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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 1, 2017 09:56 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Tina M. Davis |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Establishing the PA Independent Re-Districting Commission (former HB 1637) |
| In the near future, I will be re-introducing legislation – former House Bill 1637 – to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to improve how we do re-districting in the Commonwealth for State Senate, State House and Congressional districts. I believe electoral districts should be drawn fairly, independently and without undue emphasis on partisan affiliation. This legislation mirrors the common-sense reform approach used by the state of Arizona where a bipartisan panel draws that state’s electoral districts thereby countering gerrymandering that has become the new normal in Pennsylvania. Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission was formed 17 years ago after the states’ voters approved Proposition 106, amending the state’s Constitution to take redistricting power away from the Legislature. The legislature later filed a lawsuit which went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court upheld the Commission in a 5-4 vote back in June 2015. It is time that Pennsylvania voters restore the core principle of our government, specifically that voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around. I hope you join me in supporting this important piece of legislation. |
Introduced as HB569