House panel kills bill to reduce role of politics in redistricting

RICHMOND

An effort to reduce the role of politics in the drawing of Virginia's legislative and congressional districts was defeated Friday in a House subcommittee.

Supporters said the bill would promote competition in elections and centrist government by shifting some of the responsibility for drawing districts away from politicians and into the hands of an independent commission.

A partisan vote by a five-member panel of the House Privileges and Elections Committee killed the measure. The three Republicans on the subcommittee - including Dels. Chris Jones of Suffolk and Terrie Suit of Virginia Beach - voted against SB38, saying the present system works fine.

The vote disappointed a coalition of businessmen and public interest groups who backed the bill and said this year offered the best hope in passing changes. With the House led by Republicans and the Senate run by Democrats, advocates said each party shared equal risks and rewards in passing the measure.

Federal law requires Virginia and all states to draw new political districts every 10 years based on new census figures. The Virginia legislature will take up redistricting in 2011 and the process could influence the partisan control of each General Assembly for years.

In the past, the party in power has muscled through plans that increase its numbers by shaping favorable districts for its members and often jamming incumbents of the other political party into the same districts, where they must run against each other or retire.

Following the Republican-dominated redistricting in 2001, the GOP gained 12 seats in the House and one in the Senate.

The bill, approved by the state Senate on a 33- 5 vote earlier this month, would have created an independent commission to draw districts based on geographical compactness rather than partisan favor.

The commission would have submitted its work to the House and Senate for approval and possible amendments. "This is a plan that puts people before politics, and that's a rare thing these days," said Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, a sponsor of the bill.

The measure was backed by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters. They coalesced with a bipartisan group of politicians endorsing redistricting changes, including Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat; Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican; and former Gov. and U.S. Sen. George Allen, a Republican.

The group cited returns from last November's General Assembly elections, which showed only 17 of the state's 140 General Assembly candidates had competitive races in which less than 10 percent of the vote separated the winner from the loser. They argued that the lack of competition has produced low voter turnout.

Jones said the current system works, citing national studies that have rated Virginia as the best-managed state and a top place to raise children.

Warren Fiske, (804) 697-1565, warren.fiske@pilotonline.com