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Chicago Tribune: Democrats may use population estimates for redistricting, raising questions about fairness of maps

“Those are the people I feel have been dishonored by the path that the Illinois General Assembly has now chosen,” said Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause Illinois. “It should be the job of our elected officials to sort of recognize that this challenge exists, to recognize that they’re not going to be able to draw the district lines with any degree of specificity, they’re not going to be able to draw equal districts.”

Roll Call: As some states rush to redistrict, gerrymandering fight moves to back burner

The state could become “the canary in the coal mine” when it comes to using nondecennial census data that way, said Jay Young, the executive director of Common Cause Illinois. Young and others say that route is rife with potential legal challenges. It also undercuts the investment the state made financially and in outreach to underserved communities to get a good census count. Change Illinois, Common Cause and other groups nationwide have pushed legislatures to engage the public in the redistricting process.

New York Times: A New Delay for Census Numbers Could Scramble Congressional Elections

“The concern in some of those states is that the legislators will simply use a special session to secretly pass maps with zero public scrutiny, and then count on a tight timetable to eke out at least one election cycle” before a court could require new maps to be drawn, said Kathay Feng, the redistricting and representation director at Common Cause.

Roll Call: Census delay sends redistricting ripples nationwide

Amanda Gonzalez, executive director of Common Cause Colorado, said that doesn't leave much time for the mechanics of the redistricting process, even if there is technically enough time to draw maps. The commission, created by a 2018 ballot measure, mandates 21 public meetings as part of the mapmaking process along with an extensive public comment period. "What we're looking at right now is how do we maintain that process," she said. "We want to give the commission time to review the information that comes to them, give community members time to look at the census data that comes in, and everybody's gonna want time to, to look at the data."

Inauguration Resets Country’s Course Toward Our Nation’s Ideals and Aspirations

Today, our country is headed in a different direction – and we welcome the change.  Today, the nation under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris charted a new course of aspiration and hope for every American regardless of the color of their skin or who they voted for on Election Day. We have turned away from a wayward course that undermined our democratic norms, truth, values, institutions, and the rule of law.

Media & Democracy 12.21.2020

COVID-19 Stimulus Package Provides Significant Broadband Relief to Help Connect Low-Income Households, Ignores other Democracy Reform Priorities 

Today, Congress released the text to an emergency $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus package that includes $7 billion to increase broadband access throughout the nation. While, foregoing other needed democracy reforms present in earlier versions of pandemic relief legislation, the package specifically includes an Emergency Broadband Benefit, which provides $3.2 billion for a $50 monthly subsidy for eligible low-income households and a $75 monthly subsidy for households on Tribal lands to purchase a broadband connection. Households eligible for the Benefit include those who qualify for the Federal Communications Lifeline program, free and reduced school lunch, college Pell grants, and individuals who have seen a loss of income due to the economic fallout since the beginning of the pandemic.  

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