N.Y. redistricting talks bog down

Ithaca Journal wrote an article about redistricting reform. We must to rally together in order to get this inportant reform passed.

ALBANY -- With just five weeks to go before the Legislature breaks for the summer, talk at the Capitol has been driven by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's legislative priorities: a property tax cap, an ethics overhaul and legalizing gay marriage.

Noticeably absent, however, has been much talk on redistricting reform, a major campaign issue that garnered significant attention earlier this session, but is still unresolved.

The Democrat-controlled Assembly and Republican-led Senate remain at odds, with neither side appearing ready to budge. For decades, lawmakers have drawn districts -- at times, creatively shaped and geographically diverse -- to protect incumbents and legislative majorities.

Bill Samuels, a Democrat who heads the reform-minded New Roosevelt Initiative, said he believes any hope of independent redistricting for 2012 is "99 percent dead."

Read the full article here.