Is there a tipping point?

That means the bills Fair Districts PA has supported this session, House Bill 31 and Senate Bill 131, are officially dead. By PA law, constitutional amendments must pass both chambers three months before the next election. By September, the legal deadline for HB 31 and SB 131 will be passed.

Few bills of substance have been enacted so far this session. HB 31 and SB 131, like thousands of other bills introduced this session, were ignored completely. Some of our supporters and active volunteers are furious. They’re rightfully angry that once again legislative leaders ignored bills with strong bipartisan support. House Majority Leader Matt Bradford unapologetically blocked HB 31, even though more than half of his Democratic colleagues (63 of 102) cosponsored it. Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman blocked a bill with more cosponsors than most other Senate bills this session (23 of 50).

Anger and discouragement are both reasonable, appropriate responses. But it’s also helpful to step back and remember the long, hard fights that came before us: for freedom from the rule of kings. For the right for women - all women - to vote. The ongoing struggle, centuries old, for civil rights in the face of racial oppression.

In times like these, it’s helpful to revisit quotes from the past:

• “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” —Frederick Douglass
• “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” —Ida B Wells-Barnett
• “We make our own history. The course of history is directed by the choices we make and our choices grow out of the ideas, the beliefs, the values, the dreams of the people.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
• “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you’re tired of doing the hard work you already did.” —Newt Gingrich

The work we did in the years leading up to the 2021-2022 redistricting yielded far more responsive maps than for the three previous decades. (Read more on that here) and here). But the patterns of dysfunction baked in by decades of partisan gerrymandering are hard to reverse. Lasting change will require a growing groundswell of voter activism, an insistent demand for accountable representation, and a demonstration at the polls that voters expect better.

Our bills are dead for the session, but the work is not over.

• We’ll do all we can to demand support for redistricting reform as we move toward the November election.

• We’ll work with legislative allies to have new bills ready to introduce when the new session starts in 2027.

• We’ll hold a conference with democracy partners in early December. (Put December 5 on your calendar and watch for details soon.)

• And we’ll keep shining the light on the harm done by a leader-driven redistricting process that puts too much power in the hands of a few leaders, and deprives us of the right to alter and reform our government.

In his 2000 bestseller, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Malcolm Gladwell wrote:

Help us continue toward that tipping point. If you haven’t already, sign the petition in support of an independent Redistricting Commission, then check the Take Action section of this website for more ways to engage.