Those in Jefferson County who testified in favor of changes to combine House Districts 75 and 76 to form Senate District 38 may see the results they are looking for, as the state Districting and Apportionment Commission approved a redistricting map and delivered it to the Montana’s 68th Legislature on Jan. 6.
Legislators have since drafted a joint resolution providing recommendations on the legislative redistricting plan to the Districting and Apportionment Commission in favor of changes to Jefferson County.
Currently, Jefferson County’s senate district is paired up with Butte-Silver Bow County, however, former Jefferson County Commissioner Leonard Wortman, House District 75 Representative Marta Bertoglio (written testimony), House District 80 Representative Becky Beard and others from around the area testified Dec. 10, 2022 that it would make sense to pair Jefferson with Powell and Granite. This requested senate pairing – grouping House District 75 and House District 76 to create the aforementioned SD38 – would be in effect for the 2024 election.
It’s unclear whether or not this will pass, but there is momentum, as Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission Maylinn Smith referenced the Jefferson County testimonies during one of the final work sessions. The current map shows this pairing.
Wortman told The Monitor in a previous interview that this shift would be beneficial, as it keeps more rural, agricultural areas together to vote for the issues that matter most to them.
This has been a two-year effort by the redistricting commission, and it’s had major changes, as two different commissioners had to resign due to health reasons. The process to approve the final map is complex, and it involves high stakes, as there are 100 house districts, 50 senate districts, and about half of the members of the Senate will be up for election in 2024. Some of the district boundaries may change, but whether the map changes or not ultimately depends on the Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission.
Redistricting changes are effective every 10 years, triggered by Census results.
The current redistricting commission established that each house district has to have the population within 1% of every other house district. For Jefferson County, that’s a target population of 10,827, as determined by the 2020 Census. This being the case, Jefferson County essentially maxed out of House District 75, thus beginning talk on alterations to the map, particularly in the southern part of the county.
According to Legislative Research Analyst Rachel Weiss, the Montana Constitution provides for an independent commission to adopt districts. That’s the Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission. The constitution requires the commission to submit its plan for legislative districts to the Legislature. The Legislature then has 30 days to review it and provide recommendations. However, the Legislature cannot require changes. A six-person committee called the Joint Select Committee on Redistricting (made up of three members of the house and three senators) finished its work Friday, Jan. 20 related to Senate Joint Resolution 8. SJ 8 is a joint resolution providing legislative recommendations to the commission. The resolution is still in process.
For more information, go to https://mtredistricting.gov.
Editor’s Note: The Senate approved the map, 34-15, Jan. 24. It now moves to the House.
