Jim Rosica
If “self-interested partisans” can’t agree on congressional redistricting, then it’s time for an independent commission to redraw the state’s political boundary lines, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said on Monday.
Nelson, who met with a small of group of reporters in his Tallahassee office, referred to the recent Special Session called for lawmakers to draw a new map of Florida’s 27 congressional districts.
The session ended with no new map as the House and Senate disagreed on where the lines should be drawn. The state Supreme Court may end up having to create a new map itself.
“The self-interest got so sharp that ultimately negotiations collapsed,” said Nelson, the state’s Democratic senior senator, first elected in 2000.
He said he hoped that the “spectacle” of the Special Session’s failure would prod the formation of a redistricting commission separate from the Legislature, one that would likely require a constitutional amendment.
Leaders on both sides of the Capitol have said they’re not interested in creating such a body under state law, explaining that elected representatives should be responsible for line-drawing.
Six states use a congressional redistricting commission – Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Jersey and Washington – and Indiana convenes “a ‘fallback’ commission if the legislature is unsuccessful in passing a congressional plan,” according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Nelson suggested an independent commission would have to be created by initiative, the method by which interested citizens gather signatures and petition to amend the state constitution.
“Of course, I will be involved in that,” he said, mentioning his support of the Fair Districts amendments. They’re the anti-gerrymandering provisions of the state constitution under which the current congressional map was found unconstitutional.
“When I see the chaos that has been wracked upon this state … it seems to me that common sense says to put (redistricting) in the hands of a commission that is as independent as you can make it,” Nelson said.
After the press conference, Nelson said he was heading to a meeting with Florida State University President John Thrasher to discuss Mag Lab funding.
One comment
Commission advocate
August 31, 2015 at 4:56 pm
The article neglects one state that has a robust independent commission system — California, which should be a model for how to appoint a commission that’s independent of politics, requires consensus across party lines, and reflective of a large and diverse state.
And those 7 states (CA, AZ, HI, ID, MT, NJ, WA) are just congressional redistricting. 13 states use commissions to redistrict their state legislatures — in addition to the 7 listed above, Alaska, Colorado, Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Not just Indiana uses a backup commission, either – Connecticut does too for congressional redistricting, and Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi, and Illinois do as well just for the legislative lines. (Source: http://redistricting.lls.edu/who.php)
Independent redistricting commissions aren’t some experimental idea — they’ve worked in numerous states to yield more competitive, balanced districts that result in better representation in the legislatures and Congress. It’s an idea whose time has come for Florida.
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