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House Bills 22 and 23, the Two Bills One Commission strategy supported by Fair Districts PA, have been introduced in the PA House. These bills will put a citizens redistricting commission in place in time for the 2021 redistricting. They provide for open hearings and public input, safeguard against partisan influence and fix both redistricting processes - legislative and congressional.
The Governor’s Redistricting Reform Commission has announced nine regional meetings to gather public feedback about the commonwealth’s redistricting process and ideas for a more fair, non-partisan process. The 15-member bipartisan commission was created by executive order in November 2018. David Thornburgh, president and CEO of Committee of Seventy, one of our endorsing organizations, is chair.
This article relates to the 2019 legislative session. For a summary of why procedural rules need to be fixed, click here.
On January 1 the PA House voted for a rules package without allowing time for discussion of proposed changes. Rep. Steve Samuelson offered a motion to postpone the vote to allow lawmakers time to read and assess the rules, but that proposal was quickly voted down.
Many important bills with bipartisan support die in committee, never making it to a vote in the Pennsylvania Legislature. The reason? Our procedural rules make it harder than it should be. Let’s change that.
Our nonpartisan solution to end gerrymandering in PA by establishing an independent citizens redistricting commission resonates with voters of all political stripes.