Proposals for drawing new Nebraska political boundaries punted to next year

Neither of the competing proposals to change Nebraska's process for drawing political boundaries in 2021 will see debate by the Legislature this year.

The diverging plans, one from Sen. Sara Howard and one from Sen. John McCollister, both of Omaha, were referenced to the Legislature’s Executive Board, where they were presented at a February hearing.

Howard’s proposal (LB466) kept the Legislature’s Redistricting Committee in charge of the process, erecting guidelines preventing boundaries from being created based upon the political affiliation or prior voting history of voters, and requiring any map go through public hearings in each congressional district before they can be considered by the Legislature.

McCollister’s plan (LB253) reworked a bill establishing an Independent Redistricting Citizen’s Advisory Committee that previously passed the Legislature 29-15 in 2016, but was vetoed by Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Read more: https://journalstar.com/legislature/proposals-for-drawing-new-nebraska-political-boundaries-punted-to-next/article_68d05ae5-682e-5723-a9ea-9f85b1def04d.html