The Florida House, in an anticipated vote mostly along party lines, will send the Senates map of new voting districts back to the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, where Democrats contend the proposal will again be rejected.
With the daily cost of the extraordinary special session estimated about $40,000, leaders of both parties have discussed holding both the second and final full floor votes on the Senate map in a single day on Tuesday.
And by abiding by the prior arraignment that the House would draw its map and the Senate would oversee its own, Redistricting Committee Chairman Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, expects the Senate map to clear the House with little change.
Were going to show a lot of deference to the Senate and their map, Weatherford told reporters after the committee meeting Monday. I think they put forth a strong effort in trying to improve the product that we passed before and my anticipation is that well pass the map as is.
Reps. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, and Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, believe the Senates redrawn effort, which senators approved last Thursday, answers the courts questions when invalidating eight of the 40 districts on March 9.
I think that the map that is before us is a far superior map, Hukill said.
And while there has been talk that South Florida Republicans will pick up on an amendment offered last week by Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, to create a fourth Hispanic-dominated district in South Florida, Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, said he isnt ready to introduce such an amendment.
Weatherford said the House will listen to any suggestions regarding a fourth Hispanic district, but doesnt expect any last-minute amendments to advance.
Whenever youre drawing maps, there is always going to be concern, nobody ever gets what they want and that is kind of part of the process, Weatherford said.
If the justices reject the Senates revised map, they would have to redraw the lines to what they believe better match the voter-approved Fair Districts amendments.
Minority leader Ron Saunders, D-Key West, doesnt expect the court to accept the revisions.
I do think this map is less unconstitutional than the first one, Saunders said. The question is whether it is unconstitutional at all.
Democrats acknowledge they dont have the votes to block the map. However, because they anticipate the court to reject the new map, Saunders said thats why well vote against it.
Still, Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach, plans to introduce an amendment Tuesday that he said would make districts more compact as required by the Fair Districts amendments.
Ours is much more compact, Jenne said. "There are less county splits in this, as well."
The state Supreme Court ruled the Senate's initial map failed to meet the Fair Districts amendments and must be redrawn. The amendments, one for legislative and another for the congressional lines, requires districts to be compact, follow existing geographic or government boundary lines, and not to favor incumbents.
The court approved the map for the new House district lines.
The new Senate map increases the potential for there to be two contests this fall between sitting incumbents, up from zero in the first map. The latest Senate map reduces the number of counties split by districts from 45 under the current map to 24, and the number of cities split from 126 to 47.
Jenne said his amendment would increase the number of incumbents living in the same districts, with additional races possible in Central and South Florida.
Jenne added that his amendment would also require the districts to be renumbered so that incumbents would be assigned seats that face two-year terms in November and open seats would get four-year terms.
The Senate used bingo-style cages last week to randomly draw numbered balls to assign district numbers.
Saunders said even if the court redraws the map, it doesnt mean Democrats may not find themselves better off than under the Senate map.
You dont know what a court-drawn map may be, Saunders said. They could make a map that is 20-20 (half the 40 districts GOP-heavy in registered voters), but is not favorable to Democrats because were going to get outspent 8-1.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
