With their special legislative session set to end at noon Friday, House and Senate leaders were in stark disagreement over congressional redistricting Thursday night. One thing that appears certain, though, is that Tallahassee will be split between a newly configured District 5, a minority-access district running from downtown Jacksonville to Gadsden County, and a redrawn District 2 that extends from the Panama City area to near Ocala. State Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, made one last try at keeping all of Tallahassee in one district Thursday but his amendment died in a voice vote. Williams pleaded with his colleagues to support his amendment, which would have kept the city and most of the county in the 5th District.
“For me, when we think about the impact and the influence of the seat of state government being split in two, I don’t think any of us want to do that, especially when we look at our congressional delegations,” Williams said.
Rep. Jose Oliva, R-Hialeah and chairman of the House redistricting committee, said he couldn’t support Williams’ proposal because it reduced minority voters in the proposed 5th District and split Baker and Volusia counties.
The House then debated a few other “nip and tuck” changes to the plan passed by the Senate on Wednesday, and passed its version in a 60-38 vote. That sends the measure (HB 1B) back to the Senate for action today.
Full Article: House, Senate still at odds over redistricting map.