March 13, 2011 10:01 PM UTC

Blink? Redistricting Plot Thickens

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Durango Herald’s Joe Hanel has a potentially important development today on the controversy over House Bill 1276–a bill that would effectively short-circuit the work of the bipartisan Joint Select Committee on congressional redistricting, by reinstating GOP-friendly guidance to judges in the event of the legislature’s historically likely failure to reach agreement. The joint committee, as announced last December, was created by Democrat Senate President Brandon Shaffer and Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty to attempt a solution to the politically-charged redistricting process without calling in the courts.

In half-joking recognition of the unlikely success of this bipartisan committee on such a fundamentally partisan issue, we christened it the “Kumbaya Committee.” And we’ve watched closely for signs of bad faith, such as legislation that would undermine the committee’s role in recommending new maps. House Bill 1276, variously reported in the press as a “late bill” or a “delayed bill”–but in either case requiring the signoff of House Speaker Frank McNulty to be introduced–meets this description. Certainly, the significant number of citizens attending redistricting meetings around the state would be displeased to learn the rug was being pulled out from under that process. With all of this in mind, Joe Hanel of the Herald reports today:

A congressional redistricting bill by Four Corners Republicans is on “the backest of back burners” and will not be heard until April, if at all, a Republican leader said Saturday…

It’s a highly charged partisan issue because Republicans adopted the bill in 2004, when they were hoping to minimize Democratic districts and win up to six of the state’s seven congressional seats.

Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial, said Brown’s and Roberts’ House Bill 1276 troubles him because it threatens the bipartisan effort he is helping lead in the hopes that the Legislature can draw new districts and avoid going to the courts.

Balmer asked Speaker of the House Frank McNulty to put the bill on hold until April, when Balmer’s committee is supposed to send a bipartisan map to the Legislature.

At a redistricting hearing last week, we’re told that Rep. Dave Balmer disclaimed any knowledge of House Bill 1276. Given the obvious effect the bill could have on the process Balmer is the co-chair of, this as-reported request to delay the bill is reassuring.

To a point: it remains a fact that, “delayed” bill or “late” bill, McNulty’s approval was required in either case for the bill to be introduced so late in the session. What’s more, McNulty gave several affirmative reasons to the Denver newspaper for allowing the bill to be introduced, despite the negative consequences it could have for the committee he set up to do the job. And make no mistake, Sen. Ellen Roberts, one of the sponsors, is reported as saying in today’s story that HB-1276 remains a “fallback position” if the divided legislature can’t agree.

Bottom line: we are suspicious of the implied defense that Republicans are not acting in a coordinated manner here. Congressional redistricting is the biggest and most partisan game of the decade, with results highly visible on the national stage, and we really do think everyone involved is smarter than that. A genuine blink as advertised, or another round of rope-a-dope?

We’ll know soon enough.