Press conferences and meetings to unveil Pennsylvania’s Congressional redistricting maps have been delayed once again. The House State Government Committee was scheduled to meet on Dec.5, then again on Dec. 7, and now says it will release the plan for Congressional districts on Dec. 15. The office of State Government Committee Chairman Daryl Metcalfe said the only information they have at the moment is that “the committee staff was told to withdrawal the bill.” They could provide no information on the reasoning behind the decision.
The timing of the release leaves just two scheduled Session days for the House, and since bills generally need three days to move through each Chamber, it is difficult to tell if House Bill 5 will be finalized prior to winter recess.
Spokesman for the House Majority Leader’s office, Steve Miskin, has said that “there is still plenty of time to get this done.” Candidates running for office in 2012 will start circulating their nominating petitions as early as January 24.
Outside groups are pressuring members to allow state residents time to review the proposed districts prior to the bill’s final passage. While redistricting was subject to hearings in the spring, the House’s final plan to reduce the state’s Congressional seats down to 18 has not been made public, and many changes have been made and/or speculated since those hearings.
Meanwhile Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware) released details of the revised State Senate redistricting map on Wednesday. Details of that proposal can be found online here.