By KDRV Staff
June 13, 2011
SALEM, Ore. -- Oregon's legislative districts will be redrawn. Governor John Kitzhaber signed a bill today approving a plan to redraw the state's legislative boundaries.
The state Senate and House voted in favor of the measure and sent it to the Governor's desk on Friday. Kitzhaber signed the bill on Monday and joined others who supported the bill in praising it as a historic bipartisan compromise. The Legislature hasn't successfully created new legislative districts in decades. The state is required to draw new boundaries every 10 years.
The compromise plan for the redistricting bill is based largely on an already existing plan, which reflects the state's shifting population in Portland and Bend, at the expense of eastern Oregon and the coast.
The Legislature has been unable to reach a compromise on boundaries for new U.S. House districts, but the parties continue negotiations.
