CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. TOM. WELL, LORI, WHEN IT COMES TO WHAT THOSE CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT MAPS LOOK LIKE, WELL, THEY’RE TYPICALLY DRAWN BY THE PEOPLE WHO ARE INSIDE THE BUILDING BEHIND ME. STATE LAWMAKERS, THE GOVERNOR, EVEN JUDGES SOMETIMES GETTING INVOLVED. AND A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT WOULD CHANGE THAT. THE LEADERS HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, AND THAT REALLY IS RELATED TO REDISTRICTING. CAROL CUNNINGHAM, WITH FAIR DISTRICTS, PA SAYS POLITICIANS WITH PARTIZAN AGENDAS SHOULD NOT BE THE ONES DRAWING CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE MAPS. INSTEAD, THEY THINK AN 11 PERSON INDEPENDENT PANEL SHOULD DO IT. THERE WOULD BE AN INDEPENDENT COMMISSION THAT WOULD BE SELECTED THROUGH A PROCESS PARTIALLY RANDOM, PARTIALLY SCREENED BY THE STATE ETHICS COMMISSION AND THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. SO TO TO REALLY GUARANTEE THAT THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT BENEFITING FROM MAPS, ARE NOT ELECTED OFFICIALS, THEY’RE NOT LOBBYISTS. SUPPORTERS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE SAY THE PROPOSED PROCESS ALSO PREVENTS PARTIZAN REDISTRICTING EFFORTS SEEN IN STATES LIKE CALIFORNIA AND TEXAS. AND IT’S OVERLY POLITICIZING SOMETHING WHICH I DON’T THINK SHOULD BE POLITICAL AT ALL. IT REALLY NEEDS TO BE ABOUT THE PEOPLE AND HOW THE PEOPLE THINK ABOUT THINGS, AND THE WAY WE KIND OF CAN MAKE THE SYSTEM WORK. CUNNINGHAM SAYS THE LENGTHY, MULTIYEAR PROCESS OF PASSING A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT MEANS LAWMAKERS SHOULD MOVE TO PASS THE MEASURE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. WE’RE SAYING THIS HAS TO PASS BY INDEPENDENCE DAY 2026, SO IT CAN PASS IN THE NEXT LEGISLATIVE SESSION AS WELL, SO IT CAN GO TO REFERENDUM IN TIME TO PUT THE COMMISSION IN PLACE BEFORE THE CENSUS OF 2030. SO THIS PANEL WOULD BE COMPRISED OF FOUR PEOPLE FROM THE LARGEST POLITICAL PARTY IN PENNSYLVANIA, FOUR PEOPLE FROM THE SECOND LARGEST POLITICAL PARTY IN PENNSYLVANIA, AS WELL AS THREE PEOPLE WHO ARE INDEPENDENT OF EITHER OF THOSE PARTIES. WE DID REACH OUT TO LEGISLATIVE LEADERS, BY THE WAY, ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR PROPOSAL. A SPOKESPERSON FOR HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER MATT BRADFORD SAID THEY ARE LOOKING INTO THE LEGISLAT
Should Pennsylvania remove lawmakers from redistricting process?
Updated: 7:34 PM EST Nov 19, 2025
Pennsylvania’s congressional and state legislative maps are largely determined by lawmakers, partisan leaders, and sometimes judges, though a proposed constitutional amendment would revamp that process and put the public in charge.Advocates for the proposal with Fair Districts PA were at the Capitol on Wednesday arguing for passage of the measure, which would put an 11-person commission in charge of both redistricting processes, which occur once every 10 years.Listed panel Four people from the largest political party in PennsylvaniaFour people from the second-largest political party in PennsylvaniaThree people who are independent of either of those parties”It would be an independent commission that would be selected through a process, partially random, partially screened by the State Ethics Commission, and the state Department of State. So, to really guarantee that these are people who are not benefiting from the map, that they’re not elected officials, and they’re not lobbyists,” said Carol Kuniholm with Fair Districts PA.Supporters of the bill said politicians who may be looking for partisan and political advantages by drawing maps to favor a party, a process often called gerrymandering, should not be the ones to draw maps that decide who represents people in Pennsylvania.Because the proposal is a constitutional amendment, proponents are pushing for it to be passed by July 4, 2026, to allow for enough time to pass the legislation a second time and advance it for a referendum among Pennsylvania voters in time for the 2030 census.
HARRISBURG, Pa. —
Pennsylvania’s congressional and state legislative maps are largely determined by lawmakers, partisan leaders, and sometimes judges, though a proposed constitutional amendment would revamp that process and put the public in charge.
Advocates for the proposal with Fair Districts PA were at the Capitol on Wednesday arguing for passage of the measure, which would put an 11-person commission in charge of both redistricting processes, which occur once every 10 years.
Listed panel Four people from the largest political party in PennsylvaniaFour people from the second-largest political party in PennsylvaniaThree people who are independent of either of those parties
“It would be an independent commission that would be selected through a process, partially random, partially screened by the State Ethics Commission, and the state Department of State. So, to really guarantee that these are people who are not benefiting from the map, that they’re not elected officials, and they’re not lobbyists,” said Carol Kuniholm with Fair Districts PA.
Supporters of the bill said politicians who may be looking for partisan and political advantages by drawing maps to favor a party, a process often called gerrymandering, should not be the ones to draw maps that decide who represents people in Pennsylvania.
Because the proposal is a constitutional amendment, proponents are pushing for it to be passed by July 4, 2026, to allow for enough time to pass the legislation a second time and advance it for a referendum among Pennsylvania voters in time for the 2030 census.