Pennsylvania State Capitol. Photo credit: Zack Frank/Shutterstock.com

Following is a listing of executive and legislative action from the week of Nov. 26. Both houses of the General Assembly are in recess, with no session days scheduled for the remainder of the year. Members of the new Pennsylvania Senate and state House of Representatives are set to be sworn into office Jan. 1.

Redistricting Reform

Gov. Tom Wolf on Nov. 29 issued an executive order establishing an independent commission to make recommendations for a nonpartisan process to draw new district lines for congressional and state legislative districts after the 2020 U.S. Census.

“This commission will bring together diverse experts and citizens to explore ways that Pennsylvania could use policies, technology and data to curb gerrymandering and ensure fair maps,” Wolf said. “There has been significant bipartisan support for bringing more fairness to this process.”

Under the executive order, the commission is set to meet at least six times across Pennsylvania, and study best practices for drawing nonpartisan maps. It will deliver its recommendations to the governor and leaders of both houses of the General Assembly. It was impaneled immediately and given no end date for its work.

David Thornburgh, president and CEO of the nonprofit Committee of Seventy, was named to be chairman of the commission.

The commission would be composed of 15 voting members appointed by Wolf, and would include two members of each chamber of the General Assembly. Two of the lawmakers would be designated by the Republican leaders of the chamber and two by the Democratic leaders.

In addition to Thornburgh, Wolf named 10 more members of the commission, including former U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pennsylvania.

Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth Robert Torres is a member of the commission ex officio, or he may designate a person to serve on the commission, under the executive order.

Thornburgh is the son of former Gov. Dick Thornburgh.

“The creation of this commission is an important next step in ensuring that all Pennsylvanians have a chance to be heard on this important and fundamental question of our representative democracy,” he said.

Republicans derided the executive order as “grandstanding,” with state Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, Speaker of the House Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, and other GOP leaders issuing a statement saying it was formulated with no legislative input.

“We will not be props in his theater that is an attempt to be a makeshift alternative to the federal and state constitutions and will have no practical effect,” the Republicans' statement said. “The fact remains that under the constitutions the responsibility for redistricting falls to the General Assembly.”

School Safety

The Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee on Nov. 29 issued its report on school safety.

The committee, led by Sen. David Argall, R-Schuylkill, held 10 sessions around the state.

Discussions, according to the report, centered on two sets of policies: a focus on mental health and hardening targets.

“The end result was an understanding of the importance and need of school resource officers (SROs), which school administrators, students and legislators agreed is the best deterrent against school violence and the most important investment schools can make to address school safety,” the report said. Hiring an SRO for every school building in Pennsylvania would cost from $350 to $400 million.

According to the report, SROs are “essentially the 'eyes' and 'ears' for other officials. They build trust with students to obtain valuable information and can notice differences in a specific student's behavior or attitude.”

Close Elections

One election remained in dispute three weeks after vote counts began in Pennsylvania.

On Nov. 27, Democrat Steve Toprani, trailing in his race by 11 votes to state Rep. Bud Cook, R-Washington, filed a court challenge stating that the early deadline for receipt of absentee ballots unfairly kept certain votes from being counted. According to the Observer-Reporter newspaper, 29 ballots that were received after Nov. 2 were unopened. Toprani's lawyers said the receipt deadline was the earliest in the nation and unrealistic since voters could request absentee ballots as late as Oct. 30.

Another close election ended with the concession of state Rep. Tina Davis, D-Bucks, of a Senate election to the incumbent, Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-Bucks.

Davis conceded Nov. 27 after a Bucks County Common Pleas Court judge denied her bid to require election officials to open and count a handful of absentee ballots that had come in late. Tomlinson secured re-election by 74 votes.