The legislature is poised to pass a redistricting package that includes a constitutional amendment to change the process in the future, but, in an interview with public radio, Governor Cuomo says the current proposal is still not good enough, and language in an accompanying statute will be key to his support of any deal.
Cuomo says the proposed constitutional amendment still does not offer enough protections for the drawing of non partisan lines in the future, and he’s counting on a yet to be settled accompanying statute to clarify that. But the governor says negotiations are still in flux, and the new lines could still be determined by the federal courts.
“The magistrate would probably get you somewhat better lines than the legislature drew,” said, Cuomo, who said “meaningful” reform would be better.
“And (then)you could say, ‘the madness stops here’,” he said.
The governor, who is also negotiating with the legislature on the state budget and related items, like pension reform, says of the legislature’s efforts on redistricting reform “my trust level is low, my skepticism is high”.
Legislative leaders, speaking after a budget conference committee meeting, say they are having "meaningful discussions" with the governor about redistricting reform and other issues, but offered no details other than to say they are still talking about the proposed constitutional amendment.
