Mohawk Valley Chamber Supports the Establishment of an Independent Citizen Reapportionment Commission

The Mohawk Valley Chamber of Commerce is a pro-business organization with a Legislative Agenda seeking reform, transparency, and accountability in New York State government; including a Vote of No Confidence in New York State Government and also a call for the convening of a Constitutional Convention to rebuild our New York State government and create a functioning, efficient body that works for all of New York.

As part of our efforts to bring about reform, transparency, and accountability of our New York State Government we support the concept of establishing an independent citizen reapportionment commission to review existing congressional and state legislative district boundaries and to submit recommendations for redistricting to the Legislature for approval, in accordance with the State Constitution. We believe that this reapportionment commission should be comprised of people who are not public officials or their relatives, lobbyists, or political party officeholders.

This independent and non-partisan reapportionment commission would help to insure a fair and competitive election process. This independent citizen reapportionment commission would end the process of gerrymandering; a process which is often used to reward, punish, or protect based upon legislative politics. We support the establishment of district boundaries based upon geographic area including: population, local boundaries, community character, and also with respect to voting rights.

We encourage our elected officials to embrace a bipartisan effort to establish redistricting reform legislation. Only through significant reform of our government processes and structure can we restore the confidence of the voting public.