SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. (WLS) — The future of a new effort to change the way Illinois draws their state legislative maps could face an uphill battle.

Gov. JB Pritzker weighed in Wednesday on the proposed changes.

Pritzker, attending a groundbreaking at South Suburban College Wednesday, was not ready to commit to supporting what could be a groundbreaking ballot measure to change how legislative maps are drawn in Illinois.

"I think having an independent commission is a good idea. It has to be done on a national basis, though; it can’t be done state by state. We’d be unilaterally disarming as Democrats if we did that, but I think we should make it happen," Pritzker said.

The governor’s comments came one day after former President Barack Obama Chief of Staff Bill Daley and former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood kicked off "Fair Maps Illinois."

The effort is aimed at gathering signatures to put a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot that would allow a citizen-led panel to redraw state legislative maps instead of lawmakers.

"Illinois has the worst or one of the worst gerrymandered electoral maps in the country. So, absolutely, fixing that problem is a good idea. Does it have a chance is a completely different question," Better Government Association President David Greising said.

Illinoisans almost had a chance to vote on a similar measure in 2016, but it never made it to the ballot because it was blocked by the Democrat-dominated Illinois Supreme Court.

LaHood and Daley estimate they will need about $4 million to get the necessary signatures to get the measure on the ballot next year.

"Fundraising will be very challenging for this group; partly because we’ve been through this before. The people who want to fight gerrymandering with their checkbooks have already given, and it led to nothing," Greising said.

Pritzker was asked if he would oppose the measure, which could weaken the Democrats’ super majorities in both the state House and Senate.

"No, I think that they have not yet put forward what their final language is and decided exactly how this will go forward. So, I think, again, independent commission makes sense, but it’s got to be done in every state in the United States, or done at the federal level for all the states," Pritzker said.