Bill would revamp how Pennsylvania draws district boundaries

HARRISBURG » Aproposal to overhaul how Pennsylvania draws districts for the Legislature and Congress was approved by a state Senate committee vote Tuesday, but it still would require passage by both chambers and voters to go into effect.

The State Government Committee voted unanimously for a bill to amend the state constitution so that an 11- member commission would handle the job.

The prime sponsor, Sen. Lisa Boscola, D- Northampton, said her goal was to develop a more fair process.

“This amendment does remove politicians fromactually drawing themap and places the power with an independent commission,” Boscola told the committee before the vote.

The state Supreme Court earlier this year threw out a Republican- crafted 2011 congressional map and imposed new district lines for this year’s elections.

The process, including Republican lawsuits and unsuccessful appeals to theU. S. SupremeCourt, has fueled support among lawmakers to change the existing system.

The bill would drastically reduce the role of courts in the process. Democrats on the state high court outvoted Republican justices in putting the matter on the fast track, throwing out the 7- year- old maps and drawing new ones.

Pennsylvania currently sets its congressional districts by regular legislation that must pass both chambers and be signed by the governor.

The General Assembly’s map is produced by a fivemember commission, with four members appointed by caucus leaders. If the four cannot agree on the chairman, as has occurred in recent history, the state Supreme Court picks one for them.

The new proposal would change both systems, instead having commission members that are recommended by the four caucus leaders and the governor before getting approval by supermajorities of lawmakers.

For each caucus, the leaders would pick two nominees, and then two- thirds of their respective chambers would have to vote for them.

The other three members would be people who are not registered Republicans or Democrats, guaranteeing that independents or members of minor political parties, such as the Green Party, are represented. The governor would recommend them and then twothirds votes of both chambers would be required to give their OK.

No one who has been an elected or appointed federal or state official in the prior five years would be eligible to sit on the commission. More detailed application and selection rules would still need to be ironed out.

At least seven of the 11 would have to be in favor to approve a map, and of those seven, there would have to be two “yes” votes from each major party and two from the three members who were nominated by the governor.

“This amendment does remove politicians fromactually drawing themap and places the powerwith an independent commission.”

If the commission reaches a stalemate, it would submit several proposals to the Legislature, and two- thirds of lawmakers would have to vote in favor.

The proposal’s standards for drawing up the maps would bar consideration of any individual’s home address, the use of partisan data or consultation of prior election results.

To avoid fracturing counties, a given county could only have one more Senate district than its population warrants, and nomore than two House districts more than population requires.

District boundaries would have to consist of single, continuous, nonintersecting lines.

Congressional districts would have to be as compact and as close to the target population size as possible.

If the Senate and the House approve the legislation this year, it would need to pass both chambers in the two- year legislation session that starts in January before going to the voters for final approval.