Redistricting plans proposed on Tuesday would double the number of Massachusetts state House of Representatives districts where a minority holds the majority of the population, according to the Joint Committee on Redistricting.
They would also reduce the number of Senate districts that split up communities. The number of districts with a minority in the majority would increase from 10 to 20 statewide, including four with Latino majorities.
A new, incumbent-free district in Lawrence could make it easier for another minority to be elected to the Mass. Legislature.
Committee chairs Sen. Stan Rosenberg, of Amherst, and Rep. Michael Moran, of Brighton, announced the redistricting plans Tuesday afternoon at the State House.
Lauded as groundbreaking by both legislators, the proposed House and Senate maps will undergo two weeks of comments from the public and elected officials before both chambers vote.
“This follows a very expansive public process through which we conducted thirteen hearings across the commonwealth,” Rosenberg said.
He said that thousands of people have responded.
“We had in the neighborhood of 3,000 people attend those hearings. In addition we have launched a website that has resulted in hundreds of personal submissions from people in the public,” Rosenberg said.
Moran said that the maps are increasingly accessible.
“That transparency has added to the value of these maps,” he said. “You are going to see the fingerprints of many organizations and citizens on these maps.”
The total number of communities split between Senate districts dropped to 21 from 25 in the proposed plans.
One of the aims of the redistricting is to keep communities unified in one district, Moran said. Saugus, Somerville, Woburn and Barnstable were some of the communities that were reunited.
Many minority rights groups had lobbied the Legislature in recent weeks to increase the number of districts that contain a majority of a minority.
The maps are open for comments from both the public and elected officials, with an expected vote in both chambers in two weeks.
The Joint Committee on Redistricting has not yet released its plans for redistricting the U.S. House of Representatives districts. Because of national population shifts, Mass. will lose one U.S. Representative in this redistricting cycle.
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