Washington, DC – Rep. Shuler and the Blue Dog Coalition recently acted to reform the redistricting process to improve transparency in government and reduce partisan gridlock. The Blue Dogs officially endorsed the Redistricting Transparency Act which alters what historically has been closed-door, partisan gerrymandering to include public input through open hearings and vehicles to watch the process online.
Because the drawing of Congressional district lines is so often used for partisan gain and the protection of incumbents, only 91 of the 435 House districts can be considered competitive within a 4-point margin of error, according to analysis from the Cook Political Report.
The bipartisan Redistricting Transparency Act (HR 4918) was introduced by founding member of the Blue Dogs Representative John Tanner (D-TN) and Representative Mike Castle (R-DE) to address the adverse effects of partisan gerrymandering. “The result [of gerrymandering] is a Congress comprised largely of Members – well-intentioned as they usually are – who are responsive to the party base in their districts,” Rep. Tanner said. “The present system makes bipartisanship difficult and sometimes virtually impossible.”
“Partisan gerrymandering has led to the election of more and more Members of Congress who are at the extreme ends of their parties,” said Rep. Shuler. “At a time when most Americans would describe themselves as moderates, moderate representatives in Congress are increasingly a dying breed. The end result is rather than coming up with bipartisan solutions to the problems facing our country, Congress ends up entrenched in partisanship. It is time to focus on Americans, not on political parties. This bill stands to make a huge impact on the ideological make-up and ultimate effectiveness of Congress for a long time.”
The Blue Dog Coalition got another win today as a key provision of the 15-point Fiscal Reform Blueprint passed the House unanimously. The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act, a bipartisan bill, will save an estimated $98 billion in taxpayer dollars that has been previously wasted on overpayments or careless accounting mistakes on the part of federal agencies.
Upon the passage of the bill, Rep. Shuler said, “I am proud to be able to support this bill and other common-sense legislation that will finally change the way Washington operates to bring fiscal responsibility and bipartisan cooperation back to the federal government.”
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