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State Representative Jeanne Poppe
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4193
For more information contact: Charlie Vander Aarde 651-297-8406
Column/LTE
WHAT THE CENSUS AND REDISTRICTING MEAN TO YOU
The U.S. Constitution lays out a process where the country takes a recurring snapshot of who lives here. The primary purpose of the U.S. Census, taken every ten years, is to count the number of people whose primary residence is within the various political boundaries across the country.
What does this mean to government? From the U.S. Congress to city councils, the census numbers help lawmakers redraw boundaries to get a more fair, equitable distribution of people in each district. School districts, townships, cities, counties and states need to adjust their lines to reduce the population disparity from the last time the lines were redrawn. For citizens, the census provides the raw data about their township/city and region and can be used to help plan for the future.
With our growth in population to 5,303,925 Minnesota maintained its eight congressional seats. In drawing new congressional lines each of the eight districts must have 662,991 people (zero deviation). In the state, the legal deviation must be as close to zero as possible but can be as much as plus or minus two percent. This means each of the 67 State Senate districts will represent approximately 79,163 people and 134 House of Representatives districts approximately 39,582 people.
Every ten years the Minnesota House of Representatives reestablishes a committee which focuses solely on redrawing the lines for congressional and state legislative districts. The expectation of this process is to consider demographic and population changes and receive public input regarding potential changes.
The redistricting bill follows the process of most other bills (other than constitutional amendment proposals). The legislature passes the bill then presents it to the governor for his consideration. If they cannot agree, the courts take over and draw a new map. The court-drawn map then has the force of law and those are the districts in place for the next decade. The date for court intervention this decade is February 21, 2012.
The history of redistricting has been fraught with partisan politics. Legislators in the majority may have an incentive to draw and vote for a redistricting map that benefits their incumbents and prioritizes partisan gain over fair and equitable representation of the people.
This year, the DFL is the minority party in both bodies of the Minnesota Legislature. There are five minority members on the House redistricting committee, representing different parts of the state (northwest, northeast, south, suburban and metro) while also representing rural, agricultural, regional centers and large cities. As a member of the minority on this committee, we approached our redistricting responsibility with the expectation a new map would be developed with input from both parties and the public, in a transparent and fair process.
At the outset, there was no doubt the redistricting process would be political. Observers have not been disappointed. The concern, however, was always how partisan it would be. Minnesotans should expect something as important as their electoral districts to have strong input from both parties. Governor Dayton has stated that any redistricting plan that passes the legislature must have strong bipartisan support before he will sign the bill.
Process of Developing a Map
The redistricting committee held three committee meetings outside of St. Paul. Meetings in Rochester, Marshall and Hermantown were set in order to allow Minnesotans to testify on their redistricting priorities. Members of the committee heard many concerns and priorities, including local government boundaries (cities and counties), school district boundaries and communities of interest. The committee held 12 meetings in St. Paul and took testimony from advocates of good government, the state chamber of commerce and local government officials as well as input from nonpartisan legislative staff about the process.
Within these numerous meetings only four hours included testimony and public input from everyday Minnesotans before the majority party released their map the evening of Monday, May 2. Then, only 24 hours later, the redistricting committee met to vote on the just-released map. By allowing only the minimum time for comment and debate, the public and local government officials (including elections officials) were not able to ask the questions or highlight the problems of the newly drawn maps.
Input from regular Minnesotans was valuable for committee members to hear before the map drawn by the majority party was released. But once the map was made public, it would have been reasonable to expect additional time for review and comment.
Legislators have an amazing opportunity this year to accomplish what two generations have been unable to do – develop a map that can be signed by the governor. Members of the House minority remain committed to a transparent, honest and fair redistricting map. Developing a bipartisan map with the majority party to make sure all Minnesotans are fairly represented at the state and federal level is a goal we can all share.
If you would like to be on my email update list, please send your email address to rep.jeanne.poppe@house.mn. I also hope you will continue to contact me with your questions or suggestions regarding our state budget. I can be reached by email, or at 1-888-682-3180 or 1-651-296-4193, and by mail at 291 State Office Building, 100 Martin Luther King Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155.
News Items
- 2013 Legislative Session Wrap Up - (Posted: May 22 2013 2:49PM)
- Rep. Poppe: New Funding for Education Builds Well-Educated, Competitive Workforce - (Posted: May 22 2013 2:23PM)
- Rep. Poppe Praises 2013 Session for Focus on Education, Jobs, and Property Tax Relief - (Posted: May 21 2013 12:32AM)
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