Redistricting tops Ohio lawmakers' agenda
By
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The Highland County Press
As Ohio lawmakers return to Columbus after what's commonly called the "county fair" circuit, a major topic of discussion with be the reformatting of the state's legislative districts.
Rep. Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, said he expects redistricting to be a high priority in the Ohio House this week, but declined to go into details on the possible outcome.
Due to a population decline after the 2010 census, Ohio is losing two U.S. House districts. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly are in charge of redrawing the congressional districts. The Ohio Apportionment Board — which includes four Republicans and one Democrat — is in charge of establishing the 99 new Ohio House districts and the 33 new Ohio Senate districts, which are also based on the 2010 census.
The House majority (Republican) proposal for new congressional districts could be released before a committee on Sept. 13, with a vote by the full chamber coming late this week.
A report this week in The Springfield News Sun said "The map is certain to encounter opposition from Democrats, and also may alienate a couple of prominent local Republicans. One much-talked-about possibility would put U.S. Reps. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, and Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, in the same district."
Such a move would force a GOP primary in 2012 between Austria and the Third District's Turner. Turner recently broke ranks – as did fellow Ohio Republican Jim Jordan – with House Speaker John Boehner on the debt-reduction vote.
In a Sept. 12 story by Mary Kuhlman at www.publicnewsservice.org, Jim Slagle, manager of the Ohio Campaign for Accountable Redistricting, said the proposed maps for the new districts should be published at least two weeks prior to a vote.
"Too often in the past, maps have surfaced at the last minute that have been done in back rooms, that have been voted on without a chance for public input, public scrutiny," Slagle told Kuhlman. "There's no reason to do that today, particularly with the Internet availability that we have."
Also quoted in Kuhlman's story is Ann Henkener, a redistricting specialist with the League of Women Voters of Ohio, who says "They've been active in the hearing process but would also like to testify on a proposed map. She says redistricting is a partisan process that does not truly represent Ohio.
"The most unfair thing to the voters is that our representatives don't really reflect our kind of very-politically-divided values," Henkener said. "They represent the values of whichever party drew the lines."[[In-content Ad]]
As Ohio lawmakers return to Columbus after what's commonly called the "county fair" circuit, a major topic of discussion with be the reformatting of the state's legislative districts.
Rep. Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, said he expects redistricting to be a high priority in the Ohio House this week, but declined to go into details on the possible outcome.
Due to a population decline after the 2010 census, Ohio is losing two U.S. House districts. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly are in charge of redrawing the congressional districts. The Ohio Apportionment Board — which includes four Republicans and one Democrat — is in charge of establishing the 99 new Ohio House districts and the 33 new Ohio Senate districts, which are also based on the 2010 census.
The House majority (Republican) proposal for new congressional districts could be released before a committee on Sept. 13, with a vote by the full chamber coming late this week.
A report this week in The Springfield News Sun said "The map is certain to encounter opposition from Democrats, and also may alienate a couple of prominent local Republicans. One much-talked-about possibility would put U.S. Reps. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, and Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, in the same district."
Such a move would force a GOP primary in 2012 between Austria and the Third District's Turner. Turner recently broke ranks – as did fellow Ohio Republican Jim Jordan – with House Speaker John Boehner on the debt-reduction vote.
In a Sept. 12 story by Mary Kuhlman at www.publicnewsservice.org, Jim Slagle, manager of the Ohio Campaign for Accountable Redistricting, said the proposed maps for the new districts should be published at least two weeks prior to a vote.
"Too often in the past, maps have surfaced at the last minute that have been done in back rooms, that have been voted on without a chance for public input, public scrutiny," Slagle told Kuhlman. "There's no reason to do that today, particularly with the Internet availability that we have."
Also quoted in Kuhlman's story is Ann Henkener, a redistricting specialist with the League of Women Voters of Ohio, who says "They've been active in the hearing process but would also like to testify on a proposed map. She says redistricting is a partisan process that does not truly represent Ohio.
"The most unfair thing to the voters is that our representatives don't really reflect our kind of very-politically-divided values," Henkener said. "They represent the values of whichever party drew the lines."[[In-content Ad]]