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 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

and Chancellor of the university, is serving as the Chair for the current commission. This body votes on the parameters to redraft the maps and then votes on the maps. These maps do not go before the whole legislature or the Governor for action, but at the time of this writing, there are many groups criticizing the maps and the process with lawsuits pending. The test will be to see if and how the judiciary does wade into this process. For more information about the Commission and to view proposed maps, visit: www.redistricting.state.pa.us/.

Pennsylvania’s 2022 Primary Election is set for Tuesday, May 17. To hit that deadline, the maps need to be voted on by Jan. 24. This deadline ensures that there is enough time for candidates to circulate petitions to get onto the ballot and get ballots printed and mailed. Should the courts intervene, and not in an expedient manner, there is a chance that the primary gets pushed to a later date in the summer. Don’t forget that there will also be an open U.S. Senate seat and the Governor’s office on the ballot this year, too.

So, what does this mean for you? Well for one, unless you are a candidate for Congress or the Legislature (or a consultant), it’s not something you should lose sleep over. If you are, good luck! We’ll send antacids! But you should be keeping an eye on this process because you may be getting brand new elected officials, either through retirements or shifting districts. Business leaders should always be engaged with legislative leaders regardless of party affiliation. You may need to start cultivating new relationships, even if you wish to stay out of the political aspects. This is your chance to establish a good rapport with these candidates, educate them about the needs and pressures of your business, explain your role as an employer of their constituents, and expose your employees to elected individuals to reinforce the importance of voting. Even if this candidate is not successful this time around, these are potential community leaders who may run for future offices.

Developing these relationships benefit your business and increases local business literacy in the community. As we gear up for the 2022 elections, GRCA will be continually updating election information in our Action Center (greaterreadingchamber-grassroots.mmp2.org/). After the primaries, we will be sending out a questionnaire to all candidates so that they can share their positions on issues important to the business community. We will be encouraging all business leaders to share these answers, especially with your employees. We are also currently looking for businesses interested in hosting Employee Voter Registration events in late September to encourage employee participation in this important election. Every election is important, but this one promises to have a lot more moving parts than usual. Count on GRCA to act as a resource as you get to “Better Know Your New District” in 2022!