Don't hold breath on getting 4th district

Utah will get a fourth congressional district either very soon in Congress' lame-duck session, or in the 2011 legislative session after the 2010 Census. These are the questions inquiring minds ponder on this matter:

What are the real chances of Congress granting Utah and the District of Columbia new congressional seats?

Pignanelli: As a betting man (having won a tidy sum in last week's poker game), I wager against any conclusive action taken by Congress on this matter by the end of the year. Congress is in a lame-duck session, and most lawmakers want to deal with the budget and get home for the holidays. Even if the measure passes the House, the current GOP controlled Senate will never approve. It has been great fun thinking and dreaming, but the party ends in a couple of weeks.

Webb: The likelihood of success is small, but this is a serious proposal that has some traction in Washington. Republicans can easily kill the deal in the lame-duck session, but then they face the danger that the Democrats, after taking control in January, will push through a new seat for the District, leaving out a commensurate Republican seat.

What is the fairest plan for dividing Utah into four congressional districts?

Pignanelli: Under current circumstances, a fair plan can never exist because the whole point of the exercise is to guarantee the election of a Republican. Remember, the arrangement is that the new seat will be in the hands of the GOP to balance out the Democratic D.C. position. "In 2001 they were fracturing us, now they are packing us," analyzed Democratic Party Director Todd Taylor as to the approved plan that honors this bizarre agreement. Fairness dictates that constituent boundaries for federal and state lawmakers be constructed on the elements of geography and communities of interest, not election results.

Utah legislators and officials cannot be blamed for this warped reapportionment process. Washington politicos hatched the noxious scheme wherein Utah can obtain its rightful congressional representation only if voters select one political party over another.