Today, state senators will face a slate of 17 amendments when they meet to consider a new set of lines for the chamber’s 40 districts.
Four members of the Senate account for all of the amendments. Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, has filed six of the amendments; Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, has filed five of them; Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, has offered five plans; and Sen. Gwen Margolis, D-Miami, has put forward an amendment.
Many of Diaz de la Portilla’s amendments would change the configuration of districts in South Florida, an area Margolis’ amendment would slightly tweak. Braynon and Clemens both offered maps that they have previously drawn, as well as new plans.
It’s not clear whether any of the amendments will have the support on the floor to be added to the current plan (SJR 2C), offered by Senate Reapportionment Chairman Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton. The maps are being considered following a legal settlement with voting-rights groups that contend the existing districts violate a voter-approved ban on political gerrymandering.
source: The News Service of Florida
