Plan for bipartisan redistricting panel advances

Bipartisan commission would draw maps beginning in 2011

By Niki Kelly
The Journal Gazette

Posted on Fri, Jan. 27, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS – Partisan beliefs coursed through a debate Thursday evening about whether the state should move the task of drawing political districts to a bipartisan commission, a concept endorsed 54-43 by the House.

The vote was bipartisan, with three Democrats supporting the plan, which would set up a Republican-controlled commission for the foreseeable future.

All northeast Indiana’s Republican members voted “yes,” as did Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne. Rep. Ben GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, voted “no.”

“This is what I’m trying to prevent,” said Carmel Republican Rep. Jerry Torr, while pointing to a blowup of the current House districts. “These are drawn so our friends come back and our enemies don’t. It’s good for us, but it’s wrong and bad for the public.”

The Democrats in the House have drawn the maps for the past three decades, sometimes leading to districts that lean Democratic based on voting data.

Under House Bill 1009, each caucus leader would appoint a person to the commission. The fifth and deciding vote would be cast by the appointee of Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard, a Republican.

There are limits on who can serve on the commission, including prohibitions against lawmakers, state office holders, lobbyists and appointed public officials.

After the annual census data is received – likely sometime in the spring of 2011 – the commission would propose maps, hold meetings around the state and eventually recommend districts to the General Assembly.

The districts would have to be as compact as possible, respect political subdivisions and cannot deviate from the ideal population by more than percent.

A special session would have to be held before Oct. 1 for the legislature to vote the proposed maps up or down. That step is necessary because the Indiana Constitution requires lawmakers elected in the year of the census to be in charge of reapportionment.

“There is little that this body does that’s more important than drawing legislative maps,” House Speaker Brian Bosma said. “This is not an indictment of one party over another. When the Republicans drew them they were just as bizarre.”

But Democrats were concerned about the constitutionality of the procedure.
Rep. Ed Mahern, D-Indianapolis, specifically questioned involving the judicial branch in the process.

“How can anyone take to court a dispute over the maps if the chief judicial officer was involved in creating the plan that is being challenged?” he asked.

The legislation now goes to the Senate, where its future appears rocky.

Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus, said Wednesday he is “not enthused” about the prospect of turning over the task to a commission.

“Politics is still going to play a part no matter what kind of commission you appoint,” he said.

Some supporters have said the change would make some of the state’s legislative races more competitive because they would not be drawn in such a way as to protect incumbents.

But Garton questions how much more competitive the House races could be, noting the chamber has tied twice and in recent years control has been decided by a maximum three- or four-seat spread.

He said that through the years in both the House and Senate different parties have drawn the maps and the opposite party has gained control during that decade on several occasions.

“It swings back and forth, back and forth,” Garton said.

nkelly@jg.net