Democracy Reform

To make gerrymandering reform a reality, Indiana needs to change who draws our legislative maps and needs to change how they are drawn. In the 2019 legislative session, Committee chairmen refused to allow hearings on three bills that would have addressed the former. But there remains one bill left alive to change the latter: SB 105. SB 105 would provide additional guidance to lawmakers as to how they should draw legislative maps: Districts needs to be compact, they need to made without consideration of where incumbent lawmakers live, and — most importantly — they need to make a good faith effort to keep neighborhoods, school districts, and cities together. HEC strongly supports SB 105. The Hoosier Environmental Council is a proud member of the “Indiana Coalition for Independent Redistricting,” which is a diverse array of organizations and citizens from all over Indiana who are united in their quest for the Indiana General Assembly to enact badly needed redistricting reform. HEC has participated in Rallies and Committee hearings for reform, participated in coalition/strategy meetings, spoken up in press conferences (see 19:40), testified before Committees (see 39:10), met lawmakers as they were beginning the new session, and more.