May 04 House Redistricting Committee Hearing Observations

Tuesday night, I spent almost 2 hours watching Rep. Sarah Anderson chair the 13th hearing of the House Redistricting Committee. In addition to those hearings, Rep. Anderson's committee has also held committee hearings in Hermantown, Marshall and Rochester.

The first noteworthy sparring followed Rep. Marquart's complaint that they weren't allowing enough time for public testimony and for offering amendments. Rep. Sarah Anderson's reply cut like a knife, saying that "This process started 4 months ago. In that time, you've made one suggestion...which was adopted by the committee. We can't wait another 4 months to hear another suggestion."

Another contentious moment came after Rep. Melissa Hortman repeatedly asked Rep. Anderson the same question. Rep. Hortman's questions were met with the same replies: that the lines were drawn according to the principles passed last week.

After hearing the same question repeated seemingly forever, Rep. Pat Garofalo posed a simple question to Rep. Hortman. He asked if the DFL would present their own map, saying that "I know you guys won't present your own budget, which is something entirely different, but I was wondering if you planned on presenting your own map."

Later, as the vote approached, DFL Lead Mary Murphy said that she'd hoped that the vote would be postponed so more people could testify. Rep. Murphy then said that postponing the vote would lead to more bipartisan support, which would lead to Gov. Dayton signing the bill rather than vetoing it.

At that point, Rep. Peggy Scott chimed in, saying that she'd attended the hearings and that this newfound spirit of bipartisanship was missing until the DFL had seen the map.

It wasn't a surprise that the map clearly favors the GOP. The congressional district breakdown chart says it all. Here's the congressional district breakdown both in terms of the current population and in terms of how many people the district has to shrink or expand by to balance:

CD-1 Tim Walz-- 2010 population 644,787; must grow by 18,204
CD-2 John Kline-- 2010 population 732,515; must shrink by 69,524
CD-3 Erik Paulsen-- 2010 population 650,185; must grow by 12,806
CD-4 Betty McCollum-- 2010 population 614,624; must grow by 48,367
CD-5 Keith Ellison-- 2010 population 616,482; must grow by 46,509
CD-6 Michele Bachmann-- 2010 population 759,478; must shrink by 96,487
CD-7 Collin Peterson-- 2010 population 625,512; must grow by 37,479
CD-8 Chip Cravaack-- 2010 population 660,342; must grow by 2,649

Most of the growth areas are either south of the Cities (Prior Lake, Shakopee, Jordan) or north of the Cities (Big Lake and Buffalo). I wrote here that House districts 58A-67B must grow by an average of 3,000 people per district. HD58A-HD67B are urban districts.

I don't think it's possible to draw a map that won't increase GOP control of the State legislature. Gov. Dayton's claims that he wants a bill that attracts strong bipartisan support is disgraceful. He knows that the DFL will never vote for a map that gives the MNGOP a bigger structural advantage than they currently hold.

The most damaging quote of the night came from Rep. Garofalo when he highlighted the fact that the DFL hasn't put forward a budget plan or a redistricting map. Instead, they've sat on the sidelines complaining about everything that the GOP legislature has done.

The DFL is quick to criticize Republicans for everything they've done. Unfortunately, the DFL doesn't have any substantive ideas that would a) improve Minnesotans' lives or b) build a dynamic economy. The DFL hasn't offered any reforms that would make health care more affordable. The DFL hasn't offered any suggestions on how to streamline government.

After 4 months in session, the DFL hasn't offered a budget. After 4 months in session, the DFL hasn't put a redistricting map together either.

In short, the DFL has been the next closest thing to worthless. They've done nothing to earn their pay. The only thing that they're good at is being a whining, unproductive minority party.

What type of political party can't put a plan together for the biggest issues facing the legislature this session? We're 4 months into this session and the DFL hasn't offered a comprehensive plan for eliminating the deficit or for redistricting.

The only thing the DFL has been good at is whining and criticizing. Based on what little they've done this sesssion, there's no arguing that they've earned the right to be the minority party for the next decade or more.

Comments welcome at LFR.