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Democrats in New York could begin the process this year of amending the state constitution’s provisions on redistricting.<\/p>\n
Jim Franco\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Gov. Kathy Hochul has supported a redistricting overhaul in the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Hochul hosted Democrats from Texas at the state Capitol in Albany last year while Republicans in that state undertook a redistricting process intended to boost their party’s ranks in Congress.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Assemblyman Micah Lasher sponsors a bill that would amend the state constitution’s redistricting provisions to allow New York to redraw its maps if another state does so first.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
The state Independent Redistricting Commission could also be the target of changes after a complicated rollout in 2022.<\/p>\n
Jim Franco\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie said this week that Democrats are discussing their options to begin the process before they gavel out for the year in June.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said this week that she would be interested in revisiting the commission’s rules.<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
ALBANY \u2014 Democrats in New York could by early June make their first move toward potentially redrawing the state\u2019s congressional districts as early as 2028, lawmakers said this week at the state Capitol.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s a more difficult process than what\u2019s happened over the past year in other states such as Texas and Virginia, where state lawmakers drew and approved new maps in a matter of months.<\/p>\n
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But Gov. Kathy Hochul said it\u2019s something she\u2019s actively discussing with Democrats in the state Legislature after the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a decision that will require Louisiana to redraw its own congressional map.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York has always led the fight for voting rights and we\u2019ll lead again,\u201d Hochul wrote on social media. \u201cI\u2019m working with the Legislature to change New York\u2019s redistricting process so we can fight back against Washington\u2019s attempts to rig our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
That kind of change would require an amendment to the New York constitution, where the state\u2019s current redistricting process was enshrined by voters in 2014.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The earliest voters could be asked to consider such an amendment would be in 2027, likely in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n That\u2019s because it first has to be approved twice by two consecutively elected legislatures \u2014 once during the current two-year session and again after the next session begins in January following this year\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not a new idea: Hochul first floated an overhaul of the state\u2019s redistricting process<\/a> when Republicans in Texas redrew its congressional districts last summer.<\/p>\n The question now on the table in Albany is what that would look like and whether Democrats in the state Legislature can move fast enough to begin that effort this year.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s broad recognition that we need to do something, and the question really is what are the specific contours of that change?\u201d said Assemblyman Micah Lasher, a Democrat from Manhattan.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Lasher introduced a bill last year<\/a> with a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would tweak the state\u2019s redistricting process but leave much of it intact.\u00a0<\/p>\n Right now, the state constitution only allows redistricting once each decade after the census. Lasher\u2019s amendment would allow the state to reopen redistricting at any time if another state does so first.<\/p>\n Because that\u2019s already happened in multiple states, the amendment would allow New York to redraw its districts in Congress immediately if it\u2019s approved by voters in 2027. That would tee up new lines for the 2028 elections.<\/p>\n That proposal, which is sponsored in the state Senate by Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, could be folded into a larger proposed amendment with broader changes, Lasher said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe are actively in discussion about whether there will be changes made to the language,\u201d Lasher said.<\/p>\n Democrats are also interested in changing the state\u2019s Independent Redistricting Commission, an entity created by the 2014 amendment to the state constitution that\u2019s responsible for redrawing New York\u2019s electoral lines each decade.<\/p>\n Hochul said last year that she would support disbanding the commission and replacing it with a different entity based on its past performance.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not something currently being sought by Democrats in the Legislature, Assembly Speaker Carl\u00a0E. Heastie said this week. But they\u2019re interested in changing the commission\u2019s composition.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re still going to have this Independent Redistricting Commission, but I think the makeup of it and its ability to work has to really change for it to work,\u201d Heastie said.<\/p>\n The commission is split evenly between members appointed by Democrats and Republicans in the state Legislature. That created a difficult scenario four years ago, when it was tasked with redrawing the state\u2019s maps for the first time.<\/p>\n Those appointees could not reach an agreement on new lines, and decided to instead submit two competing sets of maps to the Legislature: one from the Democratic appointees and one from the Republicans.<\/p>\n Both were rejected by Democrats in the state Legislature, who then drew their own maps for approval.<\/a> Those were later struck down in state court as \u201cdrawn with impermissible partisan purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n