After a more than four-month delay, the U-S Census Bureau is scheduled to release population data today that’ll be used to develop new boundaries for Iowa’s congressional and legislative districts.
Ed Cook, an attorney with the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency, will be leading the development of the proposed maps. He says under state law, no Iowa county can be split into two separate congressional districts.
If legislators reject the first set of proposed maps, the Legislative Services Agency has up to 35 days to present lawmakers with a second batch. If the second set is rejected and a third set of redrawn districts is required, legislators can propose and vote on changes to that third set. The first two plans cannot be altered before legislators vote on them.