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Wisconsin: Partisan maps good for politicians, not the public
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/opinion/editorial/partisan-maps-good-for-politicians-not-the-public/article_b112ee56-2664-5a2a-bb31-10ed684a7e0a.htmlAnd of all the places to draw a new boundary between the 5th and 6th congressional districts, the map makers picked a narrow passage between the homes of the two most powerful state lawmakers who live less than 10 miles apart: Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and his younger brother, then-Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon.
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“The decision to run the boundary line between the homes was made by the (congressional) delegation,” Romportl wrote in an email. “If it’s your belief that there was an ulterior motive behind the decision, you would have to ask one of them.” Yes, Wisconsin’s congressional delegation has traditionally drawn its own lines, just as state lawmakers draw legislative lines. But nobody has more power in the process than the Senate majority leader and Assembly speaker, because the Legislature has the final say.
That the Fitzgeralds weren’t involved in the Dodge County change or that it wasn’t done as a favor for them — “That’s just not believable,” said Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, on Friday. Cullen and Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, along with many other state lawmakers, are pushing to reform the ugly and secretive process before the 2020 census, after which the next remapping will occur.
Cullen, Schultz and the others want to adopt Iowa’s nonpartisan model for redistricting in which a state agency — rather than the politicians — draw the lines, with strict rules not to consider political implications. In Iowa, all congressional districts neatly follow county lines. In Wisconsin, they wildly split communities and contort into odd shapes as top lawmakers scheme for political advantage.
...
“The decision to run the boundary line between the homes was made by the (congressional) delegation,” Romportl wrote in an email. “If it’s your belief that there was an ulterior motive behind the decision, you would have to ask one of them.” Yes, Wisconsin’s congressional delegation has traditionally drawn its own lines, just as state lawmakers draw legislative lines. But nobody has more power in the process than the Senate majority leader and Assembly speaker, because the Legislature has the final say.
That the Fitzgeralds weren’t involved in the Dodge County change or that it wasn’t done as a favor for them — “That’s just not believable,” said Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, on Friday. Cullen and Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, along with many other state lawmakers, are pushing to reform the ugly and secretive process before the 2020 census, after which the next remapping will occur.
Cullen, Schultz and the others want to adopt Iowa’s nonpartisan model for redistricting in which a state agency — rather than the politicians — draw the lines, with strict rules not to consider political implications. In Iowa, all congressional districts neatly follow county lines. In Wisconsin, they wildly split communities and contort into odd shapes as top lawmakers scheme for political advantage.
