Special Session Opened Today To Redraw Congressional Districts

August 7, 2014

In what could be a fast-moving process, Florida lawmakers today started a special session to redraw congressional districts.

The unusual session stems from a ruling last month by Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis that a congressional map approved in 2012 violated requirements of the state Constitution. The House and Senate met briefly Thursday and were later expected to hold a joint committee meeting to hear presentations from attorneys and to take public input.

House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said a revised map would be released Thursday and that members could propose amendments Friday during a committee meeting. The full House and Senate are scheduled to meet Monday.

“We could be here for part or all of next week, but we will be here as long as it takes to get it right,” Weatherford said.

Meanwhile, groups that challenged the 2012 map issued a lengthy letter calling on the Legislature to offer an “open, transparent, and apolitical process that it promised, but did not provide, during the initial reapportionment effort.”

by The News Service of Florida

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under Archive