Philadelphia Inquirer: Pennsylvania Republicans want a lot more power in redistricting for state maps

Republican lawmakers in the Pennsylvania state House, infuriated by the proposed new map for their districts, are fast-tracking legislation that could effectively give them complete control to draw new lines — and long before the next decennial redistricting.

The proposal could ultimately allow the legislature — which Republicans have fully controlled for all but four of the last 27 years — to draw gerrymandered lines with little oversight. While the proposed constitutional amendment would create a new redistricting commission that includes regular citizens to draw legislative maps, Republicans would currently have an advantage in picking its members. And lawmakers would have the power to approve or reject the maps drawn by that commission — and to draw their own. …

The commission would send its preliminary House and Senate maps to the respective chambers for approval. If the House or Senate rejects their maps twice, lawmakers can start from scratch and draw their own, passing it on a simple majority vote. The proposal would also give the legislature the power to draw maps if the commission fails to reach a consensus.

“This is absolutely a regression from what we already have,” said Khalif Ali, the head of Common Cause Pennsylvania, a nonpartisan good-government group. “When I was reading through it, I was just amazed.”