Redistricting

Update on Congressional Redistricting Maps

At a press conference in late December, I spoke on the release of the preliminary legislative maps done by the Chancellor as Chair of the Legislative Redistricting Committee (LRC) for the State House of Representatives and Senate. I spoke on the issue of changes to the 88th District where four of the seven municipalities are moved to new districts and splits Mechanicsburg Borough in half. In addition I pointed out Cumberland County is the fastest growing county in Pennsylvania, and we lose a seat in the State House. Finally, the map of Cumberland County unnecessarily divides up every school district.

I am not a fan of these new maps because it moves people around to different district unnecessarily. The proposed change moves Hampden Township to the 88th  which has about the same make up of all Mechanicsburg Borough and Upper Allen which the 88th  will lose in this new map.

You can watch my comments below.

Watch Video Here

The 88th District now: The townships of Lower Allen and Upper Allen; and the boroughs of Lemoyne, Mechanicsburg, New Cumberland, Shiremanstown and Wormleysburg. 

The Proposed 88th District: The townships of Hampden and Lower Allen and part of Mechanicsburg Borough, all New Cumberland Borough and all of Shiremanstown Borough.

Congressional Map (That it was a citizen map selected) 
Congressional redistricting is not handled by the Legislative Reapportionment Commission. Rather, the boundaries of Congressional seats in Pennsylvania are redrawn after every Federal decennial census by legislative action - in other words, a bill which proceeds through both chambers of the General Assembly and is signed into law by the Governor.

Legislative (State House and State Senate Maps)
The Constitution of Pennsylvania requires that the legislative districts for the House of Representatives and the State Senate be redrawn each decade following the federal census. This process is mandated by the Pennsylvania Constitution so that each citizen's vote ultimately carries the same weight in the ballot box.

•  Article 2, Section 16 of the Pennsylvania Constitution provides for the Commonwealth to be divided into 50 senatorial and 203 representative districts.

•  Article 2, Section 17 of the Pennsylvania Constitution provides for a Legislative Reapportionment Commission to redistrict both chambers (the state Senate and the state House) in the year following the Federal decennial census. The Commission consists of five members: the four caucus floor leaders, or deputies appointed by each of them, and a chairman to be selected by those members or, if they cannot reach agreement, by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.