal constitution and the voting rights act, and the state constitution tells you, you have to do, then you would look at the crossover, the coalition and the minority influence districts,” Currie said. “Yes, there is a mandate but that doesn't tell you what the outcome will be, because as I say there are all those factors that precede this as something that a mapmaker should take into account.”

Currie said they will need to look at Census data details, which are expected to be released in the spring. In addition, a minimum of four public hearings will be held after the map is drawn.

Whitney Woodward with the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform said more hearings would improve transparency and allow Illinois residents to participate in the redistricting process. Woodward said her organization has been active on the redistricting process for more than a year.

“But unfortunately, Senate Bill 3976 is currently written so that it would not ensure that Illinoisans are given a meaningful opportunity to participate and monitor the process, and that’s because it doesn’t guarantee that they’ll be able to suggest maps, comment on drafts and propose improvements to such proposals,” Woodward said.

The measure now moves to the full House for consideration.


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下面是主流报纸 Chicago Tribune上有关此法案的报道：

House panel advances legislation to keep Chinatown intact on new legislative map


January 03, 2011

Posted by Ray Long at 6:55 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD --- The Chinatown community would have a better chance to deliver a cohesive voice in the legislature under a bill a House panel advanced today.

The action comes as lawmakers prepare to redraw the legislative maps for district boundaries this spring following the results of the U.S. Census.

The legislation, which moved to the House floor, calls for trying to keep communities like Chinatown together in a single House district rather than divided into many districts.

A coalition led by C.W. Chan argued the community is split into four House districts and three Senate districts. Splitting up the community into multiple districts results in a dilution of Chinatown's political strength.

"We've been here for a long time," Chan said. "We're here to stay."

The House Executive Committee voted 7-4, sending the bill to the full House. The Senate previously passed the proposal overwhelmingly.

The legislation, sponsored by House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, also called for a minimum of four public hearings when legislative districts are redrawn.

But Whitney Woodward of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform called it "troubling" that the public hearings are not required to be held at a meaningful point in the legislative process.

The hearings should be held once drafts of new district boundaries are in place rather than before they are unveiled, Woodward said. The hearings are needed late in the mapmaking process to allow time for the public to  recommend improvements, she said.

这个“中国城法案”，如果最终得以实施，芝加哥唐人街社区将有望形成一个单独的州议会选区，将有望出现代表唐人街的华人州参议员、州众议员！

这对于华人参政而言，对于增强华人社区的政治力量，对于维护华人社区的整体利益，将是重大的飞跃。从目前的形势看，这样的一天正在走出黎明前的迷雾。

这个“中国城法案”，如今只剩州长 Pat Quinn 这一关，因为即便已获得伊州参众两院通过，州长仍然可以行使州长否决权，否决这个法案。

民主党派的州长会否决这个法案吗？ 未知数。

芝加哥华裔社区，同Pat Quinn 交情甚好，堪称“二十几年老朋友”的华裔人士，比如香港华协会前会长陆张意颜，大芝加哥侨学各界新年晚会副总干事、中华会馆职员赵奕洋，从推动华人参政、维护芝加哥华裔社区长远福利的角度，我们期盼并且呼吁，他们应该充分利用与州长的深厚友谊，保障这个法案顺利通过最后一关！