Thirty-two states have finished congressional redistricting. Why is Pennsylvania not even close to finishing?

Nearly three decades later, a lesson from one of my favorite college professors still rings true nearly every day.

A project never gets finished. It becomes due.


I could tinker with the wording of my columns forever. But I don’t have that luxury. I have a deadline. At some point, I have to consider my work complete.

I hope Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republicans running the Pennsylvania Legislature learned that lesson, too. The clock is ticking toward their due date for a new map of congressional districts, based on the latest census data.


If they don’t agree on a map, the courts will impose one. That would be disgraceful, the ultimate sign of government failing to perform its constitutional obligations.

Neither lawmakers nor the governor are going to create a perfect map that appeases everyone. They could go back and forth with competing proposals forever. But they can come up with a compromise that is satisfactory enough by the deadline.

That deadline is looming.

Shortly before Christmas, Commonwealth Court set Jan. 30 as the date for the Legislature to approve a map and for Wolf to sign it into law. If they blow that deadline, the court will select a map. It has invited Wolf, lawmakers and others to submit proposals that it would choose from.

The court is involved because concerned citizens, including two from Northampton County, sued state election officials last month. The lawsuit says the court must step in because, otherwise, the state would not be able to hold its primary as scheduled in May.

I initially considered the lawsuit to be premature, an attempt to preempt the authority of the Legislature and governor.

Now, it seems the lawsuit may serve a purpose.

I’m hopeful our elected officials will do their job. It’s just sad that we’ve reached this point.


The Census Bureau in August released the data needed for redistricting. Five months later, Pennsylvania’s lawmakers still are hacking away at it.

Thirty-two other states have finished their congressional maps. They took their job seriously and made the task a priority.

The priority of Pennsylvania’s overpaid lawmakers, meanwhile, is to spend as little time legislating as possible. They raced out of Harrisburg for their not-so-well-earned Christmas break in mid-December, leaving the redistricting process idle for weeks.

From November through Wednesday, the House was in session only 12 days and the Senate only 10.

Now, they are racing the clock.

I’d hate to see a repeat of what happened in 2018. The state Supreme Court ruled the congressional map in use then was illegally gerrymandered. It ordered the Legislature and governor to redo it.


Wolf and Republican lawmakers couldn’t agree. So the justices drew their own map. That made lawmakers look foolish.

Pennsylvania is losing one seat in the U.S. House because other states grew faster since the last census. So this year’s redistricting process is a challenge — but not impossible.

Corners already are being cut.

The House has approved a map. The Senate had planned to approve one, too, then negotiate with the House on a final version to send to Wolf. Now, there’s likely not time for that. So the Senate plans to revise the House map.

Wolf has said he is not satisfied with the House map, which was based on a map submitted by former Lehigh County Commissioner Amanda Holt, a Republican. It was amended by the House, and Wolf said the amended version tilted in favor of Republicans.

Wolf has released his own map.


Spotlight PA reported that Wolf’s map reflects the partisan makeup of the state, while the Republican legislative map does not.

That’s why a lot of people, including me, believe redistricting should be done outside of politics, by an independent commission.

But that movement has failed. We’re stuck with this system.

And the Legislature’s work is coming due, regardless of whether it is finished.
