HARRISBURG – Rep. Seth Grove (R-York), chairman of the House State Government Committee, announced today that following the most open and transparent congressional redistricting process in Pennsylvania history, the committee has selected a citizen map as its preliminary congressional plan. The preliminary plan, submitted through the committee’s online mapping tool by Lehigh County resident Amanda Holt, is now posted for public comment.
“Over the last several months, advocates and every-day Pennsylvanians told us they didn’t want the process of years’ past,” Grove said. “The people of Pennsylvania asked for increased public involvement, a map that was drawn by people, not by politicians, and the opportunity to offer comment on a preliminary plan before a final vote was taken.”
“Today, I am proud to announce that a citizen’s map, not a map drawn by legislators, has been introduced for consideration by the General Assembly, and for the first time in Pennsylvania history is posted for public view and comment.”
Holt’s map was one of the 19 verified statewide maps submitted to the committee through https://app.mydistricting.com/legdistricting/pennsylvania/comment_links. To view the preliminary map, residents should visit www.paredistricting.com and click on “Preliminary Map.” There, users will be able to view the map and offer public comments.
“The introduction of this map is a starting point, and we look forward to hearing the thoughts of residents across Pennsylvania about how this map would impact their community and how they are represented in Washington, D.C.,” Grove said.
Holt’s map was introduced by Grove because it was drawn without political influence; complies with constitutionally mandated criteria; satisfies equal population requirements; limits splits of townships, municipalities and other local subdivisions; and is comprised of districts that are compact and contiguous, all of which were highlighted as priorities by the majority of testifiers and residents throughout the committee’s extensive regional hearings and online public input process.
“This is a historic step forward in transparency and good government,” Grove said.
Grove also announced the House State Government Committee would be holding two meetings in Harrisburg on the preliminary plan:
The meetings will also be livestreamed at www.paredistricting.com.
“I look forward to kicking off the legislative process and getting a map before the people of Pennsylvania for feedback and consideration,” Grove said.
In addition to the ability to comment on the preliminary citizen map, residents can also watch or read testimony from one of the 12 previously held hearings (www.paredistricting.com/hearingschedule) and view previously submitted statewide maps, communities of interest and public comments (www.paredistricting.com/input).
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