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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order Thursday establishing a bipartisan commission to find ways to make the redistricting process fair and to curb gerrymandering.</p><p>The order establishes the Pennsylvania Redistricting Reform Commission. Wolf appointed David Thornburgh, president and CEO of the non-profit Committee of Seventy, as chairman.</p><p>&#8220;This commission will bring together diverse experts and citizens to explore ways that Pennsylvania could use policies, technology and data to curb gerrymandering and ensure fair maps,&#8221; Wolf said. &#8220;There has been significant bipartisan support for bringing more fairness to this process. The goal of this commission is to hear from experts and citizens about what can be done to make this process more fair. The redistricting process should ensure every citizen&#8217;s voice is heard in our democratic process.&#8221;</p><p>Republican leaders in the state legislature called the governor&#8217;s action &#8220;grandstanding&#8221; and said he does not have the authority to create the commission.</p><p>The panel will review non-partisan redistricting processes in other states, provide opportunities for public comment at community meetings and online, and make recommendations to the governor and legislature for a non-partisan redistrict process in Pennsylvania.</p><p>The commission is comprised of 15 members, including two state senators and two state House members. The 11 members appointed by the governor include:</p><p>&#8226; Lee Ann Banaszak, Penn State University</p><p>&#8226; Dr. Damary Bonilla-Rodriguez, Governor&#8217;s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs</p><p>&#8226; Susan Carty, President, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania</p><p>&#8226; Kathy Dahlkemper, Erie County executive</p><p>&#8226; Charlie Dent, former congressman</p><p>&#8226; Amanda Holt, Lehigh County Commissioner</p><p>&#8226; Rev. Robert Johnson, Tindley Temple United Methodist Church</p><p>&#8226; Sharmain Matlock-Turner, Urban Affairs Coalition president</p><p>&#8226; Wes Pegden, Carnegie Mellon University</p><p>&#8226; David Thornburgh, President and CEO, Committee of Seventy</p><p>&#8226; Secretary of the Commonwealth or designee</p><p>Earlier this year, the governor held a series of listening sessions across Pennsylvania to hear from the public about redistricting and gerrymandering after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the state&#8217;s congressional district map. The state Supreme Court enacted a new congressional map in February.</p><p>Congressional redistricting is set to happen again after the 2020 Census is completed.</p><p><strong>GOP doesn&#8217;t like it</strong></p><p>Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, Speaker of the House Mike Turzai, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, and House Majority Leader-elect Brian Cutler &#8212; all Republicans &#8212; issued the following statement about Democrat Wolf and the commission:</p><p>&#8220;With no input from the General Assembly, the governor issued an Executive Order where he turned his back on both the state and federal constitutions and embarked on another go-it-alone strategy. The Governor has created a Commission that ignores large swaths of the Commonwealth, specifically rural communities, and charged Commission members with a responsibility that he does not have the authority to give.</p><p>&#8220;This spectacle only serves as a distraction to the work the legislature has been doing to examine the redistricting process in Pennsylvania. We will not be props in his theater that is an attempt to be a make-shift alternative to the federal and state constitutions and will have no practical effect. The fact remains that under the constitutions the responsibility for redistricting falls to the General Assembly.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wolf </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_Wolf_Tom-07-24-14-cmyk-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wolf </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Gov. Wolf creates commission to find fair redistricting solutions