(Host) It appears that the legislature may be heading towards a major fight over reapportionment. That’s because this is the first time in Vermont history that reapportionment will take place with Republicans controlling the House and Democrats in charge of the Senate.
At the beginning of the session, Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin told the House Democratic caucus that the Senate would not hesitate to redraw the House plan if he felt the GOP leaders had created an unfair proposal.
Speaking Tuesday night on VPR’s Switchboard, Shumlin said the preliminary House plan is totally unacceptable:
(Shumlin) “There are three rules to redistricting: The first is, it should be fair. The second is that it should be objective. And the third is that it should meet the court mandate. But I don’t think their particular plan meets any of those three criteria and I suspect that they’ll be hearing from a lot of school board members and enraged Vermonters who going to see their districts gerrymandered. They are going to hear a pretty loud cry.”
(Host) :If the Senate decides to change the reapportionment plan adopted by the House, it is very likely that the House will then make significant changes to the Senate proposal. If the two chambers cannot agree on a reapportionment bill this session, the issue may have to be resolved by the courts.