Will Florida Lawmakers Hold Public Hearings on Redistricting?

When it comes to Florida’s once-a-decade process of redrawing political boundaries, known as redistricting, both House and Senate Republican leaders have made no provision for receiving live public comment on proposed maps during the process.

The top-ranking Democrat on the Florida House Redistricting Committee, state Rep. Joe Geller – D-Broward & Miami-Dade Counties – said he’s been continuing calls publicly and privately for his Republican colleagues to make provisions for the public to have input on the shaping of their voting districts in the future.

But he said so far he’s not seeing anything concrete despite how easy it is to implement.

vote

“We should be able to sit right where I’m sitting now, in my living room, and look at Zoom testimony from Floridians all across the state,” said Geller.

House redistricting chairman Rep. Tom Leek – R-Volusia County – didn’t respond to Geller’s questions during a hearing of the full reapportioning committee last week.

But state Rep. Tyler Sirois – R-Brevard County – who chairs the subcommittee on congressional redistricting, has said the idea has not been definitively ruled out.

Ten years ago, the Legislature staged public hearings around the state. Geller said in light of concerns of COVID, he doesn’t think that is necessary.

But he said he does believe public input should happen – either via Zoom or setting up sites around the state where people who don’t have access to the internet can show up and still participate at a remote location.

“I think it’s important that we hear and take testimony from the people of the state, and I think there is an incredibly easy way to do that,” said Geller. “Why don’t we do that? We should do that.”

Instead of making participation easier for citizens, Republican leaders in the redistricting process are being criticized for scheduling two subcommittee meetings at the same time.

So if voters were interested in tracking both legislative and congressional redistricting meetings, they had to figure out how to be in two places at once in order to participate in the process.

The Legislature’s option for citizens to participate is via the website FloridaRedistricting.gov

The post Will Florida Lawmakers Hold Public Hearings on Redistricting? appeared first on Sunshine Slate.



source https://www.sunshineslate.com/politics/will-florida-lawmakers-hold-public-hearings-on-redistricting/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How can Energy Audits inform your Net Zero Strategy?

Image
Many organisations are already in the habit of undertaking energy audits to highlight where energy and water efficiencies can be made, save on utility costs, and reduce carbon emissions. Unfortunately, the sad reality of many energy audits and surveys (especially ones that are completed for compliance with ESOS), is that once they are completed, the report is often tucked away into a ‘virtual’ drawer, never to be seen again. But what if there was another use for that forgotten energy audit? Did you know that it could actually be a really useful business tool to help get you started on your net zero journey? To help you harness that data in a practical way, Energy Services Analyst, Rhiannon Farquhar explains what makes energy audits so essential to carbon management and how they can be used to get your business on the path to net zero. So, what are energy audits? To put it simply, an energy audit is an assessment of the energy needs and efficiency of a building (or process), which
Read more

Garden Offices | The Ultimate Work from Home Solution for 2021

Image
The Pros and Cons of Working from Home Working from home was not so long ago considered a perk of the job, however, the much-longed-for 30-second commute, for many of us, has finally become a realisation. Prior to the global pandemic, we would have spent 492 days of our lives commuting to and from work and inevitably, Covid-19 has brought about a catalyst of change. Businesses are now seeing the benefits of reducing costs by giving up office spaces, and with commuting now significantly reduced, one of the biggest winners out of this situation is the environment. With this in mind, there’s no doubt that the “new normal” of home working is, quite clearly, here to stay. The general consensus is that working from home is wholly positive and can provide a better work-life balance. Whilst this is true, there is evidence to suggest that this can be quite the opposite, with staff working later than usual as they battle to “switch-off” when their working day is over. So, what’s the solutio
Read more

Forgiveness Plan Would Remove One-Third of Students’ Loan Debt

Image
About one in three Idahoans who have federal student-loan debt would see it erased entirely if the Biden administration goes forward with a $10,000 forgiveness plan. That’s according to analysis from the website Student Loan Hero . President Joe Biden is considering eliminating the debt through executive order. Andrew Pentis, a senior writer and certified student loan counselor at Student Loan Hero, said the average monthly loan repayment in Idaho is $274. “Whether you have more or less than $10,000 worth of student loans left to repay, this dose of forgiveness would be hugely helpful, in either getting rid of your debt or shrinking it considerably,” said Pentis. “So certainly, if you’re a borrower in Idaho, you’d be rooting for something like this to happen.” The Trump administration paused federal student loan repayments in March 2020 during the pandemic. Biden extended the pause on his first day in office through at least October 1. Some Democrats want the Biden administration
Read more