Is redistricting reform a waste of time?

Is redistricting reform a waste of time?

The Redistricting Reform Commission. Photo by Howard Gorrell

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The Redistricting Reform Commission. Photo by Howard Gorrell

The Redistricting Reform Commission. Photo by Howard Gorrell

By Len Lazarick

Len@MarylandReporter.com

To some politicians and pundits, the governor’s Redistricting Reform Commission is a waste of time. Certainly covering its hearings and deliberations as much as MarylandReporter.com has done is seen as a huge waste of time and space.

These stories are not widely read, although Todd Eberly’s testimony to the commission on how “Redistricting should restore representative democracy” was read by almost 5,000 people, one of our top stories of the past two months.

Probably anything the redistricting reform commission proposes will not pass the legislature next year or the year after that. It will probably not pass until the first year of a Hogan second term — a reelection Democrats will do their damnedest to prevent from occurring.

Wasting time on bills that can’t pass

State House reporters waste a lot of time covering legislation and proposals that are not likely to happen right away: abolition of the death penalty, increasing the minimum wage, raising the gas tax, same-sex marriage, decriminalizing marijuana.

Propositions that face uphill fights often take years to pass. It is part of the process of educating the legislators and their constituents, changing minds and influencing public opinion. Redistricting reform involves taking power from a powerful elite, and that doesn’t happen without a struggle, often a prolonged one.

Hogan’s Redistricting Reform Commission keeps the issue alive. It is frankly not a top concern for most people, or even the governor himself. For Marylanders, it does not have the importance of jobs, taxes, education and health care. Gerrymandering is not life threatening; it does not take money out of your pocket; it does not make you sick. Gerrymandering is simply wrong and unfair, especially as it has been manipulated by Republicans in other states and Democrats here.

Hogan is committed

By campaigning on the issue and then creating the commission, Gov. Hogan has committed himself to a fair and independent process for drawing district lines for members of Congress and the Maryland General Assembly. If he does win a second term, he would be giving up immense power against Democrats.

Does an independent commission help Republicans? Of course it does. They have been unfairly screwed by the Democratic establishment. Any fair drawing of lines will give them a second House seat, and possibly create a competitive swing district.

Fair redistricting also helps average Marylanders know who their representatives are and creates competitive elections rather than safe seats.

Commission process not ideal

The process for this redistricting reform commission has not been ideal. It has had too little time to do its job properly.

The discussion at this week’s session on its final recommendations showed most members lacked knowledge of how the system currently works. Having arrived at a rather complicated selection process for a new, independent bipartisan commission, they should now have hearings on that proposal in the most gerrymandered parts of central Maryland. But they won’t since the governor told them he wanted a report by next Tuesday.

A lack of hearings after a plan was drawn was among the many problems with the flawed and secret gerrymandering process in 2011. There were a ton of hearings all over the state before an advisory committee drew the maps. Then they went into a back room, drew the lines, and Gov. Martin O’Malley released the congressional districts on a weekend. There were no hearings on the plan itself, except for a perfunctory single hearing by the legislature in a special session.

There has been only one story about the plan the redistricting reform commission is considering. It ran here on MarylandReporter.com Wednesday.

That plan needs more time for tweaking and to get feedback before the governor sends it to the legislature. In fact, if the commission won’t ask for another month to vet their recommendations, as they should, Hogan himself should hold a hearing before he submits it to the legislature.

Hogan should also be reaching out to his Democratic counterparts in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, two Democrats with Republican legislatures, would have reason to work together with Hogan, and counter the partisan arguments against unilaterally disarming their power to gerrymander the other party.

Listen to Conway

There are good, smart, well-intentioned people on the commission, and it is important how much Sen. Joan Carter Conway has participated in its debate. She is the most experienced politician there, and the chair of the Senate committee that will likely handle any legislation they propose.

As always, she is blunt and focused on pragmatic politics, not pie-in-the-sky good government.

Conway believes congressional redistricting can be reformed by using the same standards that Maryland has for its legislative districts — they should be compact, contiguous and give due regard to natural and political boundaries. Conway also believes this could be done with a simple bill, rather than a constitutional amendment for the independent, bipartisan commission the redistricting reform panel will recommend.

She has not been bashful about opposing the high-minded solutions of her colleagues as impractical and unwinnable. Without abandoning their plans, they should also listen to her advice and back her simpler proposal as well.

About The Author

Len Lazarick

len@marylandreporter.com

Len Lazarick was the founding editor and publisher of MarylandReporter.com and is currently the president of its nonprofit corporation and chairman of its board He was formerly the State House bureau chief of the daily Baltimore Examiner from its start in April 2006 to its demise in February 2009. He was a copy editor on the national desk of the Washington Post for eight years before that, and has spent decades covering Maryland politics and government.

7 Comments

  1. J D

    It seems the US Supreme Court does not care about state issues at all. How about where in spite of tough economic times states were forced to cough up millions to pay new lawmakers for new districts by adding more seats in spite of shrinking tax bases.

  2. J D

    No not a waste of time. The treasurer is the biggest waste of money in Annapolis. Whoever defends her must be working for the 2 clowns in charge of both chambers of the General Assembly

  3. Vidi

    While it is true that re-districting is not one of the top priorities of the western world (or even the Maryland world) the current map is a scar on the body politic. Our leaders in Annapolis have asserted that the issue is DOA, so it is even more important that the Commission do a thorough job of analyzing and explaining the issue and not rushing its recommendations to meet the Governor’s artificial deadline.

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  4. kickyourace

    When you consider the Congressional Districts, the current districts were required by the Constitution to be no bigger than 30,000. The Ratified Congressional Apportionment Amendment from the Bill of Rights (the real first amendment) required that the districts grow in size but lock at 50,000 people to give everyone localized representation. Our districts aren’t constitutional at the moment. Remember, you want to change something in the Constitution, you need an amendment. We’ve never had it other than the Congressional Apportionment Amendment. We’re working to change that and can use all the help we can get. The Democratic Republican Party of NJ has been fighing in court to restore Congress to what it was supposed to be. A local representative body.
    Scott Neuman for Congress 4th CD NJ 2016

    • lenlazarick

      On a practical level, if your argument is correct, the House of Representatives would have 6,000 members. Is that the outcome you desire? Have to move it to RFK stadium. And build another 10 or 12 office buildings.

      • kickyourace

        Actually Len, I have no issues with Congress Taking over the Revel Casino in NJ since they have all the seats we need. But it’s not what I want, It’s what the framework of our country calls for and is a ratified amendment. I know that ‘s a shock but one state we thought never voted reported their vote from 1790, only 220 years later. It’s actually possible the vote was presented at the right time but that I can’t prove. What I can prove is that enough states voted for the amendment to be ratified, in fact 80% of the states voted yes for the Congressional Apportionment Amendment. Many people of the time thought it was ratified to be followed including our first Chief Justice. You can see the proof and all the information you need to understand this is a ratified amendment. at Boldtruth.com.
        Congress can’t just change an amendment or the Constitution without an amendment. That has never happened.
        Someone has to stand up for the Constitutional or all we’ll have left is guns to fight about? I think 6400 Congressmen fighting for us is perfectly find. 218 can take us to war now? Do you want another war?

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