We will take our good news wherever we can get it:
Both parties now face a test: what wins in a contest between the idealism of reform and the practicality of politics?
For Republicans, their members and base have long clamored to shrink the legislature. Will they do it, with the chance in hand, despite the potential downside? Or will the effort stall out? (Or suffer sabotage, for example if it is amended in a way that sends the process back to square one?)
State Rep. Jerry Knowles (R-Schuylkill) is the sponsor of the shrink-the-legislature amendment this session as he was last session. He is keenly aware that some colleagues would prefer to see the proposal disappear. But he says some things are more important than short-term political gain.
“I have heard the arguments and concerns, but I believe it’s a good bill. I’m doing it for the reason that I think it’s the right thing to do. In good conscience, what am I going to do? Pull the plug? The people of Pennsylvania should make the final decision,” he said.
Everyone PoliticsPA spoke to believes the amendment would win a public referendum in a landslide. It passed the state House last year 139-to-56 and the Senate 43-to-6. Only eight and two Republicans voted no, respectively.
For Democrats, who have the upper hand, will the party’s support for redistricting reform end at the Pennsylvania state lines?
State Rep. Mike Schlossberg (D-Lehigh) co-sponsored the Fair Districts PA bill in the House last session and will sign on again this year.
“Reform is the right thing to do. Beyond that, it’s good for Democrats in the long term because I believe our party can win districts that accurately reflect voter interests,” he said.
“Besides, who knows who will be running the process ten years from now?”
Four years is a lifetime in politics. There is no way to know who will be majority or minority leaders in 2021. The personalities, and strategies, could change. The U.S. Supreme Court could impose a limit on partisan gerrymandering.
And whether the legislature shrinks, or reapportionment is reformed by 2021, 2031 – or ever – is an open question.“When people tell me this is a long shot, my response is: I’m from the League of Women Voters,” Kuniholm said.
“It took us fifty years to get the vote. We’re creative, and we’re persistent.”
