skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

AR Group Petitioning to Overturn Congressional Redistricting Map

play audio
Play

Thursday, October 21, 2021   

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- A voting-rights coalition is pushing to overturn Arkansas' new congressional maps approved by the state Legislature this month, due to concerns about partisan gerrymandering.

Two bills, Senate Bill 743 and House Bill 1982, as amended, created the four new congressional district maps based on 2020 U.S. Census data. They've sparked contention for splitting Pulaski County and the capital region into three separate districts.

The group Arkansans for a Unified Natural State is urging the state's residents to halt the legislation through referenda.

Kwami Abdul-Bey, the group's founder, said the new maps could hurt the chances of Arkansas one day electing its first Black member of Congress.

"We do believe this map has effectively silenced the political voice and power of those Black and brown voters in the southeastern section of the county," Abdul-Bey contended.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said last week he would allow the bills to become law without his signature.

The maps go into effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourned on Oct. 15. Opponents will use time to collect 54,000 signatures from at least 15 counties for each referendum. If they get them by the deadline, the bills would not become law, and would instead be put on the November 2022 ballot.

Loriee Evans, lead organizer at Indivisible Little Rock and Central Arkansas, described members of her organization as "alarmed" at the lack of transparency in the congressional redistricting process. She said the two bills were introduced and voted on quickly, and without input from the residents they affect.

"We at Indivisible really expected a higher standard of public notice on bills that redraw all of Arkansas' congressional districts," Evans asserted. "Because these maps, you know, they're going to impact all Arkansans for a decade."

Republicans, who have a supermajority in both Arkansas House and Senate, control the redistricting process this year for the first time in over a century. In a statement, the Republican Caucus said it believes the maps are lawful and that a court will uphold them in the event of expected legal challenges.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021