Earlier today, Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin) released an amendment he will be making to the final House map offered by the chairman of the Legislative Reapportionment Commission.

The Commission has scheduled a voting meeting this afternoon at 1 p.m. to consider matters, presumably to take a final vote.

“In the end, this all comes back to the Constitution and giving the people a chance to pick their politicians, rather than the other way around.  My amendment does that. It ensures that the commissioners comply with our constitutional obligations, respects the growth of minority groups in the Commonwealth and corrects numerous problems in the proposed final plan,” Benninghoff said.

According to an overview provided by Benninghoff, his amendment proposes the following major changes:

• Bucks County changed to be more competitive without being disruptive – changes are reflective of the comments submitted to the commission. 
• Juniata Valley is restored to traditional representation – this change reflects comments submitted to the commission. 
• Triple splits in Allentown and Reading, single splits of Harrisburg and Lancaster are restored while increasing overall minority voting power.

Three Republican districts will be moved to Democratic areas under the proposal:

• District 50 from Washington, Fayette and Greene Counties to Lancaster County
• District 9 from Lawrence County to Philadelphia
• District 54 from Westmoreland to Montgomery County

The five members of the Legislative Reapportionment Committee are Mark A. Nordenberg (chair), Kim L. Ward, Jay Costa, Joanna E. McCinton and Benninghoff.