House approves redistricting amendment, fearing federal Voting Rights
Act will be eliminated
[April 23, 2026]
By Ben Szalinski and Brenden Moore
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.”
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State Rep. Theresa Mah testifies in favor of a redistricting
constitutional amendment on the House floor on April 22, 2026.
(Capitol News Illinois photo by Jenna Schweikert)
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.
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