By Associated Press
Frankfort, KY – House Speaker Greg Stumbo floated an early scenario Tuesday for shifting congressional boundaries while saying he prefers having lawmakers meet in a special session later this year to redraw Kentucky's legislative districts to match population shifts during the past decade.
While outlining a preliminary plan that would include moving Owensboro and Ashland into new congressional districts, Stumbo acknowledged some lawmakers prefer waiting until the regular General Assembly session begins in early January to deal with redistricting.
If the redistricting chess match is put off until the regular session, Stumbo said, he hopes lawmakers can reach agreement early on.
"Hopefully we can get it through the first week of the session and move on about our business because it's going to be a busy session," Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, told reporters at the state Capitol. "We have a very significant challenge with our budget."
Lawmakers' main task in the 2012 session will be crafting a new two-year state budget as Kentucky tries to rebound from a severe national recession that has driven up unemployment and prompted sluggish tax collections.
But redrawing legislative boundaries is another big issue on the horizon.
Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, prefers dealing with redistricting in early January once lawmakers are back in regular session, his spokeswoman, Lourdes Baez-Schrader, said Tuesday.
It would be Gov. Steve Beshear's call to make on whether to bring lawmakers back to the Capitol for a special session, and an aide said Tuesday that the governor is still pondering the matter.
"No decisions have yet been made regarding whether a special session may be needed on redistricting," Beshear spokeswoman Kerri Richardson said.
Special sessions cost taxpayers more than $60,000 a day. Stumbo said a redistricting plan could pass within a handful of days if lawmakers went into a special session with an agreement. That would clear the regular session of a politically contentious issue, he said.
If the redistricting debate lingered, it could force a decision to push back the candidate filing deadline, Stumbo said.
Redistricting is a once-a-decade process to make sure political district lines reflect population changes revealed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Stumbo said the issue revolves around the "give-and-take of political decision-making."
Stumbo said the Democratic-led House hasn't finalized a redistricting plan for its chamber, but said it is close enough that one could be put together within a few days.
"We don't have an agreement but what we do have now are areas of concern or contention that are revolving around a precinct or two rather than a huge county," he said.
Meanwhile, Stumbo floated a scenario for redrawing Kentucky's congressional boundaries.
Under the scenario, Owensboro, now in the 2nd District, would shift to the 1st District that covers a broad swath of western Kentucky.
Ashland would move from the 4th to the 5th District, which Stumbo said would essentially become an eastern Kentucky district. The 6th District in central Kentucky would give up Jessamine, Garrard and Boyle counties, which would move to the 2nd District under the scenario.
A hotly contested rematch is brewing in the 6th District, where Republican Andy Barr is preparing for another chance at Democratic Rep. Ben Chandler in 2012. Chandler won their first match up in one of the country's closest congressional races in 2010.
Elsewhere, a cluster of Republican-leaning counties in south-central Kentucky that are now in the 1st District - including Casey, Adair, Cumberland, Clinton, Russell and Monroe - would shift to the 2nd District under the plan.
"What I would do is make the districts more geographically aligned," Stumbo said.
Stumbo said he hopes to discuss redistricting soon with Williams.
Republican Sen. Damon Thayer of Georgetown, chairman of the Senate State and Local Government Committee, said "it's still too early to speculate about the congressional district maps."
"I look forward to receiving input from the congressional delegation as well as from the members of the caucus," he said. "We will be ready with a proposal in January for the 2012 session."
Kentucky has six U.S. House seats. Four are held by Republicans and two by Democrats.
Stumbo said in a statement later Tuesday that state lawmakers will ultimately decide the state's congressional map.
"While members of Congress have different ideas as to how the maps should be drawn, the legislature will debate and resolve the various proposals," Stumbo said.