From the Associated Press:

The General Assembly was unable to overcome differences in proposed bills updating how Ohio draws its political maps in a rush to finish business overnight Thursday.

GOP State Sen. Jon Husted (HYOO’-sted), the top proponent of redistricting, pledges to keep working on an agreement before an August deadline for placing the issue on the November ballot.

Husted’s bill would take the power of drawing legislative districts away from whichever party controls the state Apportionment Board and give it to a seven-member bipartisan panel.

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From the Marietta Times

The Ohio Senate this week is considering a measure recently passed in the House that would change the way the state’s legislative districts are drawn every 10 years.

The Senate passed its own version of a redistricting plan last year. If a compromise version can pass both chambers by Aug. 4, a constitutional amendment will appear on the November ballot. Voters must approve any change in the redistricting process since it’s a change to the state’s constitution.

State Rep. Jennifer Garrison, D-Marietta, co-sponsor of the House bill, said she’s hopeful the measure could be on its way toward those steps this week. The House bill’s sponsor in the Senate is currently working with the House to craft a compromise, she said.

“Stay tuned. This might be a good week for reapportionment,” Garrison said.

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From the Columbus Dispatch

A much-discussed proposal to allow public input into the politically charged redistricting process was approved by an Ohio House committee yesterday, this time with very little discussion.

House Joint Resolution 15, a plan to revamp how state legislative districts are drawn, was approved on a 7-6 party-line vote by the House Elections and Ethics Committee.

GOP Reps. John Adams of Sidney and Robert Hackett of London both said they felt “out of the loop” because of the bill’s sudden emergence for a committee vote.

The resolution now faces an uncertain fate. Passing new rules for drawing legislative and congressional district boundaries would require merging the House measure with competing legislation sponsored by state Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering. Both chambers would have to pass a compromise version – all within a matter of days before the summer break.

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