A good idea - on redistricting

The Manhattan Mercury
February 27, 2009

Redrawing legislative and congressional districts, which takes place every 10 years, is often ugly business. 

Charges of gerrymandering in the constitutionally mandated endeavor are all but inevitable, and not just in Kansas. The redistricting efforts too often reflect the determination of the majority party to retain or expand its control. 

That might not be the case, at least not to the same degree, when Kansas redraws its districts in 2012, thanks to a proposal that has the support both of some key legislative Republicans and Democrats. 

Senate President Steve Morris, Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt and Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley have come up with a bill that would shift the responsibility for drawing district lines from the Legislature to legislative research staff. The House minority leader, Rep. Paul Davis, also supports the plan, but the top two House Republicans have yet to warm up to the idea. House Majority Leader Ray Merrick, a Stilwell Republican, told the Associated Press he was concerned that the proposal would result in incumbents who now represent adjacent districts having to compete for the same legislative seat. 

That can happen in redistricting. But Rep. Merrick's concern underscores the importance of making redistricting as objective as possible - ensuring that the process doesn't target individual lawmakers or members of a particular party. 

Legislative research staff members might have their political preferences, but they're generally a nonpartisan crew who could be expected to approach the redistricting task professionally rather than politically. 

Their work still could become politicized, however, because the proposal they come up with would be submitted to the Legislature for an up-or-down vote. When that takes place legislators would likely be looking closely not just at how the plan affects their respective districts but how the overall plan affects the political status quo. 

This proposal, which also calls for a five-member advisory panel to hold public hearings and prepare a written summary of them, will begin its journey through the Legislature in the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee. It will be fascinating to see how legislators who worry that this bill could dilute their authority over redistricting reshape it to protect their own interests.