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Activists get behind legislation to open legislative redistricting process in Pennsylvania
Link: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2021/03/03/redistricting-reform-Pennsylvania-congressional-map-Fair-Districts-PA-legislative-process/stories/202103030162
Activists are launching a campaign to contact Pennsylvania’s 253 lawmakers advocating the passage of a bill that they say would bring more transparency to the process of redrawing legislative and congressional boundaries.
Fair Districts PA, a coalition of groups that support redistricting reform, is calling the effort the “March Toward Transparency.” It’s intended to garner the votes needed to pass Senate Bill 222 and its companion bill in the state House, which would formally outline a process of public input when state legislative and congressional districts are drawn over the next year or two.
- snip -
For years, advocates had fought to take the power over redrawing district lines from the Legislature and give it to an independent commission, but support never materialized and time ran out, leaders say. Now, they want to push through a bill that — at the very least — would shed light on the process.
If passed, the legislation would mandate a series of live-streamed public hearings before and after lawmakers approve their preliminary plans. Then allow citizens to submit their own maps to “be given consideration equal to formal testimony presented at public hearings,” according to a sponsorship memo. It also would require the launch of a website for data, proposed maps and public comment.
“I’ve been advocating for it as a transparency process, and I think that’s a great story,” said House bill sponsor Wendi Thomas, R-Bucks, in remarks to the Fair Districts PA seminar. “I think most legislators want government to be transparent. It’s a very unifying message that everybody can get behind.”
Fair Districts PA, a coalition of groups that support redistricting reform, is calling the effort the “March Toward Transparency.” It’s intended to garner the votes needed to pass Senate Bill 222 and its companion bill in the state House, which would formally outline a process of public input when state legislative and congressional districts are drawn over the next year or two.
- snip -
For years, advocates had fought to take the power over redrawing district lines from the Legislature and give it to an independent commission, but support never materialized and time ran out, leaders say. Now, they want to push through a bill that — at the very least — would shed light on the process.
If passed, the legislation would mandate a series of live-streamed public hearings before and after lawmakers approve their preliminary plans. Then allow citizens to submit their own maps to “be given consideration equal to formal testimony presented at public hearings,” according to a sponsorship memo. It also would require the launch of a website for data, proposed maps and public comment.
“I’ve been advocating for it as a transparency process, and I think that’s a great story,” said House bill sponsor Wendi Thomas, R-Bucks, in remarks to the Fair Districts PA seminar. “I think most legislators want government to be transparent. It’s a very unifying message that everybody can get behind.”
- more at link -
