Population growth in Western Massachusetts has lagged behind the rest of the state.
State Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, co-chair of the Legislature’s 28-member Joint Committee on Redistricting, spoke in South Hadley on Thursday night on the redistricting process.SOUTH HADLEY – As a result of the 2010 census, Massachusetts will have nine congressional districts instead of 10 next year, and that means the state will lose a seat in the U.S. Congress.
People are not happy about it, state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, told a Thursday night crowd at Town Hall.
Rosenberg is co-chair of the Legislature’s 28-member Joint Committee on Redistricting.
His appearance was sponsored by the South Hadley Democratic Town Committee.
Rosenberg said his committee held 13 hearings on redistriciting across the state, and everyone seems to be worried about two things: “Are we going to lose our seat?” and “Will our district change so much than we won’t recognize it?”
Everyone made compelling arguments for why their district shouldn’t change, said Rosenberg. “But in reality,” he said, “every district must change.”
People who spoke at the hearings were pretty polite, said Rosenberg. “But when they get pushed – they always pointed west.”
Just as the population in Massachusetts has not grown as much as the population in the rest of the country – 3 percent compared to 9 percent – population growth in Western Massachusetts has lagged behind the rest of the state.
“You see the world from where you sit – and that’s the problem,” said Rosenberg.
People in Western Massachusetts are especially worried that they will lose one of their two U.S. congressmen, John W. Olver, of Amherst, or Richard E. Neal, of Springfield.
Now the hearings have closed. Rosenberg’s committee must get to work analyzing and sifting through the comments residents of Massachusetts have made and maps they have submitted. Usually the latter come from special interest groups.
From this mountain of testimony, the committee will try to redraw the maps of Massachusetts to reflect the interests of its residents.
Although the loss of a seat in Congress has been drawing the most attention, maps will also be re-drawn for the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts Governor’s Council.
A map is like a bill that has to go through the state’s House and Senate. “These maps are amendable,” said Rosenberg. “They will be debated. Once the governor signs them, that is the law.”
In Western Massachusetts, hearings were held Springfield in March, Greenfield in May and Pittsfield in June.