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In a clear retaliation to the Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court’s redrawing of the congressional map, our Pennsylvania Senate – voting along party lines – sabotaged SB22 by adding a last-minute amendment, which was never given a chance for discussion before the full Senate and quickly voted on and passed by the Republican majority.

SB 22 was the work of fair minded legislators and concerned bi-partisan citizens to end gerrymandering by taking the power to redistrict from the majority party and placing it in the hands of citizens chosen from both parties and independent voters. In voting for the amendment, our Senate gave no consideration to the many bi-partisan citizens who invested their time and money working to bring about reform.

Sen. Lisa Baker was one of the most outspoken supporters of the amendment; which seeks to gerrymander the Pennsylvania courts into districts that would benefit the majority party rather than the current statewide elections for higher courts.

This sad scenario illustrates how critical a strong, bi-partisan redistricting reform bill is needed to restore faith in our voting process and to put an end to self-serving legislators.

Both myself and my husband have voted for Baker in the past. That is no longer our intention; going forward we will be actively campaigning against her due to her decision.

Maeve Rupp

Clifford Township