Drawing district, party lines

The General Assembly's regular session comes to close at midnight Saturday.\nBut with political bickering about a $21 billion two-year budget at a time when state revenues are shrinking with a slowing economy, a special session is inevitable.\nAnd redrawing the lines for the state's congressional districts -- an often political issue -- also looms large.\nThad Nation, a spokesman for Gov. Frank O'Bannon, said he is "70 percent sure" the governor will be forced to convene a special session that could stretch on until late summer.\nUnder the state constitution, the General Assembly must redraw legislative maps every 10 years. The majority parties control the process of drawing up the state legislature lines -- the Democrats in the House and the Republicans in the Senate. \nBut they might clash over congressional redistricting. With the 2000 U.S. Census showing population shifts away from the Midwest, Indiana will lose one of its 10 congressional seats.\nThe Democrats released their plan a few weeks ago, and Rep. Brian Kerns, R-7th, would be the odd man out. For the 2002 election, he would be pitted against five-term incumbent Rep. Steve Buyer, R-5th.\nWhile Democrats say their plan is fair, their colleagues across the aisle call foul.\n"Partisanship and political advantage should not be the sole motivation for any policy decision, and certainly not for one so important as congressional seats in our state for the next decade," House Republican Leader Brian Bosma said. "In this case the majority party has gone well beyond mere partisanship."\nWith O'Bannon sitting in the statehouse, House Democrats ultimately hold the upper hand. If the House and Senate can't reach an agreement on congressional districts, the task will go to a committee where an O'Bannon appointee would have the deciding vote.\nSenate Republicans -- hoping to reach a compromise -- came out with their own congressional map last week. It would eliminate a longtime Indianapolis seat, now held by Democrat Julia Carson. \nCarson is the only female and only black member of Indiana's congressional delegation, and Democrats bristle at the proposal.\n"The Republican map is amazing, especially since its main purpose is to be a statement of Republican beliefs and values," Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Robin Winston said. "The GOP trampled on diversity and demonstrated that its solemn messages on redistricting were not heartfelt. Rather, those messages now seem merely mercenary"