House Passes Oakland County Redistricting Reform- Dems Object

The House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday transferring the authority for redrawing the County Board of Commissioners district lines in Oakland County from a reapportionment commission to the Board of Commissioners. The current reapportionment commission is comprised of the county clerk, treasurer, prosecutor and the chairs of the two county political parties.

House Bill 5187, sponsored by Representative Bradford Jacobsen (R-Oxford) passed the House 58-50 with Republican Representatives Kevin Cotter (R-Mt. Pleasant), Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan), Earl Poleski (R-Jackson) and Sharon Tyler (R-Niles) voting no.

Democrats immediately characterized the transition of authority as a blatant Republican partisan power-grab largely because the maps have already been re-drawn and have been upheld by the Court of Appeals. The current reapportionment commission has a Democratic majority while the County Board of Commissioners is under Republican Majority.

Confusion occurred during final passage on the House floor when Democratic Floor Leader Kate Segal (D-Battle Creek) called for a point of order with regard to the bill’s need for a two-thirds approval as it affects only one county and is therefore considered a local act. The debate ended when, after 30 minutes of caucusing, Representative John Walsh (R-Livonia), then in the Chair, ruled the request was out-of-order as it was not timely.

posted by PAA Online , Friday, December 9, 2011 9:58 AM
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