ABC27 WHTM Court causes confusion with tossing of new district maps

Court causes confusion with tossing of new district maps

The state Supreme Court's decision to reject the new legislative district maps is causing confusion for lawmakers and candidates.

The borders of the current state House and Senate districts will remain in place until new maps are approved, but it remains unclear if the Legislative Reapportionment Commission will come up with new proposals in time for the April primary.

The court has not yet released the written opinion spelling out why the new maps were invalidated.

"All they have done at this point is simply told us is that the redistricting plan will need additional work, it will need to be revised," said Erik Arneson, a spokesman for Senate Republicans. "They have not yet told us why it needs to be revised."

Democrats were among those who had challenged the new lines before the court, arguing that the plans would have split several communities.

"Many, many people who came to Harrisburg, who testified in public hearings, most of them saying they didn't want their communities split up," said Lisa Scullin, a spokeswoman for Senate Democrats."They didn't want their voices watered down in Harrisburg and essentially they wanted to pick their lawmaker, not the other way around."

There has also been criticism of the significant changes made to the boundaries of two local Senate districts.

The 15th Senate District, currently represented by retiring Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, would have lost Harrisburg and shifted to the south to include more of York County and a slice of Lancaster County.

Sen. Mike Folmer's 48th District, which includes all of Lebanon County, would have gained the capital city and a small part of Dauphin County but lost the Elizabethtown area and a section of Berks County.

Redistricting is required every 10 years by the constitution to reflect population changes reflected by the latest census.