From Fair Districts PA (http://www.fairdistrictspa.com):
The Legislative Reapportionment Commission is meeting this Friday, Feb. 4, to vote on PA House and Senate maps. These will be the final maps, barring appeal and action by PA courts. The meeting will be held in Hearing Room #1, North Office Building, starting at 1:00 pm and will be livestreamed. We’ll share map links and information soon after and hope to hold a virtual forum next Wednesday, January 9, to preview the maps and discuss what we see.
As of this afternoon, the selection process for the PA Congressional map has now moved to the PA Supreme Court. Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough has been asked to submit findings from last week’s hearings by Monday, Feb. 7. The PA Supreme Court will then hear arguments on the case on Feb. 18.
Since the Department of State had asked for a January 24 deadline for all maps, to provide time for preparation for the May 17 primary, the election timeline is also now under court review.
What’s the latest with the two constitutional amendments we oppose? We’re realizing PA advocacy is much like the movie Groundhog Day. We repeat and repeat and hope for a way forward. House Bill 38 would create judicial districts. House Bill 2207 would allow legislators even more control over their own maps than they have already. Both bills are on the House schedule for second consideration next Monday, February 7. If they move, we’ll be asking right away for calls and emails to say NO.
Remember: maps matter, far more than we sometimes realize. That’s why there’s so much effort to delay, control, confuse and undermine the effort to ensure maps that represent us well.
Even so, we’re optimistic that we’ll have much better maps than those that resulted from the 2011-12 redistricting process, thanks to the overwhelming public attention and pressure for fair maps.
Leave a Reply