With the Census process wrapping up, attention is now focused on political redistricting. Soon state officials and commissions across the country will determine how districts for U.S. House seats and â perhaps more importantly â state Legislative seats will be drawn.
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Ten years ago, here in Wisconsin, the Republican-controlled state Legislature convened with lawyers behind closed doors to draw up the current legislative seats. The Wisconsin Assembly has been predominantly Republican for some time, but the state Senate from time to time switched hands between the parties, making the political process a true contest. That ended with the 2011 GOP-drawn map.
April 20, 2021 12:07 PM
As we get closer to the promised release of official 2020 Census numbers, politicians in Alabama and New York have reason to sweat a bit.
The state population totals coming out by the end of this month will decide how the 435 seats in the House are divided among the states for the next decade, with faster-growing places gaining and the rest staying the same or losing.
Each state is guaranteed one district under the Constitution. An arcane formula that governs reapportionment creates a rank-ordered list of âpriority valuesâ that determine which states get House seats 51 through 435.
In an analysis by Election Data Services of April 2020 population estimates, New Yorkâs 26th District was projected to be No. 435, just ahead of Alabamaâs 7th District.
Apparently the GOP-controlled Iowa Legislature didn’t get the memo.
Members of the majority party now embrace big, meddling government. They excel at stripping decision-making authority from cities, counties and even private practitioners and businesses. Their obsession with micromanaging others is particularly egregious this legislative session.
Among what they are trying to do:
Ban traffic cameras
Local traffic ordinances are enforced by local law enforcement. Yet Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, wants to strip from police an enforcement option. He has sponsored, again, a bill prohibiting the use of most traffic cameras and ordering the removal of most existing ones. Senate Study Bill 1176 is opposed by police chiefs who told lawmakers the cameras reduce speeding and accidents. Cameras also generate revenue for law enforcement, meaning Zaun’s bill would literally defund cops.
There are sound reasons for such an effort that should satisfy both conservatives and liberals. Renewable energy has traditionally been pitched as an environmental cause, and there are certainly benefits there. But the reality is that the advantages go far beyond tree-hugging. Renewable energy has the potential to be an economic driver, a source of new technological innovation, boosted tax revenue and jobs that are better suited to the coming decades’ changes than many others.
The efforts don’t need to be concentrated on large-scale projects like wind farms, either. While those are increasingly common sights in the Midwest, they aren’t the only option. In fact, they may not even be the best option in many places.