Update 6:21 p.m.: The Associated Press reports Florida House Speaker Steve Crisafulli has turned down a request for statewide redistricting hearings by 15 members of Florida's Congressional delegation.
According to the AP, Crisafulli in a statement said legislators don't have enough time to hold hearings. He said instead that legislators will take public testimony at the state Capitol prior to a final vote.
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Original Story: Fifteen members of the U.S. House of Representatives are asking the Florida Legislature to hold public redistricting hearings across the state before it starts drawing new maps.
Florida Congresswoman Corrine Brown, authored a letter to the Speaker of the Florida House, Steve Crisafulli, and to the President of the Florida Senate Andy Gardiner. In the letter, that an additional 14 members of Congress signed, Brown asks for statewide redistricting hearings. One of the co-signing members, Florida Congressman Alan Grayson, said he signed the letter to protect the state’s citizens.
“For instance, in the case of Corrine Brown’s district, the proposal would lead to something like a quarter of a million individuals whom she has represented to this point no longer being represented by her," Grayson said. "No matter how they draw the lines.”
In the letter, Brown notes the importance of minority voices being heard in any public hearings.
