The House has issued a press release on redistricting that is a sure-fire cure for insomnia. The topic? Redistricting. The General Assembly has been told to get busy fixing the 3rd congressional district. The Republican worthies want their court case to exhaust itself, first. The court told them no. And so we get this:
The Reapportionment Joint Committee will meet Monday, August 17 at 8:30 a.m. in House Room D. The Joint Reapportionment Committee is authorized pursuant to §30-263 of the Code of Virginia to “perform such other duties and responsibilities and exercise such supervision as may promote the orderly redistricting of congressional, state legislative, and local election districts.” At this meeting the committee will receive an overview of the Third Congressional District case and adopt public criteria for redistricting.
“The Reapportionment Joint Committee is responsible for the first steps of the redistricting process,” said Delegate Jones, the Committee Chair. “The purpose of this meeting is to adopt redistricting criteria to guide legislators and the public as we move forward. The committee will also receive an overview of the court case and breakdown of the current Third Congressional District. The committee will also begin compiling the necessary data analyses to promote an orderly redistricting. After this meeting and the public hearing, we will move efficiently through the legislative process in an effort to meet the September 1 deadline.”
The House Privileges & Elections Committee will hold a public hearing to solicit input from citizens on potential redistricting plans on Monday, August 17 at 3 p.m. in House Room D, House P&E Chairman Mark Cole announced.
“As I did throughout the last redistricting process, I encourage and invite broad public input as we begin to redraw parts of the Third Congressional District,” Cole said. “At this hearing, we invite citizens to provide their thoughts on redistricting in the Third Congressional District. An already complicated process is made more difficult by the current timeframe, but we remain committed to ensuring transparency and public input throughout. I look forward to hearing from citizens on Monday.”
Ah, the banality of redistricting. So obvious what needs to be done. So much reluctance to do it.
Rinse, repeat.
There are any number of theories on how the congressional district lines can be tweaked in order to gain a court’s blessing. The always quotable Tom Davis sketched some of them here.
The thing about redistricting is that is both exceedingly partisan and extraordinarily personal. Electeds have long tended to view their seats as a species of property, and after each census, will do what’s necessary to see that they are protected when the lines are redrawn. As Mr. Davis points out, there may be some sentiment, as there has been in past years, to make the newest members of the congressional delegation take the brunt of any redrawing. One such effort helped launch the statewide career of George Allen.
What will happen this time around? We will have to wait and see. But if the press release is any indication, House Republicans intend to make the entire process as mind numbing as possible.
That’s shrewd. No drama means no headlines means no one riding this issue into the November elections.
