Prioritize Redistricting Investment: It is Fundamental
How and where district lines are drawn in 2021 will determine how strong a voice each voter has in elections through 2032. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to avoid ruling on partisan gerrymandering in June 2019 means that effective state laws are critical.
Let's make sure the district maps are the best they can be. Let's improve our commission process to increase citizen trust, transparency, representation and effectiveness. The Appropriations Committee makes funding priority decisions. Email your legislators on the Appropriation today so that they vote to have a hearing and pass HB 2575 out of their committee.
We are asking that the Appropriations Committee consider and approve SHB 2575 for the following reasons:
1. Already Budgeted:
This is not a new budget item. It is an update to the Redistricting Commission budget which runs from Jan 2021 to April 2022. The commission will already be in the budget for the end of FY2021 and the beginning of FY2022. These changes will simply be a small addition to the commission’s appropriation.
2. Small Investment:
The total investment is approximately $600K over two fiscal years and will increase the commission’s budget by 38%. (Commission budget is approx. $1.6M).
3. Let Them Focus:
This small investment would be mostly for paying the commissioners a full-time salary and medical benefits so that they can concentrate on doing this complex task. The salary is set at the same rate as legislators and is paid for the 10.5 months that the commission does their work during calendar year 2021. (approx. $57K/yr each for 5 commissioners for 10.5 months).
4. Fundamental:
The redistricting process is fundamental to our representative democracy. A small investment here goes a long way increasing the trust and representation of our election process. Investing in redistricting should be prioritized.
5. Last Chance:
This is the only opportunity to update the Redistricting Commission for the 2021 cycle. Any updates after this session would not go into effect until 2031.
Email your legislators in the Appropriations Committee today and ask them to prioritize modernizing Washington’s redistricting process!