Redistricting Pennsylvania's seats in the U.S. House of Representatives might mean political opportunity or misfortune for both Democrats and Republicans.
The 2000 Census results are in and Pennsylvania is officially a loser — the state must turn over two of its 21 congressional seats.
Pennsylvania's population rose about 3.5 percent since 1990, from 11,881,643 to 12,300,670. Despite being the sixth most populous state in the union, other states grew larger in comparison. As a result, states that grew larger than others will get more of the 234 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than those states that did not grow as much.
Determining which seats will be removed or combined is the next step in the process, William Bianco, associate professor of political science, said. The state General Assembly decides which districts will be redrawn to compensate for the two lost seats.
One approach to the reapportionment, with a Republican dominated legislative, might lead to combining seats in the Democrat strong holds in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Bianco said.
There is either an opportunity for a representative to retire or for the legislative to place multiple incumbents to a district, he said.
That opportunity may have come.
With the announced retirement of Congressman Bud Shuster, R-Pa., earlier this month, Pennsylvania loses the chairman position of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
The committee has jurisdiction over highways, transit, railroads, aviation, water resources, economic development, Merchant Marine, Coast Guard, and public buildings and grounds. Shuster was the author of much of the U.S. transportation legislation during the past two decades. The legislation included the Surface Transportation Act of 1982, the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 and the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA).
The future of the seat remains uncertain.
With Shuster's retirement, 20 incumbent representatives will have to compete for the 19 available seats.
"I don't know the answer," Bianco said. "They may even combine two Democrat and two Republican districts."
