‘The timeline for reform is urgent’: Advocates push for independent redistricting commission to draw political maps

The most recent set of state legislative and congressional district maps in Pennsylvania may have been finalized in 2021, but government reform advocates say the time is now for state lawmakers to make changes to the process ahead of the next redistricting cycle.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers and a host of redistricting reform advocates converged on the Pennsylvania Capitol on Tuesday to call for changes to how Pennsylvania’s political maps are drawn.

The Capitol rallygoers called on the General Assembly to advance a proposed amendment to the state constitution. The amendment would assign an 11-member commission to draw maps for state legislative and congressional districts rather than the five-member Legislative Reapportionment Commission, which currently draws state legislative lines and includes four members of legislative leadership. 

Lawmakers backing the redistricting reform proposal include Democratic state Sens. Tim Kearney and Carolyn Comitta, as well as Democratic state Rep. Steve Samuelson and Republican state Rep. Mark Gillen. The proposed amendment would bar current and recent officeholders, legislative staffers, political candidates and political party officials from serving on the 11-member body. 

According to a co-sponsorship memo circulated by Kearney, six members – including two members from the state’s largest political party, two members from the state’s second-largest political party, and two unaffiliated voters – would be selected via lottery, while the original six members would choose the other five members. The amendment would require the commission to meet publicly at least 16 times before the approval of new maps.

Regardless of political party, a common refrain from lawmakers who attended the rally was that politicians should not be involved in the redistricting process. “The citizens of Pennsylvania believe that we should have a redistricting process that creates districts that are compact, districts that are contiguous, districts that respect municipal boundaries, districts that respect natural boundaries, districts that aren’t drawn favoring one political party or another,” said Samuelson, who is sponsoring the House measure alongside Gillen. Gillen added that he does not want to see politicians drawing maps that benefit themselves and their colleagues: “I’m not interested in politicians favoring other politicians.”

The bill language has yet to be finalized, but the proposals are expected to be introduced as House Bill 31 and Senate Bill 131, with the number “31” being a nod to the next year that the state will draw and finalize new political maps.

Gillen told reporters after the press conference that the results of the November 2024 general election, in which Republicans failed to regain control of the state House, could bring more attention to the issue of redistricting reform. 

“I believe that the last election is a wake-up call because of what happened and the redistricting process that occurred,” he said. “I think for many Republicans, they didn’t like what happened, but they’re not sure this is the solution yet.”

State lawmakers would need to approve the proposed constitutional amendment in consecutive legislative sessions to trigger a ballot referendum, which would give voters the final say on whether to amend the state constitution.

Tuesday’s Capitol rally featured several speakers from government watchdog groups and redistricting reform organizations, including Common Cause Pennsylvania, the League of Women Voters Pennsylvania, the Committee of Seventy and Fair Districts PA.

Carol Kuniholm, the chair of Fair Districts PA, said redistricting reform transcends partisanship and that the constitutional amendment could prevent one party from having too much influence on the redistricting process. 

“No one knows who will have the final say in determining Pennsylvania’s voting districts from 2031 and beyond if this reform is not enacted soon. What we do know is that when one party uses redistricting to hold control, the partisan divide goes deeper and voters’ distrust increases,” she said. “We also know there is no guarantee for either party that they will not be shut out completely for the following decade or decades.”

Committee of Seventy President and CEO Lauren Cristella said that because of the lengthy constitutional amendment process, which requires the legislature to pass the same constitutional amendment language in back-to-back, two-year legislative sessions, lawmakers need to act sooner rather than later. 

“While 2030 may feel far away – for some maybe not far enough away – the timeline for reform is urgent,” Cristella said. “We must act now to ensure the new process is in place before the next round of redistricting.”