GOP passes redistricting plan

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly have voted to change how the state's legislative maps are drawn in an effort to model the systems in Iowa.

This, after speaker Robin Vos introduced a redistricting plan Tuesday that went straight to vote on Thursday.

The maps would need to be drawn and adapted by Jan. 31, 2024, to then take place in the next year's election cycle. Both Assembly and the State Senate would need to approve. 

This new legislation would direct Nonpartisan staff to draw new maps, replacing the current boundaries put into place last year. This follows what Iowa has done since 1980, with the state's Nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency drawing district boundaries for both State Legislative and Congressional seats. 

These efforts could appease Republicans who are concerned that Justice Protasiewicz cannot be impartial on redistricting cases, fter she called the current maps "rigged."

A UWM professor Emeritus tells CBS 58 today that he is baffled by Wisconsin Democrats' resistance to the bill, saying while they may think it's a stalling tactic, they're letting an opportunity pass them by. 

"Substance should trump everything, this bill is really good," said UWM professor Mordecai Lee.

"I would love to see something along the lines of Iowa be enacted in Wisconsin, because then we'd have a legislature that would truly reflect a fair mapping system and therefore would reflect the population of Wisconsin." 

On Tuesday, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers called the idea "bogus and a last-ditch effort." The redistricting plan passed the state assembly, with one democratic vote from State Representative LaKeisha Myers of Milwaukee.