LINCOLN (AP) — New congressional and legislative boundaries for Nebraska won final legislative approval Thursday and moved to Gov. Dave Heineman.
Legislators approved both measures on the last day of the session with the vote on the congressional map largely split along party lines. Several weeks of public debate and meetings about the maps had split the officially nonpartisan Legislature, where Republicans outnumber Democrats 34-15.
The legislation redrawing the state's three congressional districts would stretch the rural, deeply conservative 3rd District to Nebraska's northeast and southeast borders.
In a move Democrats have decried as gerrymandering, lawmakers bumped Offutt Air Force Base and the town of Bellevue — an area with a large minority population — out of the Omaha-based 2nd District and shifted in the Republican-heavy Omaha suburbs in Sarpy County. The move is expected to dilute the city's urban Democratic vote.
Lawmakers adopted minor adjustments by Cortland Sen. Norm Wallman, who complained that the Redistricting Committee's proposal divided Gage County between two congressional districts. The proposed map now has the entire county in the 3rd District, while a southeast sliver of Dixon County was moved into 1st District.
The separate bill proposing new legislative districts also garnered some opposition.
Omaha Sen. Bob Krist had tried to maintain the district in northwest Nebraska currently represented by Ellsworth Sen. LeRoy Louden. But lawmakers rejected the effort, keeping the original plan that moves the district across the state to northwestern Sarpy County to account for population shifts. Louden's final term in office expires in 2012.
Krist said he was trying to preserve the state's "communities of interest," groups such as farmers or ranchers who could benefit from unified representation. Grand Island Sen. Mike Gloor argued that Krist's plan would have divided his city among three districts.
Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Omaha have said each legislative district needs about 37,000 people. The current districts range in size from 31,000 in rural areas to 68,000 in fast-growing suburban Omaha.
Tuesday's votes set lawmakers on pace to give both bills final approval on Thursday, the expected last day of the legislative session.
Lawmakers are responsible for drawing new boundaries once a decade for the state's three congressional districts and 49 state legislative districts. The congressional map bill, LB704, and the legislative map bill, LB703, each require one more vote before going to the governor.
The Redistricting Committee drafted both plans and includes nine lawmakers, three from each congressional district. While the one-house Legislature is officially nonpartisan, the political makeup of the committee breaks down to four Democrats and five Republicans. The process is intended to minimize partisan interests, but almost always triggers political fights.
The legislative map was approved with a 39-7 vote. Lawmakers passed the congressional map, 32-15.
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