A political storm in Texas is drawing national attention and prompting concern from leaders in Pennsylvania who say the controversy could signal a larger shift in how congressional maps are drawn across the country. Texas Republicans are pushing a mid-decade redistricting plan that could give them up to five additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. While the move is legal, critics say it undermines democratic principles and weakens the political power of minority voters. In response, Democrats in Texas have fled the state in an attempt to block the legislation from moving forward, igniting a dramatic standoff. Read more here: https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/dauphin-county/texas-redistricting-pennsylvania-response/521-2e41d07b-2eb5-48f0-87df-53c33f65507f WPMT-FOX43's YouTube channel is a hub for the best of FOX43 News and its investigative reports, top headlines, and digital exclusive content: youtube.com/c/fox43 SUBSCRIBE: youtube.com/c/fox43

This forum marks the start of work by the new Pennsylvania Redistricting Table, a network of organizations joining together to support community engagement in redistricting reform. Fair Districts PA, Pennsylvania Voice, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, Committee of Seventy, Draw the Lines and Common Cause PA co-hosted. Panelists: Kathay Feng, VP of Program with Common Cause US, was the architect of California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission, leading the multi-year effort to create the first independent citizens redistricting commission in the country. As a voting and civil rights lawyer, Feng has had a lead role in promoting redistricting reform through ballot initiatives and legislative advocacy. Jonathan Cervas was the mapping consultant for the Pennsylvania Legislative Redistricting Commission in 2021-2022, an active participant in drawing the current PA House and Senate district maps. In 2022 he also served as Special Master for the state of New York, drawing the states Congressional and state Senate districts. Cervas is a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University and has co-authored numerous articles on gerrymandering and redistricting. Introduced by Carol Kuniholm, Chair of Fair Districts PA. Moderated by Salewa Ogunmefun, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Voice. 00:00 Carol Kuniholm: introducing the Pennsylvania Redistricting Table and plans for legislation to amend the PA Constitution to create an independent citizens redistricting commission. 05:37 Salewa Ogunmefun: Pennsylvania Voice participation and introduction of Kathay Feng of Common Cause US. 09:20 Kathay Feng: How states redistrict, states to watch as examples of successful non-partisan redistricting (California, Michigan, Colorado) and essential components of best-practice redistricting reform. 31:57 Salewa Ogunmefun: Introduction of Jonathan Cervas 33:15 Jonathan Cervas: Mapping Pennsylvania with the Legislative Reapportionment Commission, mapping New York as a court-ordered Special Master. 54:15 Q and A moderated by Salewa Ogunmefun.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld the state's new House and Senate maps, with voting districts that reflect population changes. Subscribe to WGAL on YouTube now for more: http://bit.ly/1lIwU2e Get more Susquehanna Valley news: http://www.wgal.com Like us: http://www.facebook.com/wgal8 Follow us: http://twitter.com/WGAL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wgal8/

The Supreme Court has turned away efforts from Republicans in Pennsylvania and North Carolina to block state court-ordered congressional districting plans more favorable to Democrats.

Pennsylvania’s highest court broke a partisan deadlock Wednesday over a new map of congressional districts by selecting boundaries that broadly adhere to the outlines of current districts, even as the state loses one seat because of sluggish population growth. NBC10’s Lauren Mayk has the details.

The state Supreme Court has chosen the new Pennsylvania congressional district map. Subscribe to WGAL on YouTube now for more: http://bit.ly/1lIwU2e Get more Susquehanna Valley news: http://www.wgal.com Like us: http://www.facebook.com/wgal8 Follow us: http://twitter.com/WGAL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wgal8/

The fight over redrawing Pennsylvania’s congressional map has reached the state Supreme Court. Subscribe to WGAL on YouTube now for more: http://bit.ly/1lIwU2e Get more Susquehanna Valley news: http://www.wgal.com Like us: http://www.facebook.com/wgal8 Follow us: http://twitter.com/WGAL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wgal8/

Please see https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/February18Schedule.pdf for a schedule of the arguments being heard. Please see https://www.pacourts.us/news-and-statistics/cases-of-public-interest/reapportionment-cases-464-md-2021-and-465-md-2021 for briefs and exhibits. Recording during this oral argument is prohibited by the operating procedures of this Court and the Rules of Judicial Administration. See Sections 9.A.2 and 9.A.3 of the Internal Operating Procedures of the Supreme Court; see also Rule 1910 of the Rules of Judicial Administration, 201 Pa. Code §1910. Violation of this directive may result in the imposition of sanctions.

Zoom forum to examine proposed maps for new PA House and Senate Districts. FDPA mappers and experts looked at changes in the maps, considered some key metrics, and answered questions about minority representation and incumbent protection. FDPA Mapping Experts Michael Waxenberg, Michael Skros and Anne Hanna. John Nagle, Professor of Physics at Carnegie Mellon University and an expert on mapping, Dinos Gonatas, also an expert in mapping and statistical analysis of mapping performance and adherence to criteria. TIME HACKS: 00:00 Kuniholm introduction 00:32 Michael Waxenberg, FDPA mapper: Analysis of PA Senate Maps 12:58 Michael Skros, FDPA mapper: Analysis of PA House Maps 26:50 John Nagle, Carnegie Mellon professor emeritus & LACRA mapping judge: partisan bias analysis 38:50 Carol Kuniholm, FDPA Chair: population imbalances between regions of the state 40:33 Dinos Gonatas, predictive analyst & LACRA mapping judge: overall metrics 49:30 Carol Kuniholm: on tradeoffs in minority representation 1:03:26 …on which legislators face runoffs, who is retiring and what districts have no incumbents 1:07:00 …on HB 2207 a proposed “citizen” reapportionment commission and why it is a very bad idea designed to give even more control of mapping to legislators. 1:10:05 …on Congressional map update 1:13:14 Anne Hanna, mapper: map changes in and around Philadelphia 1:19:54 Carol Kuniholm conclusions. BACKGROUND: For over six years, Fair Districts PA has worked with civic and government reform groups to call for true reform….the creation of an independent citizens’ commission for redistricting to take the process out of the hands of self-interested politicians. Those same politicians stonewalled all efforts and kept control for the latest redistricting cycle. Now, after months of citizen input and political maneuvering, they have generated new draft maps for Congress (17 seats), the PA House (203) and Senate (50). Legislative maps were drawn by the five-member Legislative Reapportionment Commission (LRC), a once-every-ten-year body. Per the PA Constitution, its members include the Majority and Minority leaders of each chamber (or their designees). Those four then select a 5th individual to serve as Chair. In many cases, the four cannot agree and (as happened this year) the choice is made by the PA Supreme Court. Their choice was Mark Nordenberg, a widely respected legal expert with extensive experience and former head of the University of Pittsburgh Law School. After a series of fall hearings with submissions by nearly 6,000 Pennsylvanians, the LRC produced a preliminary set of legislative maps in January, and after further public and legislative feedback, offered its final drafts for House and Senate which were then approved by the body on a 4-1 vote. There is a 30-day time window during which parties can file objections to their proposals with the PA Supreme Court. Once those are resolved, the maps become law. Neither the Legislature nor the Governor have a say in the decision. Congressional Maps are drawn by the political leadership of the Legislature. After a series of public hearings they introduced their chosen map. Governor Wolf established his own mapping advisory committee including mapping experts and encouraged public submission of comments and maps. After reviewing the Legislative draft, he vetoed it on grounds it did not meet standards for transparency, fairness, and protecting the rights of minorities. The PA Commonwealth Court of PA then heard from witnesses opposing or supporting not only the vetoed Legislative draft, but other proposals from interested citizen groups. While that process was taking place, the PA Supreme Court stepped in and said that in the interests of time, because it would ultimately be hearing the matter anyway on likely appeal from the Commonwealth court, it would step in and take up the issue. However, it also asked the Commonwealth Court judge hearing initial arguments to continue her work as a Master for the Supreme Court and make a recommendation to them on a proposed choice. After further review, the Commonwealth Court judge said her selection was the Legislative draft vetoed by the Governor. The Supreme Court set February 14 as deadline for the receipt of briefs by interested parties and February 18th for formal arguments. Because candidates for legislative and Congressional seats cannot begin gathering petitions for Spring primary elections until all map lines are finalized, the PA Supreme Court also halted any petition gathering until it has reached a decision. Not yet determined is whether the May date for primaries may have to be pushed back and/or shortened because of overall delays in the process.

The five-person committee tasked with drawing new State House and Senate lines for Pennsylvania were almost unanimous in approving lines for the next ten years. By a vote of 4 to 1, the Legislative Reapportionment Commission adopted districts which highlight a declining rural population, and a growth in Pennsylvania's urban centers, most notably a rising Latino population: https://www.fox43.com/article/news/politics/fox43-capitol-beat/pennsylvania-redistricting-legislative-reapportionment-commission-house-senate-maps/521-6b4b2fc7-073a-4f5d-9594-82ddc4c380c0