From the Committee of Seventy (https://www.seventy.org/):
This four-question quiz from NPR is yet another example of the growing buzz around the country about the battle for fair representation in our legislatures. Hereabouts in the last few weeks, for example, a bipartisan group of 15 former Bucks County public officials demanded an end to gerrymandering and the Ambler borough council (located in the decidedly Montgomery County-unfriendly 13th Congressional District) passed a resolution supporting the creation of an independent commission to draw district lines. Ambler’s the 17th PA municipality to pass one since 2015.
Resolutions are nice, but change will only come when the state constitution changes, and that will take passage of a bill (SB 22) in two consecutive legislative sessions (2017-18 and ’19-20), followed by voter approval. That’s a slog, but a Newsworks.org op-ed last week pointed to a “growing sentiment to make elections fair,” and Seventy Civic Engagement consultant Chris Satullo, writing in The Inquirer, agrees: “Something is happening…It smells like hope.”
But converting hope into change takes work. Our friends at Fair Districts PA are planning a Lobby Day in Harrisburg for Tuesday, May 9, and you’re invited to take part. Stay tuned for details.
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