ONLINE: People's Maps Commission

MEDIA RELEASE: The People’s Maps Commission will hold a virtual public hearing at 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Thurs., March 11, 2021, to seek public input on the upcoming redistricting of legislative maps from constituents of Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District.  Although the hearing will focus on the 2nd Congressional District, all Wisconsin residents are encouraged to watch and participate. Anyone wishing to testify at the hearing must register in advance by visiting the People’s Maps Commission website HERE. The meeting can be viewed on the DOA YouTube page.

Testimony will be provided by Norman Eisen, a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings and an expert on law, ethics, and anti-corruption. He most recently served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2020. He currently provides pro bono legal representation for the Voter Protection Program through his law firm, Eisen PLLC. Previous to this work, Eisen worked in the White House as special counsel and special assistant to the president for ethics and government reform. The press dubbed him “Mr. No” and the "Ethics Czar" for his tough anti-corruption approach. 

The hearing is the Commission’s eighth and final congressional district hearing as part of the Commission's initial round of public hearings. The virtual public hearing will include testimony from subject matter experts and also provide Wisconsinites the opportunity to express how they have been affected by legislative redistricting and share their ideas for how Wisconsin can work together to achieve fair maps.        

The deadline for registering to comment during this hearing is 5:00 p.m. Tues., March 9, 2021. Each speaker will have three minutes to speak. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis, with priority to residents of Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District.  

For anyone unable to join the virtual hearing, written comments are strongly encouraged. Written comments can be submitted at any time using the feedback form available on the People’s Maps Commission website HERE. Written comments will be reviewed by the commissioners and are public record.  

Selected by a three judge panel, the Commission is a nine-member nonpartisan redistricting commission charged with drawing fair, impartial maps for the state of Wisconsin. 

Every 10 years, each state redraws their legislative and congressional districts using data from the decennial census. In addition to the data from the 2020 U.S. Census, the Commission will use information gathered during the public hearing process to prepare new maps. It will then be up to the Legislature to take up and approve the maps created by the Commission.  

Due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the People’s Maps Commission will host virtual public hearings for each of Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts. Agendas and additional details will be announced in advance of future meeting dates.

previous meetings can be seen here: https://govstatus.egov.com/peoplesmaps/hearings-meetings