[mpen-dayton] FW: Press Conference: Ohio redistricting advocates oppose Republican lawmakers' plan & FW: Increase Immigration from Norway and more

MPEN e-Newsletter No. 2018-0108 in Ohio

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• FW: Press Conference: Ohio redistricting advocates oppose Republican lawmakers' plan
• FW: NYT Today's Headlines: (1) Wall Is ‘Off the Table,’ Schumer Says, as Progress on Immigration Unravels
                                                     (2) Trump Says He Is Willing to Speak Under Oath to Mueller
• FW: The "states' right" to purge voters may soon be affirmed by the SCOTUS
• FW: Sign if you agree: No compromise when it comes to Dreamers
• FW: Why companies are giving big bonuses
• FW: Increase Immigration from Norway
• FW: #TrumpShutdown ends, DREAMers need protection now!
• FW: This cover-up is horrifying

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From: Thomas Roberts, President, Ohio Conference NAACP
Subject: FW: Press Conference: Ohio redistricting advocates oppose Republican lawmakers' plan cleveland.com

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2018/01/ohio_redistricting_advocates_o.html
Ohio redistricting advocates oppose Republican lawmakers' plan
Updated January 22, 2018 at 3:25 PM; Posted January 22, 2018 at 3:20 PM



Ohio NAACP President Tom Roberts said Monday that the Senate GOP redistricting proposal would be
By Jackie Borchardt, cleveland.com, jborchardt@cleveland.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Backers of a ballot measure to change how Ohio draws congressional districts are moving forward with little hope state lawmakers will draft a better plan.

The congressional redistricting reforms proposed last week by Republican Sen. Matt Huffman would make it impossible to draw districts such as the "snake on the lake"-shaped 9th district. But critics say the proposal, Senate Joint Resolution 5, will also ensure that the majority party -- currently Republicans -- can draw a map that gives them plenty of safe seats.

When leaders of the Fair Districts = Fair Elections coalition were asked what lawmakers could change about the proposal to win their support, they laughed.

"How much time do you have?" Ann Henkener of the League of Women Voters of Ohio said at a Monday press conference.

"I always hope that both sides of an issue can come together and figure out something," Henkener said. "I'm truly hoping this happens there. But there's a pretty big gulf between what we want and what SJR5 is proposing."

The league and other reform advocates will make the case for changes to the proposal in two Senate committee hearings this week. The Senate could hold a full floor vote on the plan as early as Wednesday.

Lawmakers are moving quickly to pass something by Feb. 7 to make the deadline for the May primary ballot. Huffman said he hopes the plan will garner support from his Democratic colleagues with some changes; so far, Democrats have panned the proposal.

Fair Districts = Fair Elections isn't waiting for lawmakers to act and is still collecting signatures to put its measure on the November ballot. It has until July 4 to submit at least 305,591 signatures of Ohio registered voters to qualify and claims to have collected more than 200,000 signatures with the help of volunteers.

What's wrong with Huffman's proposal?

A lot, according to Henkener, who has been working on redistricting reform for more than a decade.

Some of her concerns:
 

• The proposal doesn't include any language prohibiting drawing districts to benefit a particular party or candidate.
• If the party has a supermajority, it can draw a map without any input from the minority party and pass it with only one-third of the minority party's votes.
• Large counties, where higher concentrations of Democrats live, could be split three or four times to craft more advantageous districts.
• Voters could not mount a referendum to challenge a map approved by the General Assembly, as they can now.

Henkener said Huffman's proposal would allow lawmakers to draw a map with 12 safe Republican seats and three safe Democratic seats in 2021, when Ohio will likely lose a seat.

Huffman disagreed during his sponsor testimony last week, saying his proposal gives more power to the minority party than exists now.

Huffman said the Fair Districts plan has too many rules and would likely require courts to intervene. He also said the Fair Districts plan includes its own version of gerrymandering by requiring "representational fairness."

The ballot measure would require that the percentage of districts that leans toward each political party reflects the total lean of all voters in the state over the past decade. For example, if 55 percent of partisan votes in the past decade went to Republicans, then roughly 55 percent of the districts should lean Republican. Under the current configuration, Republicans received 60 percent of the total votes cast in 2014 but won 75 percent of the seats.

Ohio NAACP President Tom Roberts said last week's government shutdown shows why crafting competitive districts is important. Roberts said Huffman's plan would "institutionalize gerrymandering" in the Ohio Constitution and split minorities and communities apart.

"It is time for real change -- real fair districts that aren't determined by the majority," Roberts said.
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MEDIA COVERAGE

Here is the list of press hits on yesterday's event:

Toledo Blade: Fight ahead between two redistricting plans

Columbus Dispatch: Coalition leaders say GOP redistricting plan won’t fix Ohio gerrymandering

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio redistricting advocates oppose Republican lawmakers' plan

AP: Rival campaign to fight state senator’s map-making proposal

WOSU: Congressional Redistricting Advocates Move Forward Undeterred

Dayton Daily News: Battle heats up over how Ohio should draw congressional district lines

Gongwer: Fair Districts Campaign Promise To Fight Legislative-Led Redistricting Plan

 

 

From: New York Times
Subject: NYT Today's Headlines: (1) Wall Is ‘Off the Table,’ Schumer Says, as Progress on Immigration Unravels
                                                        (2) Trump Says He Is Willing to Speak Under Oath to Mueller

Wall Is ‘Off the Table,’ Schumer Says, as Progress on Immigration Unravels
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and MAGGIE HABERMAN

With emotions still hot over the government shutdown, Senate negotiators found themselves back at Square 1 in their efforts to strike an immigration deal.

Trump Says He Is Willing to Speak Under Oath to Mueller
By MAGGIE HABERMAN and JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS

President Trump said he was willing to speak under oath to the special counsel, appearing to conflate

 

 

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