Lawmakers advance redistricting plans

The House passed House Bill 1198, which deals with House districts, by a vote of 89-2.

A few hours later, the Senate passed Senate Bill 1066, which deals with Senate districts, by a vote of 46-1.

Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting, said the U.S. Census Bureau has not provided the most recent figures for redistricting yet and missed its deadline to do so.

“We are being told Aug. 15 is when we’ll get those (regular Census) numbers,” said Rep. Ryan Martinez, R-Edmond, chairman of the House Redistricting Committee. “I’m hoping that’s the truth. As you know, it’s been delayed a few times.”

The state relied on information from the Census Bureau’s 2019 American Communities Survey to draw local legislative districts, Paxton said.

The figures are estimates based on sampling.

The Oklahoma Constitution says legislative boundaries must be redrawn during the session, Paxton said.

Lawmakers are expected to return in special session in the fall to draw congressional boundaries and can make fixes to the state legislative districts at that time if need be, Paxton said.

Legislative and congressional boundaries are redrawn every 10 years to accommodate population changes.

Under the plan, the Tulsa area will lose one state House and one state Senate district to the Oklahoma City metro area.

Sand Springs-area legislative districts would be substantially affected by the proposed changes.

For the House, the biggest change is moving District 36 from Osage and north Tulsa County to the Oklahoma City’s western suburbs. That caused a reconfiguration of House district 66, changing it from a Sand Springs and west Tulsa district to a “wrap-around” reaching from Sand Springs to Skiatook.

The two redistricting maps do not displace any incumbents eligible for re-election, although some would find themselves in significantly altered districts.

Sen. George Young, D-Oklahoma City, cast the lone no vote in the upper chamber. Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers.

Young said the redistricting process is run by Republicans.

“They are maintaining the district the way it suits them and helps them maintain their supermajority foothold,” Young said.

Republicans could have found ways to undo the gerrymandering to make the districts more competitive, he said.

Senate Minority Leader Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City, said her caucus believed that redistricting should have been done by an independent redistricting commission.

“Since this option is not currently possible, we chose to engage with the existing process led by the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting,” she said, adding that her caucus had three members on the panel.

While the new map is not perfect, her caucus members were able to vote for it because it included input from them and the communities they represent, Floyd said.