New PA State House Map Is Killing Bipartisanship

In February 2022, in the middle of the legislative redistricting process, I stood at a press conference to unveil an amendment to what is now the map of the 203 legislative districts comprising the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

I warned that the redistricting map as proposed – and later adopted – “creates such partisan districts it will only lead to more gridlock and less bipartisanship.”

One of the most glaring and widely recognized problems with the current House map is its lack of competitiveness. Republican districts are very Republican, Democratic districts are very Democratic, and few truly competitive districts exist where members of one party must have a voting record that also appeals to members of the other party.

I, among others, feared that this situation would lead to base entrenchment and increased legislative partisanship. This, in turn, would give members less incentive to work across the aisle, since doing so would put them at risk of losing a primary election – the only political race those representing non-competitive districts really need to worry about.

The three Democrats on the Legislative Reapportionment Commission, including chairman and principal map creator Mark Nordenberg, downplayed these concerns, but my February 2022 warning is now playing out: we have a purposefully gerrymandered map that gives Democrats an unfair advantage that is not representative of Pennsylvania’s natural political geography.

Since the beginning of this session, Democrats have used their one-seat majority to cause dysfunction and impede Republicans’ ability to operate. They have literally locked down the House chamber to advance their unilateral goals, passed partisan legislation with little or no Republican support, and weaponized the House rules to prevent the minority party from having a voice in the process.

The numbers speak for themselves. Since the start of this session, House Democrats have refused to answer questions in open session about their legislation 22 times, tabled 13 Republican amendments, used procedural maneuvers to prohibit Republicans from offering amendments 117 times, and cut off all debate on legislation twice.

In just seven months of session, these numbers are significantly higher than similar instances from the experience of my two and a half years as House Majority Leader. They testify to the blatant partisanship being used to control the House floor.

An even greater indication of the partisanship dominating the House, and the legislation Democrats have pushed, is the lack of action taken on many of these bills by the Republican state Senate. So far this session, the House and the Senate have worked to enact 15 pieces of legislation. Of those, just six have been non-budget-related bills, with only five being substantive pieces of legislation; four of those bills originated in the Senate, three sponsored by Republicans.

In prior sessions, up until this point, the numbers were much greater. In the 2019-2020 session, 90 total bills were enacted in the first quarter of the legislative session. In 2021-2022 session, 89 total bills were enacted.

If the Democratic-majority House was sending bills to the Senate that reflected bipartisan work or mutually shared beliefs and ideas, much more would be getting done.

Instead, the focus of the House, its calendar solely controlled by the Democratic majority, has been on depriving students and families of school choice options, attacking the free market, rapidly expanding the size and influence of government, and splitting the House on party-line vote after party-line vote.

Even more troubling is the continuing trend of a one-seat majority forcing out its own members early when they seek another office, costing county governments millions of dollars in special-election costs.

Now we are in the middle of a month-long budget impasse unilaterally imposed on the state by that hand-crafted, one-seat Democratic majority, which has essentially vetoed a lifeline scholarship program – the same program that had once enjoyed the support of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who, as part of the budget process, made a bipartisan deal with Senate Republicans to help students in struggling schools.

As a result of the partisan House map forced upon Pennsylvanians last year, bipartisanship has been shut down by a one-seat Democratic majority that is operating as the most stubbornly partisan in history.

Until House Democrats learn that their gerrymandered map does not give them a mandate for authoritarian rule, Pennsylvanians will continue to suffer the consequences of more gridlock and less bipartisanship.