Michigan Independent Redistricting Commission hosting public hearings
The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission will be holding public hearings in two Oakland County cities, and 14 other communities, to collect input from Michiganders about the redrawing of Michigan’s legislative boundaries for Congressional, state house, and state senate districts.
The newly-formed 13-member bipartisan commission is responsible for redrawing the state’s legislative boundaries in time for the 2022 elections and beyond using 2020 census data. Until now, the boundaries have been redrawn every 10 years by the State Legislature, which has districts to be gerrymandered favoring one political party over another.
Before drawing any lines or finalizing the district maps, the commission is required under state law to hold at least 10 public hearings. The public hearings are being held to inform the public about the redistricting process, share the purpose and responsibilities of the commission, and to solicit information from the public about potential redistricting plans.
Public hearings have been tentatively scheduled for the following dates and locations. Times and venues will be announced soon and posted at Michigan.gov/MICRC.
• Gaylord - May 4
• Marquette - May 6
• Muskegon - May 11
• Grand Rapids - May 13
• Jackson - May 18
• Kalamazoo - May 20
• Midland - May 25
• Lansing - May 27
• Pontiac - June 1
• Flint - June 3
• Novi - June 8
• Dearborn - June 10
• Detroit - June 15
• Detroit - June 17
• Port Huron - June 22
• Warren - June 24 Three of the commissioners
are from Oakland County including: Douglas Clark, Rochester Hills; Anthony Eid, Orchard Lake; and Janice Vallette, Highland.
In February, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that there would be a delay in getting the final 2020 census data to states, which are the numbers needed by the commission to redraw Michigan’s state house, state senate, and congressional district boundaries in time for the 2022 elections.
Under current state law, the commission needs to approve final maps by Nov.
1, but also needs to allow for a 45-day public comment period, which means the map needs to be drawn by Sept. 17. The only problem is that the bureau is not planning to get final census numbers to states until Sept. 30, which is not enough time for the commission to utilize the data.
As a result of this delay, the commission voted at its March 4 meeting to authorize its general counsel to petition the Michigan Supreme Court to extend the Nov. 1 deadline so that it has time to utilize the census data to redraw the maps.
Edward Woods, spokesperson for the commission, said the commission would consider approval Thursday of the petition materials that will be formally submitted to the court.
The bureau had originally planned to distributed final census numbers to states by March 31.
Commission meetings are held every Thursday. You can watch the meetings online at https:// www.youtube.com/user/ MichSoSOffice/videos.
Currently there are 14 Congressional districts (7 Democrats and 7 Republicans),
110 state house districts (58 Republicans and 52 Democrats), and state senate districts (20 Republicans and 16 Democrats).
Two seats in the state senate (the 8th and 28th districts) are vacant and will be filled during the November 2021 general election. Former senators Peter MacGregor and Peter Lucido were elected to countywide office in November 2020.
For more information about the Michigan Independent Redistricting Commission, visit Michigan.gov/MICRC.