William Marx points out one of the districts that crossed four counties as an image of the old congressional districts of Pennsylvania are projected on a wall in the classroom where he teaches civics in Pittsburgh on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018. Marx was a plaintiff in the Pennsylvania lawsuit that successfully challenged the Republican-drawn congressional maps. Marx said he believes the new district boundaries resulted in "a more fair congressional representation of the will of the people in Pennsylvania."
Pennsylvania lawmakers look to limit redistricting chair’s political ties
Under the bill, the fifth member and chairperson of the Legislative Reapportionment Commission must have voted in two of the last three general elections.
By The Associated Press
Keith Srakocic / AP Photo
William Marx points out one of the districts that crossed four counties as an image of the old congressional districts of Pennsylvania are projected on a wall in the classroom where he teaches civics in Pittsburgh on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018. Marx was a plaintiff in the Pennsylvania lawsuit that successfully challenged the Republican-drawn congressional maps. Marx said he believes the new district boundaries resulted in "a more fair congressional representation of the will of the people in Pennsylvania."
(Harrisburg) — Republicans and Democrats in Pennsylvania’s Capitol are agreeing on at least one thing in an otherwise bitter political atmosphere.
Senators gave a unanimous vote in committee on Tuesday on a bill designed to limit the political connections of what could be the deciding member of a panel tasked with redrawing the boundaries of Pennsylvania’s 253 legislative districts before the 2022 elections.
Under the bill, the fifth member and chairperson of the Legislative Reapportionment Commission must have voted in two of the last three general elections.
Keith Srakocic / AP Photo
FILE PHOTO: William Marx, points to projected images of the old congressional districts of Pennsylvania on top, and the new re-drawn districts on the bottom, while standing in the classroom where he teaches civics in Pittsburgh on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018.
They also, in the last five years, must not have been a registered lobbyist, nominated as a candidate for elective office by a political party or worked for a political entity or public official. Those requirements also apply to a person’s spouse.
Under the state Constitution, the panel’s first four members are each a partisan as a floor leader of a legislative caucus. The fifth member is appointed by the state Supreme Court if those four members cannot decide on whom to select within 45 days.
In at least the last three decades, the state Supreme Court has been called upon to select the fifth member. In two cases, justices selected a former statewide judge and, in one case, a former federal prosecutor.
The bill still must get approved by both chambers before it can go Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk.
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