The House committee tasked with overseeing Vermont’s legislative redistricting process has overcome its first hurdle, passing a draft map that requires a vote from the full House before the committee can move on to the final version, due by April 1.
But now, the committee faces a greater challenge: potentially having to finish the job remotely.
Legislative leaders are not set to make a public decision on the future work plans for the 2022 legislative session until Wednesday. But the House Government Operations Committee on Tuesday was already discussing a contingency plan should the House remain virtual past next week as currently planned.
Drawing up new legislative district maps is not just more difficult virtually, members said Tuesday, but nearly impossible. The mapping software the state uses to get the job done allows for only a limited number of users to be logged in at once.
Rep. Michael McCarthy, D-St. Albans, also sits on the Joint Rules Committee in charge of legislative work plans. He told his colleagues in House Government Operations on Tuesday that he had a phone call with House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, to discuss a possible exception for redistricting work should the House remain working remotely.
During Monday’s Joint Rules Committee hearing on future Covid plans, Krowinski said she would have private phone calls with committee members before the committee’s next public meeting on Wednesday.
Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas, D-Bradford, who chairs the Government Operations committee, said that if it returns to working in-person on the maps — which she wants — there still must be a remote participation option for those who are close contacts to Covid infections or feel symptoms.
“I don’t want you to have to choose between possibly exposing your fellow committee members and your being able to participate in this very important process,” she said.
The pressure is off in the near term now that the committee unanimously passed a draft map for the House’s consideration. In a unique legislative process, redistricting requires not one but two House floor votes: first on a draft version, and then on a final version after further consideration and testimony from the committee. The maps passed this year will be in place for the next 10 years.
Copeland Hanzas told VTDigger last week that the first map approved by the committee “isn’t in any way an indication of what the final districts will look like.”
The crux of the debate before Vermont lawmakers this year — as it is most every decade — is whether to stick with Vermont’s multi-member House districts, or switch to a single-member model.
The tri-partisan Legislative Apportionment Board earlier this year recommended a single-member map, and the House committee on Tuesday approved a multi-member map.
Several committee members made it clear that their affirmative votes on Tuesday did not necessarily mean they prefer the multi-member alternative model. Their intention was to offer lawmakers, stakeholders and local communities two options — the LAB map and the “alternative” map — to consider before they make a final decision by April, they said.
“I think it’s important to tell folks my reasoning for voting yes,” said Rep. Robert LaClair, R-Barre. “And basically, it’s to move this process along.”