With judges in San Antonio and Washington, D.C. poring like Columbus over maps of the new political world in Texas, we hear again a cry in the distance for a redistricting commission.
“Whatever its faults, an independent, bipartisan commission would be superior to letting legislators draw the state's districts,” a recent editorial by the Austin American-Statesman concluded. “They've messed up their chance far too many times. It's time we put the process in someone else's hands and try a method that lets us elect our representatives again.”
As the editorial points out, state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, proposed such a commission in 2005, 2007 and 2011. In each of those sessions, the Senate approved only to have the proposal die in the political sidewinder pit of the House.
Wentworth told Texas Monthly 2007 was particularly bitter because his commission -- did we mention that it would be independent as well as bipartisan? -- seemed to be doing well until powerful House Speaker Tom Craddick twisted a wrist and turned his thumb down.
The process is, after all, political. Try keeping the politicians out of it, as Stateline points out today in an excellent overview of the 13 states that have redistricting commissions.
They are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Ohio, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington.
The story outlines political trickery in Colorado. Partisans have gone to court in Arizona and Idaho. And as a ProPublica investigation uncovered, political trampling over independence and bipartisanship in California has bordered on epic.
Not unlike campaign finance, no one has quite figured out how to keep the carnivores away from the endless buffet of red meat. It is little remembered that the reform that came to be known as McCain-Feingold was originally called the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Tell that to the folks who brought you Citizens United.
“The lesson from these states,” Stateline writes, “seems to be that even when independent commissions take partisans out of redistricting, they can’t take out the partisanship.”
As the editorial points out, state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, proposed such a commission in 2005, 2007 and 2011. In each of those sessions, the Senate approved only to have the proposal die in the political sidewinder pit of the House.
Wentworth told Texas Monthly 2007 was particularly bitter because his commission -- did we mention that it would be independent as well as bipartisan? -- seemed to be doing well until powerful House Speaker Tom Craddick twisted a wrist and turned his thumb down.
The process is, after all, political. Try keeping the politicians out of it, as Stateline points out today in an excellent overview of the 13 states that have redistricting commissions.
They are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Ohio, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington.
The story outlines political trickery in Colorado. Partisans have gone to court in Arizona and Idaho. And as a ProPublica investigation uncovered, political trampling over independence and bipartisanship in California has bordered on epic.
Not unlike campaign finance, no one has quite figured out how to keep the carnivores away from the endless buffet of red meat. It is little remembered that the reform that came to be known as McCain-Feingold was originally called the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Tell that to the folks who brought you Citizens United.
“The lesson from these states,” Stateline writes, “seems to be that even when independent commissions take partisans out of redistricting, they can’t take out the partisanship.”
***
Contact Mark Lisheron at 512-299-2318 or mark@texaswatchdog.org or on Twitter at @marktxwatchdog.
Contact Mark Lisheron at 512-299-2318 or mark@texaswatchdog.org or on Twitter at @marktxwatchdog.
Photo by flickr user Malcolm Redinnick, used under a Creative Commons license.
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Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us onTwitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Join our network on de.licio.us, and put our RSS feeds in your newsreader. We're also on MySpace, Digg, FriendFeed, and tumblr.
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