Letters: Demand action for redistricting reform; Minimum wage changes should go with SNAP cuts

Demand action for redistricting reform

Thank you CDT for all of the good information you normally provide on redistricting reform, but the Friday AP article on redistricting reforms got what’s happening in Pennsylvania all wrong!

The article states “Pennsylvania is among the states that already has committed to using commissions or nontraditional methods for redistricting when the 2020 census results are delivered to states next year.” This is not accurate! Changes have been proposed but Pennsylvania has enacted no reforms.

The article then describes the five member commission that Pennsylvania currently uses. Four members include the majority and minority leaders in the state House and Senate. These four then pick a fifth person to be chair. If they can’t agree, the state Supreme Court appoints a fifth member. While an accurate description, this flawed and ultimately partisan process has remained unchanged for decades while Pennsylvania has become one of the most gerrymandered states in the country. This is not reform!

What is happening in Pennsylvania is that thousands of Pennsylvanians have joined FairDistrictsPA to call for reform and polling shows that 67% of Pennsylvanians, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents, support the creation of an independent commission designed to reduce the inherent partisanship built into this process.

Time is of the essence, though, as these reforms need to be in place in time for redistricting in 2021. House Bills 22/23 and Senate Bills 1022/1023 need to be voted on NOW. Concerned? Contact your state representative and senator and demand immediate action.

Pa.’s voting districts among most gerrymandered

Friday’s CDT lead article about redistricting reforms is misleading when it suggests that Pennsylvania’s five-member commission is in some way a reform. The current redistricting mechanism in Pennsylvania led to Pennsylvania’s voting districts being among the most gerrymandered in the nation. We need a commission of citizens truly independent of the political parties and whose actions are subject to public scrutiny and comment, in contrast to the way it was done in 2011.

Minimum wage changes should go with SNAP cuts

In looking over the Feb. 16 CDT on the end for some to get food stamps, which starts this April 1st, something may have been overlooked. With U. S. Rep. Glenn Thompson noting the federally supported training to aid in the new requirement to qualify for continuous food stamp benefits, the federal minimum wage changes that go along with folks in this program would make sense. If there must be a cut to the program, our federal government can better ensure success when our brothers and sisters gain a living wage to reflect their required job training. Add the component of affordable housing benefits, and then this really is the American dream. Hallelujah. April 1st is a big day, having food stamp cuts happen and the U. S. Census survey begin.