Category: Legislative Districts

No comments

The GOP showed us who they are with challenge to Pa. House map

  By Elections and Voting, Legislative Districts, Published Op-Eds

Originally published by the Pennsylvania Capital-Star on February 24, 2022 Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, recently filed suit against the House district map produced by the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission (LRC). Marc Stier (Twitter)Ā  MostĀ advocates of fair districting think the newĀ district lines are an enormous improvement over those currently in placeĀ for two reasons:Ā they reflect the changing demographics of our commonwealth and they unwind two decades of extreme partisan gerrymandering, whichĀ IĀ documented in a recent paper.Ā  Predictably,Ā theyĀ haveĀ been harshly attacked by Republicans. The background for theirĀ criticism isĀ fairly obviousā€”while the new districtsĀ are, by standard metrics,Ā still somewhat tilted in favor ofĀ Republicans, theyĀ areĀ far less gerrymanderedĀ in their favorĀ thanĀ theĀ districts Republicans drew for themselves in the last two decades. It is hard notĀ to conclude that when it comes to legislativeĀ districts,Ā likeĀ presidentialĀ races,Ā RepublicansĀ areĀ not willing to accept any rules that do not guarantee theyĀ win elections.Ā  Benninghoffā€™sĀ suit raisesĀ twoĀ substantive argumentsĀ that deserve attentionā€”not least because they show us where the Republicans stand on criticalā€¦ Continue reading

No comments

The GOP Design

  By Congressional redistricting, Constitutional Law and Civil Liberties, Democracy, Elections, Fascism, Judicial Gerrymandering, Judicial Gerrymandering, Jurisprudence, Legislative Districts, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania

ā€œWhen people show you who they are, believe them.ā€ Itā€™s time to believe what Pennsylvania Republicans have shown us they are. Begin with what they have shown us they donā€™t care about: Public health: They have opposed efforts to encourageā€”not mandate–people to wear masks and be vaccinated. They have not funded programs to make COVID tests available to all of us. Relief from the burdens of the pandemic: Despite having huge sums of our tax money in the bank, they have provided insufficient housing assistance that was distributed unfairly. They have provided too little relief to small businesses and blocked a proposal to help the restaurant industry. Unlike other states, Pennsylvania has not used ARP money to provide paid family and medical leave or support for those with low incomes. Wages: Pennsylvaniaā€™s minimum wage, which has been stuck at $7.25 for 14 years, keeps falling farther and farther behind neighboringā€¦ Continue reading

No comments

STATEMENT: On the PA Legislative Reapportionment Commission Maps

  By Legislative Districts, Statements

For Immediate Release February 4, 2022 Contact: Kirstin Snow, snow@pennbpc.org Statement of PA Budget and Policy Center on Legislative Reapportionment Commission Maps by Marc Stier Pennsylvanians will be more fairly represented because the Legislative Reapportionment Commission (LRC) took important steps to adopt maps that are fairer than any time in recent memory. These maps look very different from the current ones because they aim to adjust for dramatic population changes over the last ten years and to remedy two decades of extreme gerrymandering. Because they do so, both maps are fairer and more representative of the people of Pennsylvania than the old ones. The people should pick their representatives, not the other way around. As a result, we expect that we will get better policy and elected officials will be more responsive to their constituents than to special interests and extreme partisanship. We appreciate the many citizens who took partā€¦ Continue reading

No comments

Fair Districts 2; Gerrymandering 0

  By Legislative Districts, PA Budget and Policy Center, Policy briefs

The Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission released new district maps for the Pennsylvania House and Senate today. As we predicted, the maps look very different from the current ones because they aim to adjust for dramatic population changes over the last ten years and to remedy two decades of Republican gerrymandering. Because they do so, both maps are fairer and more representative of the people of Pennsylvania than the old ones. At this moment, we do not have detailed information about the Senate redistricting plan so we cannot comment on it in depth. We do have data on the House redistricting plan, however. The three standard metrics of redistricting we used in our earlier piece show that the plan has a slight Republican tilt compared to the heavy Republican tilt of the maps in 2012 and 2002. Between the current map and the new one, the Republican advantage according to theā€¦ Continue reading

No comments

Rep. Grove’s Congressional Maps Are Just More Gerrymandering

  By Congressional redistricting, Legislative Districts, PBPC Blog posts

Statement by Marc Stier on Representative Seth Grove’s proposed congressional district map.Ā  The congressional district map proposed by Representative Seth Grove today is an obvious effort to gerrymander those districts to benefit the Republican Party. The maps would be likely to make it difficult or impossible for Democrats to hold two to four of the seats they occupy today. At a minimum, they would give the Republicans a majority of congressional seats in a state where Democrats are a substantial majority of voters. The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy recently released a policy paper on state legislative districts that calls for fair districts that represent the people of the state. We deserve nothing less in our congressional districts. If the General Assembly passes legislation containing these lines, Governor Wolf must veto it. Continue reading

No comments

This Isn’t the Redistricting Reform We Need

  By Legislative Districts, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Redistricting

HARRISBURGā€”Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center director Marc Stier made the following statement regarding the resurfacing of SB22, a bill intended to change the way legislative redistricting is done in Pennsylvania: Senator Mike Folmer announced this week that he will be resurrecting last yearā€™s failed SB22, a bill to change the way district lines are drawn in Pennsylvania. Senator Folmer is preparing to bring the bill back up for a vote in the State Government Committee as early as tomorrow. While eliminating gerrymandering is critically important, Senator Folmer is hoping to catch Pennsylvanians unawares as he attempts to bring a failed bill to a committee vote without holding debate and hearings and without gathering input from the communities that will be most impacted by SB22. Governor Wolf established a redistricting commission earlier this year and Senator Folmer should not attempt to rush SB22 through committee without giving Pennsylvanians a chance toā€¦ Continue reading

No comments

The Follmer Redistricting Commission: Neither Independent Nor Nonpartisan

  By Legislative Districts, Policy briefs, Redistricting

Ā Both the political class in Harrisburg and the progressive community around the state are focused today on the redistricting issue. Last week the Senate State Government Committee passed a version of Senate Bill 22 that was crafted by Senator Mike Folmer. Some of the advocacy groups that have been working in favor of a fair redistricting process have been cautiously, or in some cases not so cautiously, supportive of it. Some who have argued that the proposal itself is problematic have held that passing it in the Senate is a necessary step to reaching a better bill. Iā€™m reluctant to create divisions among people who are generally allies, but I want to make clear that I believe the Folmer redistricting proposal is not only deeply flawed but is in no way a step forward for those of us who want to see a fair, nonpartisan process of drawing congressional andā€¦ Continue reading

No comments

MEMO: Analysis of the PA Senate Redistricting Commission Plan and the Folmer Amendment

  By Legislative Districts, Memos, Redistricting

This memo outlines how the Folmer proposal is worse than the process we have now in four important respects. The redistricting process created by Senator Mike FolmerĀ‰ā€™s version of SB 22 passed by the Senate State Government Committee last week does initially look like a move toward nonpartisan redistricting, and for that reason some reform groups have said it is a step forward. But while we at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center support the goal of a nonpartisan system of drawing Congressional and state legislative districts lines, the process that would be put in place by the Folmer plan is so far from desirable that we urge the full Senate to reject it and start over. Continue reading