redistricting

Democrats seek redistricting reforms

His efforts stymied once before, a Northampton County lawmaker is taking a fresh crack at changing the way Pennsylvania draws its legislative district boundaries. And this time, he apparently has his onetime nemesis on his side.

Democratic Rep. Steve Samuelson of Bethlehem says he’s teamed up with House State Government Committee Chairwoman Babette Josephs, D-Philadelphia, to pass legislation that would alter a once-a-decade redistricting process that critics say is rigged to all but guarantee the re-election of incumbents.

Earlier this year, Samuelson sponsored a constitutional amendment that would have taken redistricting out of the hands of the politicians who now control it and placed it under the auspices of a nonpartisan commission.  read more »


Reformers Urge Action on PA's Integrity Issues

A coalition of government reform groups wants Gov. Ed Rendell to call a special session of the Legislature to act on what it calls “integrity issues,” such as campaign finance limits, reducing the size of the Legislature, imposing term limits for legislators, banning lobbyists from taking lawmakers to dinner and giving them gifts, and ending lame-duck sessions in November.

“Today is Day 921 since the pay raise of July 2005, and our government has done virtually nothing in law or [changes to the] constitution to improve integrity and prevent more of the scandals on parade that we have seen since the pay raise,” complained Tim Potts, co-founder of Democracy Rising PA.  read more »


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