Iowa, California models praised
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s newly proposed congressional map has reignited a debate about the proper way to draw new districts.
New congressional districts must be redrawn every decade following the national census to reflect shifts in population, but every state undertakes that process in their own way.
In Pennsylvania, the ruling party in the state Capitol controls the process. The new districts must be approved in the same manner as any other piece of legislation with the approval of the state House and Senate and the signature of the governor.
With Republicans in control of all parts of the process, they can draw districts without support — or even input — from Democrats. The districts were drawn in behind-closed-door meetings and unveiled for the first time Tuesday, meaning the public was largely shut out as well.
The new congressional map was passed out of the Senate State Government Committee with a vote of 6-5 on Wednesday morning, and passed the full state Senate with a 26-24 vote on Wednesday night.
The Democratic members of the state Senate voted unanimously against the plan after their own proposal was rejected as an amendment. Republican state Sens. Mike Brubaker (Lancaster), Jane Earll (Erie), Mike Folmer (Lebanon) and Pat Vance (Cumberland) voted against the map as well.
Like all legislation, the details of the congressional maps do not have to be public until they are introduced in bill form.
Folmer, one of two Republicans who voted against the plan in committee Wednesday, said reforms must happen.
"You're never going to ever take the politics totally out of this, but I think you can at least come up with a system that would make it as reasonable as possible," he said.
Specifically, Folmer pointed to the Iowa’s model.
In Iowa, a nonpartisan agency draws the new lines, and is forbidden from considering political data such as residents’ party affiliations or where incumbents and potential challengers live. The agency is also instructed to keep towns and counties whole.
When the plan is completed, the Iowa Legislature gets to give a yes-or-no vote, with no amendments allowed.
Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, which lobbies for accountable and transparent government, agreed that reforms should be made before the next redistricting in 2021.
He suggested following a model similar to California, which has a commission of randomly selected residents draw the new district lines.
Republicans have defended the process as being the most fair and open congressional redistricting process in the state’s history. The state House and Senate State Government Committees held hearings on the congressional process last spring.
“The series of hearings that we had produced a lot of public input,” said state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, chairman of the House State Government Committee. “The process has been a very public process, a very open process.”
Kauffman pointed out that those hearings took place long before the final product was ready.
“The public will never have any reasonable opportunity to comment on this plan,” he said.
The congressional map was made public for the first time Tuesday evening, passed the state Senate on Wednesday and is expected to be approved by the state House by the end of next week.
Update – This story was updated at 11:39 p.m. on 12/14/11 to reflect the final vote total in the state Senate.
