WHAT WOULD REDISTRICTING ACTUALLY COST? For all the debate about congressional redistricting in Annapolis, a significant piece is still missing: a price tag. The Department of Legislative Services, tasked with estimating the cost of bills, has said only that state spending would increase by “an indeterminate but significant amount” if the General Assembly scrambles U.S. House members’ district lines. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
IN ARGUMENTS FOR REDISTRICTING, MOORE FOCUSING MORE ON RACE: Gov. Wes Moore has tried a few redistricting arguments these last five months — he’s said the state needs maps that are fair; the state needs maps that are representative; voters actually want Maryland to redistrict; this is in defense of American democracy — but in recent days he’s increasingly focused on race. Pamela Wood, Lee O. Sanderlin and Greg Morton/The Baltimore Banner.
COMMENTARY: WILL SENATE PANEL MEMBERS STICK WITH THEIR IDEALS?HB0488, which proposes a new congressional redistricting map for the state’s eight districts, has been referred to the bipartisan 12-member Senate Rules Committee. In the 2018 Maryland League of Women Voter’s Guide, almost all of these leaders expressed strong support for an independent commission to draw district lines. Could they support a map created by the 2025 Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission? Or will they side with Senate President Bill Ferguson’s firm decision to kill the bill because it is too late and unconstitutional as well? Howard Gorrell/Maryland Reporter.…