MADISON – Today, the Wisconsin State Assembly voted on the Republican proposed legislative and congressional maps, Senate Bills 621 and 622. The vote passed on party lines. State Representative Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) is a co-author of a bill to create nonpartisan redistricting reform in Wisconsin, and introduced the Fair Maps legislation in the 2019-2020 legislative session. Rep. Vining issued the following statement in response to the vote:
“The maps that Republican legislators put before us today are an even worse gerrymander than the maps they drew ten years ago. They drew these maps in order to bake in their majority and maintain their power for another decade.
“When you gerrymander the maps, politicians are less accountable to work together, to find common ground, to create solutions, to show up to work for 300 days during a pandemic. When you gerrymander the maps, the politicians keep their jobs, but the people lose their voice.
“Here I am on my 45th birthday with the opportunity to set the example: politicians who make decisions not out of self-ambition, or self-interest, but FOR THE PEOPLE.
“This isn’t a game, it’s personal. Voting is personal. Our constituents walk into a voting booth and pick up a pen and they trust us – they TRUST us – to come here and do what’s best for them. It’s not a game to them. It’s personal. And it’s rooted in trust. I think that matters.
“We derive our power from the consent of the governed. Wisconsin wants fair maps, but what we had before us today is a massive partisan power grab that will ensure the will of the people is NOT the law of the land. I stand today with the people of Wisconsin: the vote is no.”
Rep. Vining represents the 14th Assembly District, which includes parts of Brookfield, Wauwatosa, and Milwaukee. For more information, visit Rep. Vining’s website here.
