March 3rd, 2017 by WCBC Radio

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan is making another push for legislative redistricting reform. The Republican governor held a news conference Friday before hearings on legislation he is backing. The measure aims to take politics out of the process of drawing legislative districts by putting the task in the hands of an independent board. Under the current system, the governor proposes maps for congressional districts and state legislative districts, and the legislature votes on them in a special session every 10 years. Critics say that enables politicians in power to draw the maps to their liking, instead of in consideration for the people represented. Hogan says the Maryland districts now are "absurd and disgraceful." Leading Democrats who control the legislature say reform should be done nationally or regionally, not on a state-by-state basis.