Feature
Better know your new district By Katie Hetherington Cunfer, Director of Government & Community Relations, GRCA
“Map maker, map maker, make me a map. Find me a district, catch me a constituency.” Forgive the fiddling with “Fiddler,” but the decennial legislative redistricting process currently underway across the country is quite intriguing. We’ll review the important milestones you need to watch for and preface everything with the state and federal courts are likely to play a defining role in this process as we try to settle on the “fairest” maps for equitable representation. The goal of this process is to create districts that have equal population, respect municipal, county and geographical boundaries, don’t dilute communities of interest such as minority populations, and many other competing factors, all within the boundaries of Pennsylvania. The legislative redistricting process happens every 10 years following the nationwide census so that we are continually rebalancing power based on population. Due to population stagnation in Pennsylvania and growth in other states such as Texas and Florida, we will be losing a seat in Congress once again, moving from 18 to 17 House districts. Pennsylvania has lost at least one seat every 10 years for the last 50, which is quite concerning. The loss of seats means a loss of influence in Congress. The key to solving this is turning around our economy and implementing pro-growth strategies to reverse the postindustrial trends we’ve grappled with for decades. The current process to draw the Congressional map is coordinated by the PA Senate and House State Government Committees who will develop the initial maps via legislation, then they must be agreed upon and passed by the majority of both chambers, then presented to the
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Governor for action. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court threw out the 2012 Congressional map in 2018 after a lawsuit claimed they were drawn to overly benefit Republicans. The legislative committees are trying to interpret and follow the parameters established by the court in that recent case, but interpretation is in the eye of the beholder. At the time of this writing, the Governor and the Legislature are not in agreement over the proposed maps, and it is highly anticipated that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will have the final say in this fight. The redistricting process for Pennsylvania’s 203 House and 50 Senate districts also is happening. That process is separate — currently conducted through the Legislative Reapportionment Commission. This five-member group is comprised of the majority and minority leaders from each caucus in each chamber and a “non-partisan, independent” chair agreed upon by the legislative leaders and the judiciary. Mark Nordenberg, former Dean of the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Law
