Advocacy groups who campaigned the last several years for legislation that would revamp the way Pennsylvania’s redistricting is handled didn’t get what they desperately wanted and what citizens deserve — an independent citizens commission to redraw district lines.
While short of ideal, state Republican leaders recently unveiled plans for improved levels of transparency in the congressional redistricting process.
It’s not the outcome sought by anti-gerrymandering groups such as Fair Districts PA, but it’s a step in the right direction after decades of closed-door deals that excluded the public from any say in how districts should be shaped.
Republican state House leaders plan to hold a series of regional public hearings in the coming months to allow residents an opportunity to comment on how congressional districts should be redrawn. Pennsylvania will lose one congressional seat next year, going from 18 House members to 17.
In addition to the public hearings, the first of which was held Thursday in Harrisburg, the GOP leaders announced a website where constituents can participate in the process: www.paredistricting.com. They can submit comments on the site and eventually draw and submit their own maps using census data that should be available in August.
The hearings and website are vast improvements in the transparency of the redistricting process. A decade ago, Republican lawmakers revealed and passed a new congressional map in less than two weeks with no public comment. And that map was eventually thrown out by the state Supreme Court after challenges that it was gerrymandered to favor Republican candidates.
Common Cause Pennsylvania, an advocacy group that has sought more public input in the redistricting process, praised the Republicans’ action, saying it’s an opportunity “to ensure that everyone in Pennsylvania has an equal opportunity to be represented by someone who shares their values and lived experience.”
While the move by Republican leaders is a welcome improvement, there is disappointment in that the actions taken were not codified in legislation. Rep. Wendi Thomas, R- Bucks County, had proposed a bill that would have mandated live-streamed public hearings, that would have allowed residents to submit their own maps, and that called for the launch of a website. The bill never moved through the Legislature. So, although the actions taken by Republican leaders are laudable, they are not required for future redistricting efforts. Residents can only hope the move toward more transparency will carry over in the future.
It’s also disappointing that efforts to open up the redistricting process apply only to congressional maps. The public will have precious little say in how the 50 state Senate districts and 203 state House districts are redrawn. The public should have been afforded the same opportunity for comment as in the congressional redistricting.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS
